“DEATH IN THE RING” – PART 1
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 10 Apr 2007
The tragic death of 24 year old Lito Sisnorio, the former WBC Youth flyweight champion following what appeared to be a brutal fourth round knockout at the hands of former WBC world flyweight champion Chatchai Sasakul last March 30 at the Wat Sing School in Thailand has sparked a determined effort by Games and Amusements Board chairman Eric Buhain to crack down on unscrupulous individuals who exploit poor boxers desperate to eke out a living and provide for a better life for their families.
It is the same, old story of young men striving to break free from the bondage of their poverty in the only way they know how, often ending up broken if not broke and in some heartbreaking instances meeting in “DEATH IN THE RING.”
From data that we have been able to gather the death of Sisnorio brings to 34 the number of ring deaths in the Philippines since the first fatality was recorded on March 8, 1913 when Jacinto Francisco died after suffering a TKO at the hands of Monico Dimalivat in Manila. The last death prior to Sisnorio’s was on January 19, 2004 when Ryan Padrones died after being beaten by Jeffrey Etang in an amateur competition in Iloilo City.
In fact the record of ring deaths in the Philippines is surprisingly even higher than Indonesia which has a reported 24 ring deaths and was in fact banned from sending fighters abroad for six months by the WBC in 2002 following a series of deaths in 2001. The ban was lifted in July 2002 on condition that Indonesia imposed safety rules and formed a commission to monitor matches. As though it is any consolation Japan where strict rules and regulations are enforced to protect fighters and with modern medical facilities available at ringside, there have been 46 ring deaths while there have been 65 in Australia, 132 in Britain and 686 in the United States which must be considered in relation to the numerous fights that take place in America. Whatever the ratio, one life lost in the ring is one life too many.
One of the worst mismatches in recent history in the Philippines which ended in death was when Roger Gadian scored a first round knockout over deaf mute Freddie Gimay in Titay, Zamboanga del Sur on October 27, 2003. Gimay had won only one fight and lost eight while Gadian had won 15 although he had lost one more. In fact the death of Gimay apparently affected Gadian who went downhill from then on and quit after losing five fights in an row, the last loss being against Allan Ranada on November 20, 2004.
We have for some years now assailed the glaring mismatches in which Filipino boxers are sneaked out of the country to serve as fodder for Thai boxers eager to improve their ring records and through this, to elevate their world rankings by the major international boxing organizations, sometimes with the connivance of representatives of these bodies. Prior to the untimely death of Sisnorio we had posted a story on the blatant mismatch between the Filipino who was coming off a fourth round TKO at the hands of reigning WBC flyweight champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam in a ten round bout last January 26.
Julian Turner in a story on the Pongsaklek fight in the Bangkok Post said the referee made “a well-timed intervention in the fourth session when a badly-cut Sisnorio came under a sustained barrage.” It was Sisnorio’s fourth successive defeat not counting an unrecorded fight in South Korea in-between the mauling he suffered at the hands of Pongsaklek and Sasakul.
Both Thai fighters were distraught on learning that Sisnorio who underwent brain surgery on Friday night at the Piyamin Hospital for removal of a blood clot had died.. Sasakul said he didn’t sleep on Saturday night “worrying about him and I may not be able to sleep or eat properly for a long time to come.” We learned that Sasakul, a Buddhist, has visited the temple several times to pray for Sisnorio. The former world champion who lost his title by an eighth round KO to Filipino ring idol Manny Pacquiao in December 1998 after giving Pacquiao a hard time in the first six rounds said he would never forget Sisnorio. With tears in his eyes Sasakul told the Bangkok Post “ I am sure I will always see Lito every time I go into the ring.”
Pongsaklek fought Sisnorio in a tune-up fight in preparation for his April 6 title defense against Japan’s Tomonobu Shimizu (10-1, 4 KO’s) at the Tabkwang Stadium in Saraburi, Thailand which Pongsaklek won by a 7th round TKO. Upset overa Sisnorio’s untimely death Pongsaklek said “ I am shocked and saddened by his death. He fought hard with counter-punches and we had a great fight.”
Well known columnist and TV boxing analyst Quinito Henson reported that Sisnorio’s grieving girlfriend identified as Jonahmee “Lalang” Bacus revealed that when Sisnorio was brought to Thailand “they made him fight after two weeks. Then they took him to Korea for another fight which he lost.” That Korean fight was never reported. Bacus said Sisnorio never told her how much he earned but complained that in Korea “things were expensive and he had to scrimp.”
The young lady is bitter and has demanded “justice for Lito.” In fact she asked the question many others have posed – why can’t the GAB do anything to stop this?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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