The first time two Filipino boxers battled for a world title was in May 1925, when Pancho Villa successfully defended his world flyweight title with a decision over Clever Sencio in Manila. Villa did not really want the fight, but he was running low on cash while vacationing in the country and needed money to keep the parties going. Not a few thought Villa carried Sencio and avoided inflicting serious damage on the young man who idolized him.
It was not until last May, or ninety-three years later, when history repeated itself. Jerwin Ancajas successfully defended his International Boxing Federation (IBF) super flyweight (115 lbs.) crown with a routine decision win over Jonas Sultan in Fresno, California.
Don?t look now, but another all-Filipino world boxing title showdown is set to take place on September 8 when former three-division world champion Donnie ?Ahas? Nietes takes on Aston Palicte in Los Angeles for the vacant World Boxing Organization (WBO) super flyweight diadem.
Nietes-Palicte coming on the heels of the Ancajas-Sultan fight raises a point of discussion: Is an all-Filipino world title fight good for Philippine boxing?
Those who oppose such a pairing argue that the country does not have many marquee fighters and the last thing they want to see are two promising names trying to knock each other out.
Case in point: Nietes and Palicte can easily give the country two world titles but instead they will end up going for each other?s throat. There are now four sanctioning bodies in pro boxing (WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO); Nietes and Palicte can go after different versions of the super flyweight title instead of zeroing in on just the WBO. Down the road, after they have cleaned up their ranks, they can meet in a unification showdown and Philippine boxing will be richer for it.
More legitimate world champions create excitement and expand the sport?s fan base in the country. As things stand, local boxing promotions are scarce and two prospects eliminating each other will definitely not help.
There is also the cultural backdrop worth noting. Filipinos are tightly knit and nobody wants to be identified as the ?villain? in the story. Villa was soft on Sencio in the same way Ancajas seemed less ferocious opposite Sultan. In such a pairing, nobody wants to play the role of the bad guy. This was the same story in the 1930s, when several young Filipino boxers (flyweights Small Montana, Little Dado and Sencio, bantamweight Speedy Dado and middleweight Ceferino Garcia, to name a few) moved to the US in the hope of duplicating Villa?s success. They avoided fighting each other and focused on beating up their foreign adversaries. A rarity happened in 1938, when Montana (Benjamin Gan in real life) fought Little Dado (Eleuterio Zapanta) for California?s version of the flyweight crown. Still, both men showed too much respect for each other. Dado settled for a ho-hum decision win after 10 rounds.
On the other end, those who find an all-Filipino title fight palatable aver that such a pairing showcases the fistic talent of the Filipinos before an international audience. Two Filipino fighters earning the right to battle for a world title is actually a testament to the quality of the boxers the country has been producing. ?Maganda kasi maipapakilala sa buong mundo na maraming magagaling na Filipino boxer,? Joven Jimenez, the trainer of Ancajas, told this writer.
The debate only figures to gather more steam as the opening bell for the Nietes-Palicte fight nears.
