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Philippines, 20 Mar 2026 |
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ABA'S SMITH REVEALS FUTURE PLANS, AND PAST ASSOCIATION WITH FREDDIE ROACH PhilBoxing.com Sun, 02 Nov 2008 (EDITOR'S NOTE: The following was sent to us by American Boxing Academy (ABA) founder Ken Smith) It was a really good card (referring to Oct. 31 Digos event) that I am proud of. The local GAB office was complimentary too. Ramie Laput made very easy work of Phil Angcamor even he went the full 10 rounds. Laput came out with not even a scrape and is ready to go again. It is our plan for Laput to fight Nov 26 in Sarangani on the respected mayor of Maasim and my good friend JoJo Lopezes promotion. I will have Ramie's opponent to report to you this week. The fact that we are keeping Ramie busy is to move him in the WBO rankings, and to make sure he is prepared for a big fight that will certainly be coming for him. We dont just want to get the fight for Ram, we want him to be prepared to win it. Ramie is the real deal, and when he gets a chance to show it the Filipinos will have another hope. "It is really exciting for us to be involved in Philippine boxing, as it takes over as the undisputed power in boxing. Thanks to Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino fighters will now get their long deserved place at the head of the boxing dining table. I intend to make sure my Filipino boys get to eat at this table too. The American Boxing Academy of Digos City was not started for any other purpose but for the benefit of the Filipino fighters we select. People have probably misunderstood because our name is American, I am American, and my trainer is American. But the truth is that all of our boxers are Filipinos, my staff are all Filipinos, as are my family members who run the day to day operations of our growing training camp. ABA now has 15 professional Filipino boxers under contract, including world rated Jr featherweight Ramie Laput, and #1 rated Philippine Flyweight Fernando "TaTa" Lumacad. The fighters live in a newly built mansion-like 7-unit two-storey apartment building where they eat and sleep and next to where they train daily in their newly built gym fully equipped even with two boxing rings. Some of the younger fighters are enrolled in the Phil/Dep of Education high school program where they are earning their high school diplomas. I fund the operation myself, but am not able to do any of this without my family. Rosalinda "Ma" Salazar is the glue, she keeps everything together. She does everything for us, and I mean everything. She takes boxers to the doctor and Dentist, oversees their food and is their shoulder when they are homesick or tired. Alfredo "Pa" Salazar is our promoter and I swear he knows everyone in Mindanao. Fredo is a photographer by profession and has an eye for a fighter's good side. John Glen "Moonwalker" Salazar is my brother-inlaw and my right arm. Nothing gets done without Glen's approval. He is the head of operations, and answers to me. Glen is a pretty amazing young guy. He graduated from college with the help of his older sister who is my wife, and he received a nursing diploma. Glen had earlier stopped his education so that he could work and help my wife finish college where she received her bachelors degree. Glen knew nothing about the boxing business or boxers at all. That all changed when "Storman" Norman Wilson arrived at American Boxing Academy. The renowned American trainer at Smith's request took the young Salazar under his wing and has proceeded to teach him the business of boxing from the bottom up. Wilson said of Salazar "Glen is a super kid, he really works hard for ABA and has learned a lot already, the good thing about Glen is he asks questions, and he listens." Glen Salazar is the ABA's matchmaker in addition to all his other duties. He has been responsible for getting the proper opponents for ABA fighters at the right time in their careers. Salazar has been responsible for attracting boxers from such established people as ALA boys, Wakee Salud's stable, Mayor Lopez stable, and Sammy Gello-ani among others, to our American Boxing Academy Promotions events. ABA's American trainer Norman Wilson is known in most boxing circles as he has trained and cornered many world champions, and in addition to his work training ABA fighters, Norman has had the duty of grooming ABA operations head Glen Salazar for his job, in addition to teaching ABA assistant trainer Mikey Revella the ropes. ABA owner Ken Smith with a long history in boxing that includes working the corner of the Hall of Fame trainer and one time world title challenger Freddie Roach. "Back in the late 1980s I was fortunate enough to get to work as an assistant in the corner of Freddie Roach when he fought on a few fight cards that the company I was working for promoted. The fights were televised on the USA network. Ironically Freddie beat a Filipino fighter one of those fights named Arnel Arrozal" Smith said. "A couple years later I was invited by Freddie thru our mutual friend lawyer to bring a heavyweight I was training, to work with Roach's Light Heavyweight champion Virgil'Quicksilver" Hill. It was a pretty exciting time for a young trainer like me to get to work for a week with the legendary trainer Eddie Futch, and future hall of famer Freddie Roach in a world champs training camp even as my guy got beat up everyday by Hill." Smith is hoping for a reconnection with his old associate Roach whom he met with recently at the Darchinyan vs Kirlov fight in Seattle Wa. "I was only able to talk with Freddie for a few minutes as he was busy, but I quickly mentioned my problems connecting my fighters with my old promoter Top Rank due to Manny's bucket boy Mike Konz interferring. Freddie advised me to talk to Manny myself." Whatever the relationship between Smith and Roach, the one thing that seems to resemble each is their commitment they have both made to the careers of their Filipino pugilists. The best fighters dont always make the best trainers or managers. But, the fact that they have entered the ring themselves gives them a perspective that cannot be achieved by an "outsider". The experience of having faced the same situation as a fighter getting ready to go into battle cannot be simulated or faked, as the old saying goes "It takes one, to know one."  |
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