Abainza back on his feet
By Joaquin Henson
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 08 Mar 2019
Abainza.
Last Wednesday, veteran international boxing referee and judge Silvestre Abainza underwent a successful heart procedure to address a blockage in his left coronary artery at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center in San Juan. Doctors call a big blockage in the left anterior descending artery a ?widow maker? and that?s what caused Abainza to go under the knife. ?Ang sabi, pag ?yon ang nabara, siguradong balo ang Mrs. kaagad,? said the 67-year-old Abainza who took out his first referee?s license from the GAB in 1985.
Abainza consulted Dr. Andrew Carreon a few weeks ago, complaining that he easily tires. Dr. Carreon suspected blockages in at least two arteries and scheduled an angiogram to determine the extent of the required repair work. The angiogram confirmed the blockage in the left artery and Dr. Carreon performed an angioplasty to widen the obstructed vein. Both the angiogram and angioplasty took 45 minutes. Abainza said staying in the recovery room was longer.
?Ang bilis at magaling ang team nina Dr. Carreon at Dr. Reggie Encabo,? he said. ?Si Dr. Carreon ang cardio ni Sen. Manny (Pacquiao) at nalaman niya na referee ako at napag-referee-han ko na si Senator.? Abainza was the third man in the ring for three Pacquiao fights----against Renato Mendones in 1995, Wook Ki Lee in 1997 and Serikzhan Yeshmagambetov in 2003. The Mendones fight was in Puerto Princesa and Pacquiao?s eighth outing. That ended in two rounds. Lee capitulated in 1:04 of the first round in Makati while Serikzhan was stopped in the fifth round. The fight against Serikzhan was at the Quirino Grandstand in front of thousands of fans. Serikzhan was dropped in the first then returned the favor, flooring Pacquiao in the fourth. Pacquiao decked the Kazakh twice in the fifth before Abainza halted the massacre. In all, Abainza was in the ring for less than 10 rounds in three fights with Pacquiao.
Last Saturday, Abainza was discharged from the hospital and was back at home. ?Mahaba ang bara, dalawang pulgada,? he said. ?Need ko na lang rehab para maka-recover ang advice ni Dr. Carreon.?
The good news is Dr. Carreon has cleared Abainza to return to his boxing duties. He may not be a referee in the MP Promotions card at the Resorts World on March 23 but could work at least as a judge. The card features a pair of IBF title eliminators with No. 3 Kenny Demecillo taking on No. 4 Michael Dasmarinas in a bantamweight tussle and No. 4 Samuel Salva facing No. 5 Rene Mark Cuarto in a miniumumweight bout. The Demecillo-Dasmarinas winner will be the next mandatory challenger of IBF champion Emmanuel Rodriguez of Puerto Rico. That is, if Rodriguez remains on the throne after tackling Naoya Inoue on May 18. The Salva-Cuarto survivor will earn the right to challenge IBF 105-pound king DeeJay Kriel of South Africa.
Abainza said Dr. Carreon has also approved his travel to China to work as a referee in the IBF Silk Road Tournament final between General Santos City?s Jayson Mama and Thailand?s Fahlan Sakkreerin, Jr. on March 28.
Abainza said a write-up on his medical condition in the Philippine Star brought in a wave of support from different sources. Dr. Ed de la Vega of Los Angeles wired his donation to assist in defraying Abainza?s medical expenses. Others who helped out were Rene Angeles of San Lorenzo Village, Atty. Boy Ferea, Ramon Recto of Urdaneta Village, Mr. and Mrs. Eric Recto of Dasmarinas Village, Davao-based boxing judge Alberto (Brembot) Dulalas and the Association of Philippine Boxing Ring Officials headed by president Architect Elmo Coloma.
?Salamat ng marami sa lahat ng tumulong at nagdasal,? said Abainza who retired as a Makati policeman in 2008. ?Maraming nagulat noong nabasa nila sa Philippine Star ang aking condisyon. Ngayon, back to work ako sa aking love at passion na boxing. Ang rehab pitong session para ma-monitor ang heart ko, nakakadalawa na ako so lima na lang.?
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Joaquin Henson.
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