21st WBO CONVENTION NOTES AND PHOTOS
By Salven L. Lagumbay
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 16 Nov 2008
FT LAUDERDALE, Florida--The curtains fell yesterday for this year's 21st WBO Annual Convention held at the Marriott Harbor Beach Resort and Spa here, but the promise of a more successful tomorrow dawned on the close to 500 delegates all over the world who congregated to make it a memorable event.
WBO president Paco Valcarcel, re-elected this year to head the world's most prestigious boxing organization for the next four years, thanked everybody for taking time from their busy schedules to attend the program, especially the boxers who continue to work hard for the sport they love.
On Thursday, Nov. 12, the officials' seminar was conducted by the Association of Boxing Commissions, and at the end of the lectures, exams were conducted on the officials for them to get ABC accreditations.
Long-time WBO supermiddleweight king Joe Calzaghe was this year's WBO Fighter of the Year, having won the title in 1997 and keeping his record intact after 46 fights with 32 KO's. He is the longest-reigning super middleweight champion with 21 record-breaking title defenses.
The WBO Fight of the Year is the give-and-take Joe Calzaghe vs Mikkel Kessler battle, a unification bout between two unbeaten warriors attended by more than 50,000 fans, the largest indoor boxing event in European history.
Legendary promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank was chosen as Promoter of the Year.
Special mention went to Oscar De la Hoya, cited as the first Hispanic to own a national boxing promotion company and holder of the pay-per-view record.
The night's biggest winner, however, appeared to be international matchmaker Sampson Lewkowicz, who received just about one-third of all trophies given away for representing different fighters all over the world, and "for successfully spreading his wings in Asia."
Lewkowicz, winner of six consecutive WBO matchmaker of the year award, was also a runaway winner of the ratings deliberation held earlier in the day.
Golden Boy Promotions' Eric Gomez is this year's Matchmaker of the Year, while WBO Asia Pacific chairman Leon Panoncillo was also cited by WBO president Valcarcel for his trailblazing success in Asia, prompting vice-president Rudy Paz to quip: "Leon walks on water in what he's doing in Asia."
GAB Chairman Eric Buhain and Commissioner Angel Bautista were also given Special Recognition by the WBO.
ALA Promotions' Michael Aldeguer was chosen as Manager of the Year, while SGG's Sammy Gello-ani received the Oriental Promoter of the Year plum.
Top photo: WBO President Paco Valcarcel (C) with Filipino delegates promoter Sammy Gello-ani (L) and Edward Ligas.
Photos by Salven Lagumbay.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Salven L. Lagumbay.
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