GAB WANTS BARRIGA AND SUAREZ TO SECURE PRO BOXERS LICENSES
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 14 Jan 2015
Barriga.
The Games and Amusements Board wants light flyweight Mark Anthony Barriga who competed in the 2012 London Olympic Games and lightweight Charly Suarez who will compete in the international governing body AIBA?S pro boxing tournament which will be launched in March, to secure a professional boxer?s license from the GAB for the year 2015 and to also secure an ?Authority to Fight? from the governing body for pro sports ? prior to every fight abroad.?
In separate letters to Barriga and Suarez GAB chairman Juan Ramon Guanzon noted that the GAB is ?the government agency tasked with the supervision and regulation of professional boxing and other professional sports? and that they had earlier communicated with the Association of Boxing Alliances of the Philippines (ABAP) and the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) ?regarding your participation in the AIBA professional boxing tournament because the same involves the payment of purses, prize money and even contractual income.?
ABAP president Ricky Vargas told the Manila Standard/Viva Sports that he had set up a meeting with chairman Guanzon next week to discuss the issue.
The Philippine Olympic Committee had earlier expressed concern over the absence of Barriga and Suarez from the Philippine team to the Southeast Asian Games in Singapore in June fearing that as a result what the POC believes would be two sure gold medals will be lost thereby affecting the overall chances of the Philippines for a fourth place finish compared to its dismal seventh place in the last two SEA Games competitions.
In an official statement the ABAP assured the POC that it would take ?full responsibility over the boxing team?s stint? while Vargas claimed that the decision not to field Barriga and Suarez in the SEA Games ?doesn?t bother them as the association believes that those who will take their place are equally capable.?
Noting that the AIBA had picked the two Filipinos to take part alongside seven of the other top fighters in their weight divisions in the tournament where the boxers won?t fight ?in the traditional amateur style? and that the tournament ?dangles hefty cash prizes? with the POC feeling that the participation of Barriga and Suarez in the AIBA pro tournament creates ? a conflict with the athletes obligation to the government? since the two boxers are classified as ?elite athletes? and receive a P40,000 monthly allowance as such.
Vargas told the Standard that the SEA Games is not an event recognized by AIBA and that by competing in its pro tournament Barriga and Suarez ?will gain exposure and experience fighting the best? with opportunities to qualify for the Olympic Games which is the prime goal.
He revealed that boxers who compete in the AIBA pro tournament will have three chances to qualify for the Olympics while boxers who don?t will have only one, which he regards as an obvious advantage in the quest for the Philippines first Olympic gold medal.
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