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Philippines, 23 Nov 2024 |
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TO SAVE RP AMATEUR BOXING: ONE MANNY MUST STEP ASIDE, ANOTHER MANNY MUST STEP IN PhilBoxing.com Thu, 23 Oct 2008   Floirendo (L) and Pacquiao. There is no denying that Philippine Amateur Boxing is in the doldrums. From being one of the regional superpowers in the sport, the country now struggles to produce gold medals even in regional competitions. What ails Philippine amateur boxing? A lot, if I may say. We have the talents because Filipinos are naturally gifted when it comes to boxing as a sport and this could be attributed to the fact that we have graceful body movements. We are not awkward like the Thais or stiff like the Koreans. If the country could produce the greatest Asian professional boxer of all times in Manny Pacquiao, there is simply no reason why we cannot develop outstanding amateur boxers who could win our dreamed first Olympic gold. We have squandered many opportunities in the past simply because of the fact that there is a cabal of boxing men who feel that the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines is their kingdom and that anybody who wants to touch it, nay even just attempt to contribute to its development, is treated as an enemy. And I am not even blaming former mayor Mel Lopez and his son, Manny, who through the years have spent a lot of money, time and effort for amateur boxing. The culprits actually are the people whom they hired and trusted to run the amateur boxing program. In its early stages, the ABAP received a lot of enthusiastic support from well-meaning boxing men, among them Cebu boxing godfather, Antonio L. Aldeguer. But through the years, Aldeguer felt that his support to ABAP was not being appreciated that many of his boys fell victims to questionable judging in the local competitions which tended to favor boxers who were identified with the Fortaleza brothers. He has cut off his ties with ABAP. One classic example of a talent that was lost through questionable officiating is the current WBO bantamweight champion Gerry Penalosa, who after losing in a controversial bout in the Boxing at the Park in the Rizal Park, smashed his stool in the center of the ring and bade goodbye to amateur boxing for good. Gerry is a natural and he could have given the country its first Olympic gold in boxing had it not been for that unfortunate incident in the Rizal Park. When I was Governor of North Cotabato, the League of Provinces of the Philippines adopted a program that aimed to develop amateur boxing through the provincial governors. It was called Governors' National Amateur Boxing Circuit (GNABC). We hired a Cuban coach, Honorato Espinosa, whose boxer produced the first Olympic gold for Cuba in Munich, to train local trainers. We offered to work closely with ABAP but this was received with cold shoulders. In fact, the ABAP cabal even suspected me of plotting their overthrow. They came up with a news release discrediting Honorato Espinosa when the GNABC offered his services to the ABAP. ABAP officials now are more excited over the prospect of getting international assignments as members of the jury and referees and in participating in international tournaments rather than initiating programs that would discover new talents to beef up the national pool. The GNABC would have been an opportunity for ABAP to work closely with the Governors but the cabal squandered it. Invited to be a member of a joint committee composed of League of Governors representatives and ABAP, Manny Lopez told me: "But I am the Secretary General" as if suggesting that he is way up higher than the lowly governors. ABAP does not have its own grassroots program for amateur boxing and relies on local government units who are willing to spend millions to stage the annual National Youth and Open Boxing Championships. Very few local officials, except those who are truly involved with the sport, are willing to spend millions of pesos just to stage the Nationals. Another flaw in the ABAP system is the practice of plucking out talents that they see in the Nationals and bringing them to the ABAP training camp in Baguio City. This system does not work because most of the boys who are brought to Baguio, go home to the provinces after a few months complaining that nobody looks after them there. And worse of all is the practice of retaining tired and old amateur boxers just to ensure that they will be able to field a reliable team in the international competitions. This cuts both ways. The presence of the veterans in the national pool stunts the development of new talents and their continued participation in international competitions results in the deteriorating performance of the country in the sport. What should be done? For the good of amateur boxing, Manny Lopez and the cabal in the ABAP must voluntarily step aside and whoever takes over the country's amateur boxing program -- Manny Pacquiao or Tonyboy Floirendo are my bets -- must closely work with the different Regional Development Councils of the country so that amateur boxing would be part of the RDC priorities. This early, however, there are indications that Manny Lopez and his group would still exert efforts to hang on. When the cabal learned that I was pushing Tonyboy to be the next ABAP head, a cabal member was heard saying that Floreindo could not run because he is not a regional president. But Tonyboy, scion of a family which owns billions of pesos worth of banana plantations in Mindanao, is very qualified. In the few years that he was involved with amateur boxing through my encouragement, he transformed the Panabo City-Davao del Norte team into a champion boxing club dominating almost all national competitions. His amateur boxing program which includes scholarships for the boys in the team would shame ABAP's own. If they do not like Tonyboy, Manny Pacquiao would be the next most ideal candidate. He loves the sport and following the debacle in Beijing (and in the previous Olympics) expressed interest in helping the sport. Former mayor Mel Lopez, whom I respect very much, should prevail on his son to cut clean and let go. After three decades of involvement with amateur boxing and failing to produce the elusive Olympic gold, Manny Lopez should hang up his gloves and say goodbye to amateur boxing. Or else, he would be no different from his old, recycled and tired veteran boxers who keep on going back to the Olympics only to be knocked out time and again. There should be a limit to the embarassment and the punishment that the Philippines suffers after every international competition. Click here for a complete listing of columns by this author. Click here for a complete listing of this author's articles from different news sources. |
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