The Games and Amusements Board is planning something big for women’s boxing later this year—and hopes to show it off to “The Greatest” and his daughter if they accept an invitation to come over to Manila.
One year after the 30th anniversary of the “Thrilla in Manila,” the GAB will try to invite Muhammad Ali to return to the Philippines along with his daughter Laila to grace the country’s first women’s international pro boxing card in November, GAB Chairman Eric Buhain told Sports Times Thursday.
“We invited Laila and also her father. It would be a great homecoming,” said Buhain, noting that the three-time world heavyweight champion never came back to the country after beating fellow American Joe Frazier in their legendary October 16, 1975 title fight at the Araneta Coliseum.
He also said the Board will personally extend its invitation to Ali through Laila—the World Boxing Council female light heavyweight champion—when GAB Commissioner Alex Paglumotan attends the Women’s International Boxing Association board meeting next month in Chicago, USA.
Paglumotan is officer in charge of WIBA’s regional arm, the Women Asian Boxing Association.
The Florida, USA-based boxing body, headed by Ryan Wissow, is sanctioning the fight card in Manila, and the Alis’ presence would add luster to the event and boost women’s boxing in the country, Buhain said.
“Laila Ali is now a boxer for women, and women’s boxing is now part of the GAB through the WBC and WIBA. When Laila comes over, she will bring [her father] Ali. It will be a great event,” added the former Olympic swimmer, who moved to the Board after a stint as chairman of the Philippine Sports Commission.
In February, the GAB amended Article 75 Section A of its professional boxing rules to lift its previous barring of women’s fights, citing a “shift in global trends.” Then in March, the government agency for pro sports approved the accreditation of the WIBA and its Asian arm, paving the way for the first women’s pro bouts in the country.
The fights in November would be the next big project for the year of the GAB, which is coming off a successful staging of its first National Annual Boxing Convention last week.
The event, which drew the top boxers and officials from here and abroad, was a virtual tune-up to the country’s hosting of the World Boxing Council annual convention in November 2007.
