WITH nobody looking, Hermie Rivera blew into town to help Manny Pacquiao win a seat in Congress.
That done away with, Hermie, the taste of sweet success still tarrying in his lips, is on his second mission: Bring in his Olympic boy from the US of A.
Hermie?s kid is born to Filipino parents in Lafayette, Indiana.
?No problem with that,? said Ed Picson, the hard-nosed executive director of the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines. ?Anytime, he is eligible for dual citizenship, a basic requirement for him to qualify to join the national team.?
After Dennis Principe saw Hermie?s prot?g? do his thing on the YouTube, the eagle-eyed Dennis said to Hermie, ?You got it, Sir! He?s really good!?
Hermie next called up Dr. Manoling Cacdac, Indiana-based, and asked the Filipino surgeon to bring the kid ASAP to Los Angeles, CA.
It was Cacdac, who had recently won all 19 counts of suits filed against him by a disgruntled employee-physician of his whom he had fired for negligence, who had tipped Hermie about ?this kid who boxes and idolizes Pacquiao to high heavens.?
The first thing Hermie did when Julian Santos Chua arrived in LA was to bring the kid to the Wild Card Gym, the joint that has now become world-famous because it is Pacquiao?s favorite training arena. Roach owns it.
The kid, still very much nervous because?yes, give it to him, he was only 18 then?was nevertheless flung to a virtual lion?s den.
Hermie, the only Filipino to produce two world boxing champions, immediately gave the kid a no-nonsense spar-mitts with Roach, the three-time Trainer of the Year who made Pacquiao for what he is today: a 7-time world champ in 7 different weight categories.
After testing the kid for nearly 45 minutes?with Pacquiao himself watching rapturously nearby?Roach said to Hermie, ?You have a winner in this kid. It?d be a shame if you won?t stick by him.?
To prove his point, Roach offered to help Hermie make the kid ?a somebody someday.?
And then this, from no less than Pacquiao: ?Hey, Hermie. Let me also help you with this kid. I like his fighting style, you know.?
After shaking the kid?s nervous-fueled hand, Pacquiao next did his 12 rounds of sparring (he was preparing then for the Joshua Clottey fight).
Awe-struck as he watched his idol Pacman train in the flesh, the kid from Indiana, who turned 19 on April 12, told Hermie, ?Sir, I hope to be like Pacquiao someday.?
That was in February. Six amateur fights later (he won them all), Julian Santos Chua?s dream is very much alive?thanks to Hermie. And also to Ed P, my unflappable buddy.
?Let?s have him for the 2012 London Olympic Games qualifying here next year,? Ed said to Hermie just the other night over beer and brandy at the Bacolod Chicken House along Visayas Ave., QC.
?I will,? Hermie said. ?Ah tell ya, this kid has what it takes to win the country?s first Olympic gold in boxing.?
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P.S. My dear friend Henry Go e-mailed to say the Vis-Min Jungolf is on May 20 to 22 at the Sta. Barbara Golf Course in Iloilo City. Cheers!
