THE CEBU City Sports Center is part of the Abellana National High School, which is a land mark in Cebu City. I remember passing by it on busy Jones Ave. (now Osmena Blvd?) when I was starting out my broadcasting career as a disc jockey in the Queen City of the South.
It sits on a big chunk of real estate right smack in the heart of Cebu City, which makes it very accessible. Truly, a perfect setting for the “Moment of Truth” boxing promotion which happens tomorrow.
In a talk with the youthful and articulate Michael Aldeguer, who has taken over managerial chores for some of his father Tony’s boxers, I learned that the venue can actually accommodate over 15,000 spectators for the fights, which will be headlined by Z Gorres’ world championship challenge against champion Fernando Montiel of Mexico.
Asked whether holding it in such a huge outdoor site was a trifle ambitious, Aldeguer pointed out that tickets are selling briskly, and that the more expensive are the ones that were snatched up early.
And they are by no means just so-so expensive. The VIP area is going for R5000, then there are the R2,000, R1,000, R500, R350 and R200 (General Admission) sections.
My Metro Manila friends are aghast. Many boxing promotions in the capital region have found difficulty attracting decent attendance even with free admission, and here’s Cebu pricing their tickets in a way that would have assured a Metro Manila promotion a pack of flies as audience.
But if you’ve ever attended a credible boxing promotion in Cebu, you know the Cebuano boxing fan won’t hesitate to fork out well-earned pesos if he knows it’s worth it. And with a “sano” like Z Gorres going all out to give the Philippines that elusive world title, expect all-out support.
Throw in a certified crowd-drawer like Rey “BoomBoom” Bautista plus Jimrex Jaca, hot sensation AJ Banal, Bert Batawang and Milan Milendo against foreign opponents-well, no way a self-respecting Cebuano boxing fan is going to pass this one up.
No way am I passing up on this one either. The kind of electricity a knowledgeable if sometimes raucous Cebuano boxing crowd is sure to generate is too rare to be missed.
For those who won’t be able to travel to Cebu, ABS-CBN will show the fights on a slightly-delayed basis starting at 9:35 p.m. Saturday, on channel 2. The Filipino Channel will beam it to audiences in Europe and the Middle East starting at 8 p.m. (Manila time).
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Has it really been 21 years? It seems not too long ago when the euphoria of the 1986 Edsa Revolution filled most of us with pride and nationalism. Sadly, a lot of us seem to have lost that spirit in the euphoria of rediscovered democratic freedoms.
Leave it to ace sports impresario Carlos “Bobong” Velez to whip something up to try and relive that moment of oneness among us. And what better way to unite Filipinos once more as Manny Pacquiao did in boxing? Of course, that was before Pacquiao declared his…oh, never mind.
But yes, “Unity in Sports” is the battle cry as Edsa Anniversary organizers led by Commissioner Christopher Carrion, with Mr. Manny Pangilinan of PLDT-Smart-Burger King and BAP-SBP, Mr. Jose “Peping” Cojuangco of the POC, and Mr. William “Butch” Ramirez of the PSC, have tapped both the sporting and entertainment sectors to liven up the celebrations.
There will be exhibition matches in taekwondo, sepak takrau, cheerleading, even ballroom dancing, culminating in two exciting and entertaining basketball games.
The first will feature well-known actors spiced up by former PBA players under the coaching of Tirso Cruz III on one hand and Philip Salvador on the other. Champion teams University of Sto. Tomas of the UAAP and San Beda College of the NCAA will mix it up in the other game.
The games will be held at the Ninoy Aquino Memorial Stadium in Manila.
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And tonight, it’s Game 6 of the championship series between San Miguel Beer and Barangay Ginebra. I appeal to all my friends and relatives to please believe me – I don’t have tickets!
And I don’t know who’s going to win. I do know I’m going to be there to soak in the frenzy. Please join me… on television!
