GOOD news this morning, for those who honestly care for their poor fellowmen, is the outpouring of support for Romy Cabading, the former RP and PBA player who was left dying on the road after being hit by a reckless tricycle driver in Villasis, Pangasinan, recently.
Friends led by Lito Puyat, former president of both the FIBA and the BAP, and lawyer Rudy Salud, founding secretary-general of the World Boxing Council, have sent in donations which, together with other contributions, will be acknowledged before we deliver everything to the fallen former national athlete, a member of the 1974 RP Youth team who later played for the Concepcion Industries and U-Tex franchises in the pro league.
Cabading broke his right arm and his head slammed on the concrete road. He was taken to the hospital in comatose condition, another victim of wild, straying tricycles which this hard-working government could not take off the highway despite an open ban.
Cabading, crushed and cheated, needs continuous treatment to help him recover his full senses.
He cannot work anymore.
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Sad news, on the boxing front, involves Cebu’s Z Gorres, who has lost the main propeller to his dream flight towards a world crown.
The Inquirer was able to confirm yesterday that sportsman Rudy Salud has disassociated himself from the management team that handles Gorres.
This shocker does not mean Gorres has totally squandered his chances for a world title with the exit of Salud.
However, it’s on record that, before Salud came to the side of the young Cebuano fighter, Gorres was just another aspirant who could’ve ended up washing the dishes, push or miss a few sloppy punches.
Can Gorres go on and get a crack at a world crown without the selfless backing of the noted lawyer-sportsman?
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If the result of his last outing would be the gauge, Gorres may have to get a dozen more godfathers of Salud’s caliber in order to move up.
That forgettable bout, which had fans cursing Gorres’ lack of guts and sharpness, confirmed suspicions that the Cebuano prot?g? had all the while been overrated.
Maybe Salud, who spent a fortune in propping Gorres up for a possible crack at a world crown, was also to blame.
Before fans could wonder what the big letter Z stood for in the young Cebuano’s nom de guerre, Salud had found a way of projecting Gorres as the next big boxing hope hereabouts.
True enough, with Salud goading and supporting the young boxer in a team-up with Cebu sports patron Tony Aldeguer, Gorres soon won the RP flyweight crown.
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It was odd how Gorres next lost the title to Edgar Rodrigo via stoppage at the Makati Coliseum. But although glaring flaws were exposed in that bout, Salud was the first to console and assure Gorres that his quest for a world crown had not been derailed.
Gorres fought again, strung up a series of wins, before being declared ready for foreign training.
Gorres first considered Freddie Roach, hailed as the architect of Manny Pacquiao, without a crown but still the richest, biggest name in Philippine boxing.
However, Salud, wanting to provide the best, opted to send Gorres to the camp of the revered Buddy McGirt in the United States.
Salud refused to take credit for it, but Gorres next ended up in the undercard of Pacquiao’s big bout versus Mexican icon Erik Morales in Las Vegas last March.
Gorres won that outing early in the first round, clipping and stopping his worthless foe with a couple of punches.
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Anyway, the agreement was for Gorres to fight another bout in the United States after that knockout victory.
However, the young boxer had started to feel terribly homesick.
Salud begged him to bear up with the blues, fight just one last fight before coming home.
Gorres agreed, but next Salud heard of him, his prot‚g‚ had flown home, going straight to Cebu from the international airport.
Gorres was supposed to call Salud the weekend of his arrival, but the young fighter kept his top handler waiting.
To make the long story short, patron and prot‚g‚ finally met to iron out details of a new contract, signed by both Salud and Aldeguer.
Gorres refused to sign. Salud countered by asking Gorres to cool off, think over the terms which, the sportsman swore, were thoroughly beneficial to the young boxer.
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Impossible. The contract talks bogged down.
Salud, his sincerity slurred, wasted no time. He wrote off the millions in expenses and wished Gorres the best of luck.
Curiously, everybody, including his close friends and this reporter, had thought Salud was still behind Gorres in that tasteless, gutless outing in San Andres on July 30.
The confirmation that Salud had disassociated himself from Gorres days before that forgettable fight brought some relief.
But here’s a disturbing side to this report.
Close associates of Salud, present when boxer and manager discussed terms of the contract, were one in saying it was a totally different Gorres they saw and heard during the negotiations.
Arrogant would be too tame to describe him, said an ally who drives Salud around-“Lumaki ang ulo, iba na pagkagaling sa America.”
Salud told the Inquirer he honestly did not notice the cheap behavior.
But he could not hide how he felt about the tragic death of humility in the young boxer.
