THE Provincial Government of Misamis Oriental together with the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) and Smart Communications Inc. Sunday launched the 2007 Smart National Open Youth and Women Amateur Boxing Championships in Misamis Oriental at the Capitol grounds.
The event participated in by boxing teams from 34 provinces in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao is divided into six divisions comprised of kids, school age, adult, juniors, seniors and females. The weeklong event is a lead up to the Visayas-Mindanao Boxing Cup which features a World Boxing Organization (WBO) title bout between Milan Melindo of Cagayan de Oro and Thai boxer Naupayak Sakkrikin at the Mindanao Polytechnic State College (MPSC) gym on Oct. 6.
During the opening, Misamis Oriental Gov. Oscar Moreno said more than 300 boxers have participated in the event, which was more than what was anticipated by the organizers.
The governor said the boxing event is bigger than the Mindanao qualifying event for the Olympic Games held last August.
“What’s important about sponsoring the event is that the sport of boxing builds character and it’s important for us in the province to also develop that strong character (for ourselves),” Moreno told participants and the crowd that gathered in the Capitol grounds.
For his part ABAP President Manuel Lopez cited the achievements of boxing figures in Cagayan de Oro and Misamis Oriental like Roberto Jalnaiz and Violito Payla who earned honors for the country in the Asian Games.
Lopez confirmed that winners in the week-long boxing event would be considered for future international boxing events like the forthcoming Beijing Olympics.
“So we are asking for the Filipino public support for events like these in order to support amateur boxing and help produce more champions in the mold of People’s Champ Manny Pacquiao,” Lopez said.
