THERE is this story of a mother who described to a friend her newborn son by saying: ?It?s not that he is my son, but I really believe he is Christ in His second coming.? Mothers could exaggerate when they talk about their sons or daughters and think of them as the best while writers like me sometimes lose our objectivity when we write about people we know very well or subjects we are closely identified with.
Which is why some readers feel that my stories about the young fighters who belong to the Braveheart Boxing Club which my brothers and I own are nothing but horn blowing rather than legitimate insider?s accounts.
But who else would know and could write better about these young fighters who are products of a grassroots boxing program I started over 10 years ago?
Ever since the news that Freddie Roach will start training North Cotabato boxing prospect Lorenzo Villanueva, there has been a deluge of inquiries on who really is this young fighter described by www.mp8.ph blogcaster Margo Midwinter as the next boxing star from the Philippines.
So in response to the many queries and to satisfy the curious, allow me to reintroduce this 24-year-old fighter to those who are starting to hear his name only now. Just consider me an embedded journalist reporting straight from the frontlines.
He was about 15 when Lorenzo was brought to the provincial capitol along with some young boys from the town of Midsayap who were considered as amateur boxing prospects by our trainers handling the Paboksing Para sa Masa program (Boxing for the Masses).
Tall and skinny, Lorenzo was shy and would not even talk unless he is engaged.
His responses would just be in two or three words. Inside the ring, he was awkward but there was an unusual ferocity in him.
