BYE, RONNIE
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 12 Nov 2016
Ronnie Nathanielsz passed away just this morning and the sporting world, particularly boxing, would surely miss him. Already considered a legend in sports journalism, he died while on the call of duty as he was about to cover the Manny Pacquiao-Jessie Vargas fight in Las Vegas.
He succumbed to heart attack in California and joined our Creator at age 81. Many reporters and mediamen would have retired at this age. But not for Ronnie as he spent life full of passion for sports to the last minute.
Philboxing.com has benefited much from the works of Ronnie. He was the biggest contributor to this famous Philippine boxing website with 6,492 articles to his name.
His first article in June 20, 2006 was entitled "ROACH: PACQUIAO WILL GO AFTER LARIOS RIGHT AWAY As Team Pacquiao Arrives in Manila" and his last article "ARUM PREDICTS PACQUIAO-VARGAS WILL END IN A KNOCKOUT BUT HE DOESN?T KNOW WHO WILL FALL" was written on November 3, 2016.
He averaged more than one sports article a day in more than ten years of writing in PhilBoxing and sometimes contributing 3 to 4 stories a day. And to think that in this website writers contribute pro bono just for the love of sports especially boxing.
Pinoy Pride series always had Ronnie broadcasting and commenting at ringside sometimes with Dyan Catillejo or Atty. Ed Tolentino. He was there at Blow by Blow when Senator Manny Pacquiao was a budding pro fighter.
He also wrote sports columns at the Manila Standard and Philippine Daily Inquirer. He was also a contributor to the internationally famous website BoxingScene.com.
A Sri Lankan-born but naturalized Filipino, Ronnie became famous for his detailed coverage of The Thrilla in Manila. As he always kept rare photos and files and even films of great boxers and legendary fights from Flash Elorde to Manny Pacquiao.
He was also a familiar fixture in the coverage of the games of the Philippine Basketball Association in its early years especially the Robert Jaworski-Mon Fernandez era. Basketball was his second love to boxing.
Bye, Ronnie and rest in peace. Sportscasting and sportswriting will never be the same.
Photo shows the writer with the late Ronnie Nathanielsz in one of the Pinoy Pride series in Cebu.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:
Nagoya Nightmare: Naoya Inoue Notches One-Sided Decision over Murodjon Akhmadaliev
Mon, 15 Sep 2025Inoue’s Philippine Connection: Which Pinoy Super Bantamweight Could Challenge “The Monster?”
By Carlos Costa, Mon, 15 Sep 2025Yoseline Perez Advances to the Finals at the World Boxing Championships Perez Set to Face Chinese Taipei’s Hsiao-Wen Huang for 54-Kilogram World Title
Mon, 15 Sep 2025Canelo Gets Outboxed, Loses Undisputed Title to Crawford
By Carlos Costa, Sun, 14 Sep 2025A Masterpiece of Boxing: Terence Crawford Dethrones Canelo Alvarez in Historic Showdown
By Dong Secuya, Sun, 14 Sep 2025LEWIS CROCKER IS CROWNED THE NEW IBF WORLD WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION
Sun, 14 Sep 2025Battle of Undefeated: Callum Walsh Vanquishes Fernando Vargas Jr.
By Dong Secuya, Sun, 14 Sep 2025Undercard Inferno: Mbilli and Martinez Deliver a Super Middleweight War Ending in a Thrilling Draw
By Dong Secuya, Sun, 14 Sep 2025Crawford to defy odds?
By Joaquin Henson, Sun, 14 Sep 2025Clash of Titans: The Final Predictions for Canelo Álvarez vs. Terence Crawford
By Dong Secuya, Sun, 14 Sep 2025Weigh-In Results: Naoya Inoue vs. Murodjon Akhmadaliev
Sun, 14 Sep 2025Inoue and Akhmadaliev Make Weight for Sunday's Battle, Watch it LIVE on Facebook!
By Carlos Costa, Sun, 14 Sep 2025IIEE North Cotabato and Metro Central are the Golden Champion on 3x3 Basketball and 3x3 Chess
By Marlon Bernardino, Sun, 14 Sep 2025Sydney Sy Tancontian is Female Awardee of Sports Hero of the Year
By Lito delos Reyes, Sat, 13 Sep 2025Canelo Alvarez vs Terence Crawford: Size Matters
By Chris Carlson, Sat, 13 Sep 2025