AN Australian newspaper has reported that four boxers from Cebu were maltreated by their promoter and forced to live like slaves.
According to the The Sydney Morning Herald, a family that has been recruiting Filipino fighters to Australia is under investigation after four boxers complained to the immigration department that they were maltreated.
“The Manny Pacquiao Blog”. Stories and updates on the Filipino boxing champ.
The report, which also came out in Philboxing.com, did not name the family or the four boxers.
The report said, ??They live in a very standard place, only in a garage, with no heater, dangerously dangling treadmill overhead. They wash their clothes by bare hands, doing housework ? as if they are houseboys.??
Sun.Star Cebu tried to check with the regional office of the Games and Amusement Board, the agency that oversees professional boxers, for a list of Cebuano boxers abroad but was told that only the GAB Manila office has the authority to give licenses to Filipino boxers to fight abroad.
Aside from being forced to do household chores, the four fighters also claimed their purses get cut dramatically. One of the fighters, identified only as a 23-year-old super bantamweight, said he only got $400 from his $3,000 purse in a title fight.
