WBC and Ring magazine flyweight champion Sonny Boy Jaro admits that he’s been having a hard time sleeping since watching footages of his upcoming opponent on Youtube. Not that his Japanese challenger Toshiyuki Igarashi (15-1-1, 10 KOs) strikes fear in Jaro’s eyes, it’s because he is excited to prove that his win over Pongsaklek Wonjongkam last March wasn’t a fluke.
“I’m excited to prove that my win over Wonjongkam was not a fluke. I’m working on my power, and my goal is to knock him out and give fans an impressive win,” Jaro told me and Philboxing.com writer Chito Katangkatang, when we visited the champ at the Jaro Boxing Gym in Binangonan, Rizal a few weeks ago. Jaro is staking his crown on the road in Japan against Igarashi on July 16.
Thing is, when Jaro scored one of the year’s early upsets in boxing in Thailand last March, things haven’t necessarily panned out as expected. The victory that earned him the lineal title in the flyweight division, hasn’t even been aired in the Philippines at the time I spoke to Aljoe Jaro’s first world champion last May.
Another disturbing story Jaro shared with me, is that fact that his own hometown of Silay City, Negros Occidental didn’t even recognize his win. “It hurt me that in the city I grew up in, my own mayor didn’t even acknowledge my win. I proudly carry them with me whenever I step in the ring, but they didn’t even recognize me when I became a world champion,” Jaro opened up, and added, “I don’t need money, I just wanted to feel accepted and appreciated, and that the honor that I brought to the country and my city will be recognized.”
During fellow Filipino world flyweight champion Brian Viloria’s WBO title defense against Omar Nino Romero last May 13, Jaro wanted to go into Viloria’s locker room before the fight to wish his compatriot well, but was stopped by Filipino security personnel at the Ynares Coliseum in Pasig who did not recognize him. A bystander had to intercede and let the security personnel know who Jaro was, until an employee of the TV network covering the fight allowed him to come in.
A damn shame, if you ask me.
We should treat our world champions better, if we intend to produce more Pacquiaos in the future. As much as boxing in the Philippines has thrived of late, a lot of the big networks are still just fixated on Pacquiao. In case they didn’t notice, Pacquiao is at the tailend of his illustrious run, but there’s a plethora of boxing talent out there waiting to be discovered and be given the support they need to get to the next level. As much as Pacquiao has sparked “Pinoy Pride”, it’s mostly a bandwagon of fair-weathered fans who will call their own “bums” at the first hint of failure.
Some things have to change. And if we can’t honor and respect a true world champion like Jaro, and give him the support he desperately needs, how are we going to produce more world-beaters to carry the torch of Philippine boxing into the future?
