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Philippines, 10 May 2025 |
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ARMAGEDDON: THE BATTLE FOR BOXING RAGES OFF THE RING By Danny Leigh PhilBoxing.com Tue, 22 May 2007  Arum (R) and De la Hoya in happier times. Armageddon, the biblical term for the battle between Good and Evil. World Boxing doesn't have a governing body to control or represent the sport, it is open for take over or leadership. There is no FIFA like Soccer has, no NFL or Major League, no BCS College Football Rankings and a World Title is only a sanctioning body that runs itself and there are plenty of them. A boxing commission usually represents a state and these aren't always united, some countries even have more than one commission to choose from. From top to bottom around the world Promoters battle to gain control of the sport and block each other from gaining ground. Business is business but Good Versus Evil fits the bill. The Blue corner versus the Red corner. Recently in an ESPN.com article it states that Bob Arum hopes to unite with Don King to promote bigger shows together using there star boxers in one show. Introducing in the Blue corner Oscar De La Hoya of Golden Boy Promotions. Oscar plans to go to the Philippines to stage a World Cup of boxing between defending champions Mexico against the Philippines. Three or four world titles will be at stake and the country that wins the most fights on the night gets the coveted Cup. Manny Pacquiao opened the door for a showdown between Bob Arum's Top Rank and Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions when his management signed with both promoters. Manny's management decision to lean towards Top Rank is odd considering his desire to have rematches with Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez who are both with Golden Boy Promotions (GBP). Actions speak louder than words. GBP is not just signing the best fighters around the world and staging one big show at a time to feather their nest. They are helping promoters and managers from other countries to establish themselves by marketing their boxers on major televised events. Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and A.J. "Bazooka" Banal are now stars in the Philippines, since being on the Mayweather versus De La Hoya super fight card. Opening the door for the sponsorship funds to be there for the World Cup of Boxing on Philippine soil. Manny Pacquiao seems foolish to have cut himself off a team set on helping his countrymen connect to the mainstream of boxing. While he walks a dark path with no set direction of who he will fight or where. There is even talk now of him fighting Don King boxer Juan Diaz for the WBA/WBO Lightweight championship, a fight Manny would be the underdog in because he has to step up in weight. An easy path made difficult by a man who hopes to one day help his people by getting elected to government. One thing is for sure, unlike most countries the Philippines has honest eyes and honesty sees all. American and Mexican boxers obviously benefit from the exposure of being linked with Oscar De La Hoya's name, stars like Bernard Hopkins and Shane Mosley carry even more weight being united under the one banner, kind of like knights of the round table. GBP also helps establish fighters who have failed to win the big fights such as Rocky Juarez who after winning an eliminator is in line to fight undefeated WBA Featherweight Champion Chris John from Indonesia, who has a win over Juan Manuel Marquez. Chris John is another fighter who like Manny Pacquiao has an opportunity to lead the way for GBP to expand to Indonesia and create an infrastructure to stage well organised shows, helping local promoters cultivate Indonesian boxing to a higher level generating a larger global viewing audience for future events. Chris John's success also opens the door to Australia, his manager Craig Christian is Australian and he hopes to introduce Golden Boy to the up and coming Australian boxers in his stable. Eventually the positive influence GBP has in the Philippines will spread to other countries interested in working with a network bringing different cultures together to achieve the optimum gain bringing credebility to the sport and improving the status of the boxers. Something other powers in the sport have not done. Don King and Bob Arum have battled against each other for ever, showing a bad example for others in boxing to follow. Its hard to right wrongs but Golden Boy Promotions are doing just that. The sport is already moving in a positive direction. The biggest name in Australian boxing is WBA Super Middleweight Champ Anthony Mundine who is very talented and could surprise a lot of people if he were to fight Bernard Hopkins or Joe Calzaghe. Unfortunatly there are no visions of cultivating Australian boxing, or staging an event at the highest level for an international audience. What is planned is to take advantage of a fan base that are new to boxing and are uninformed and make an easy first defence of his WBA World Title, against a boxer who has been recently ranked for his 27th 0f June 2007 promotion. In this case the boxer Pablo Daniel Zamora Nieves 17-1-1 12kos from Argentina looks legitimate until you look closer and find that he has fought no one with a winning record except for Ruben Eduardo Acosta 15-2-5 2kos also from Argentina who represents the one draw on his record. They are both managed by Mario Margossian. This the same Ruben Acosta that Anthony Mundine Knocked out in four rounds in a tune up bout on the 15th of November 2006. Its good that the WBA give opportunities to unknown fighters but to make things worse New Zealand based African Peter Kariuki has won and defended two WBA regional belts the Pan Asian and Pan African Titles. The belts are supposed to help unknown boxers acquire a ranking. Peter has been waiting over a year. He is now ranked with the WBO after he won their Asia Pacific Title. A quick lesson in boxing. Who will get the decision..... the red corner, or the blue corner. If the majority rule a draw is a safe bet. Ignorance is bliss..... Click here to view a list of other articles written by Danny Leigh.  |
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