One week before they display their talents in actual ring combat at the CCDC Gymnasium in La Trinidad, Benguet, the Boys from the South are already turning heads of boxing pundits as they provide a preview of their skills in sparring sessions at the Coyeesan Gym in Baguio City where Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao is also training.
Sports journalist Chino Trinidad, conferring with Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach, has eyed at least four out of the nine fighters from North Cotabato who, with an upgraded training program, could make it big in prizefighting.
Chino and Freddie?s top pick is 19-year-old bantamweight Joemer Lumacad, a 5′ 6″ tall (and still growing) southpaw, who has a record of 8 wins and 1 loss, with two of his last two wins coming by way of knockout in the first round.
Lumacad, a Palarong Pambansa gold medallist who turned pro at 17, is described by Chino and Freddie as ?a natural,? a reference to a fighter whose movement inside the ring is in a rhythm and would only need a little more refinement and maturity to turn him into an outstanding boxer.
Chino and Freddie?s three other picks based on their performance in training are former World Boxing Council (WBC) Silver Flyweight champion Edrin ?The Sting? Dapudong, 26, who engaged former world champion Rodel Mayol in a furious sparring session at the Coyeesan Gym, 22-year-old junior featherweight Ronnie ?Baby Faced Destroyer? Apilado, and the 5′ 10″ tall neophyte, lightweight Roskie Cristobal, 17, who has knocked out his first two opponents as a pro in the first round.
Chino said of Dapudong: ?Coach Freddie Roach says all that he needs is a little more lateral and head movement. He tends to stay and stand in front of his opponent making him vulnerable to counterpunching.?
Freddie hit the nail right on the head. Dapudong is an excellent fighter who needs a more sophisticated coaching to correct his stand-up style of fighting which was actually what did him in when he attempted to win the World Boxing Association (WBA) flyweight title against Tyson Marquez last year.
A flash knockdown in the third round following a left to Dapudong?s forehead led to the premature stoppage of the fight staged in Marquez?s home state of Sonora in Mexico last year.
?At 26, Dapudong is still young and his fighting style could still be corrected,? Chino said of the former security guard?s son who hails from my hometown of M?lang in North Cotabato.
?Coach Freddie could do wonders on Dapudong and help him win the world title,? said Chino.
The 22-year-old Apilado, who at 5′ 5″ is a bit short for a junior featherweight, has impressed Chino as a resilient fighter who times his punches well while he described the towering Cristobal who turned pro only this year as a diamond in the rough who could be the country?s brightest hope in the welterweight division in the years to come.
But it is on Lumacad that both Chino and Freddie are generous with words of admiration.
?His punches are short and crisp and his movement inside the ring is natural,? Chino said.
I have seen this early on when as a 14-year-old Lumacad won the gold in the Palarong Pambansa in Bacolod City and I am certainly very pleased that no less than Freddie Roach and respected boxing commentator Chino Trinidad are validating my assessment of this young man from the rice farming village of New Antique in M?lang.
Lumacad?s only loss was to a more mature Melvin Gumban who outpointed the North Cotabato kid in his first fight outside of his home turf last year.
On Saturday at the CCDC Gymnasium in La Trinidad, Benguet, GMA Channel 7 with Chino heading the panel of commentators will record on video nine professional fights including those of Lumacad, Dapudong, Apilado and Cristobal.
These fights will be shown on national television on a date still to be set by the giant TV network and it will give Filipino boxing fans a glimpse of these young talents who are catching the attention of boxing experts, including Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach.
