COMMENTARY: PROMOTERS HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO THE PAYING PUBLIC
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 14 Jan 2009
Boxing fans have a right to be protected when they buy tickets for boxing events, unlike fight cards staged in places such as the Mandaluyong City Gym where entrance is free and in addition the fighters are most of the time evenly matched providing exciting battles and excellent entertainment.
A good example was Sunday?s fight card at the Araneta Coliseum where two certified patsies fought two of the best Filipino fighters in the lower weight divisions ? minimum weight champion Denver Cuello and light flyweight Sonny Boy Jaro, both handled by promoter/manager Aljoe Jaro whose prized possession Bernabe Concepcion scored a 5th round TKO over game Kenyan Sande Otieno in the main event.
If the idea of the match-making was to give Jaro?s boys a chance to win handsomely and please the fans, many of whom had come from Catanduanes to watch the promising Concepcion in action in the main event against game Sande Otieno of Kenya , with the generous support from the Iglesia Ni Kristo to which church Concepcion belongs, that?s fine.
But what about the other fight fans who bought tickets and were not recipients of the generosity of the INK? How can you justify their having to shell out hard-earned money to see some of our best fighters half-murder patsies? There is certainly no fun in that, neither is anything achieved in terms of improving our boxers competitive abilities.
Sonny Boy Jaro was coming off a twelve round loss to one of the toughest world champions in Mexico?s Edgar Sosa whom he dropped in the 9th round but couldn?t put away. They matched him against a former Muay Thai fighter whose name, after some initial confusion, was announced as Ruslee Samoh from Thailand and confirmed by Games and Amusements Board boxing division chief Dr. Nasser Cruz.
A check with the records of boxrec.com showed he hadn?t fought even once before. When we checked earlier with well-known boxing journalist Scott Mallon using the first name announced by the promoters as a worthy opponent and not a patsy ? Naupayak Sakkririn ? Mallon said he was unheard of. BS was his curt reply when told the Thai had a 14-1 record.
As we told our good friends at special ringside, former Pasig Mayor Mario Raymundo and broadcaster Ed Tipton of dzHP fame decades ago, the Thai was a bum who wouldn?t last one round. He didn?t, and in the process was prostrate on the canvas for several minutes and many minutes longer on a stool in his corner while GAB doctors gathered around him to make sure he was alright.
If anything unfortunate happened to Samoh then both the promoter and the GAB would surely have been held responsible. For how in the name of sanity could the GAB approve a fight between a hard-hitting world title challenger with a record of 29-7-5 with 18 knockouts against a former Muay Thai fighter making his pro debut? It defies all the rules of boxing and puts into peril the safety of the fighter which the boxing agency is duty bound to protect.
The Cuello two round massacre of Indonesia ?s Yanus Emaury was not as bad, but it still emerged as a farce. Cuello with a record of 15-2-5 with 7 knockouts pulverized the Indon who had a poor record of 6-4-1 with 3 knockouts, forcing a stoppage in the second round.
It was the same story when the Philippines No.1 featherweight Michael Farenas was matched against two Thai bums in successive fights in Mandaluyong promoted by WBO bantamweight champion Gerry Penalosa. Farenas hardly touched Sorachet Tongmala when the Thai fell on the canvas in agonizing pain which was a mockery to say the least. That was in October. Then last December 27 Sunan Thosen survived three rounds because of his tough Muay Thai background before being knocked out.
Promoters have an obligation to fight fans as well as the boxers themselves, while the GAB has a duty to protect the public from bums being passed off as worthy contenders. If the GAB as well as promoters and matchmakers don?t do their job as mandated, then when Manny Pacquiao retires and is no longer the single great unifying force and inspiration, boxing may well suffer a knockout.
Top photo: Sonny Boy Jaro (C) made short work over the overmatched Ruslee Samoh of Indonesia. Photo by Dong Secuya.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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