?GOLDEN? BUT WE CAN STILL DO BETTER
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 23 Dec 2009
?Are we living in the golden age of Philippine boxing?? This question has frequently popped up not just due to the continuing epic career of Manny Pacquiao but also because of the sudden increase in the number of world title holders for the past couple of years.
The past two years saw Manny Pacquiao winning titles at superfeatherweight, lightweight, jr.welterweight and welterweight, topping everyone?s pound for pound list, making the cover of Reader?s Digest and Time and becoming a crossover star in the U.S.
The other recent title belt holders include : Gerry Penalosa reigned as WBO bantamweight champ (2007-2009), Florante Condes has a brief reign as IBF minimumweight champ (2007-08), Donnie Nietes (WBO minimumweight 2007 - present), Nonito Donaire,Jr. reigned as IBF flyweight champ (2007-09) then won the WBA interim world superflyweight title this year.
In 2009 we saw Brian Viloria become a jr.flyweight champ once again, this time the IBF version; Marvin Sonsona became the second youngest Filipino title holder in history when he won the WBO superflyweight crown only to lose the title at the scales in his first defense, and Rodel Mayol finally fulfilled his destiny and won the WBC jr.flyweight crown.
Eleven days before 2009 ended, Johnriel Casimero added the WBO interim light flyweight world title to the country?s treasure chest of title belts.
In short, at certain intervals three, four and even five Filipinos held a world boxing crown. Has there been any precedent?
For a large part of our country?s history, we only had one champion in a calendar year. In 1975, we had two simultaneously reigning champs: Erbito Salavarria (WBA flyweight) and Ben Villaflor (WBA jr.lightweight).
In 1998 Luisito Espinosa was enjoying what would be his final full year as WBC featherweight champ, he would lose his title in May 1999 to Cesar Soto. Gerry Penalosa started 1998 still WBC superflyweight champ but lost his title in August to In Joo Cho. December 1998 saw Manny Pacquiao?s come from behind victory over Chatchai Sasakul and winning the WBC flyweight crown.
1998 was a good year but it doesn?t match 2008 or 2009 in terms of fan interest and hysteria.
Filipino boxers have also benefited from the publicity they got through the world wide web. Websites like philboxing and Pacland have made it easier for Pinoy pugilists to get noticed abroad and Filipinos living abroad have banded together to support our boxers in various internet forums.
But we can still do better. One of the valuable lessons that Pacquiao has taught us is that we can still improve and even the best can get better.
The following areas need to be upgraded:
1.Scouting for talent ? this is for both the amateur and professional side of the sports. Our amateur boxing talent pool has been declining in terms of quality. Our female amateur boxers are performing way better than the men at the world championship level but what happens when the likes of Annie Albania get older?
We still have to win a gold medal in Olympic boxing. Will our female boxers succeed where the men have perpetually failed?
In the pro ranks, promoters and managers have been trying to look for the next Pacquiao. But it also takes talent to be a good scout and to be able to spot potential; it is not just about finding another hard puncher.
Having the patience to work on someone with the right tools or spotting potential among the rawest of the raw is something we need to work on.
2.Find quality boxers to campaign in weight divisions above 135 lbs. ? Our country?s continuing misguided infatuation with basketball has a negative effect not just in boxing but in other sports as well. The natural athletic talent in our basketball leagues could have produced gold medals in sports like track and field.
- Most Pinoys above 5 foot 8 would rather play basketball. This is not a slap against basketball. Like most Pinoys I still enjoy watching the sport. But millions are being spent on twelve guys that can produce only one medal.
3.Training for ring officials, referees and judges - it takes years of experience to be a competent referee or judge. Most judges that I?ve talked to learned on their own by watching TV fights and comparing their scoring when the results were announced. Some did have the benefit of joining training seminars abroad.
- We need to have our own regular training sessions and recruit decent people who want to be a referee or judge before the more experienced ones get too old to be able to do their job properly. We can even invite foreign referees and judges to conduct work shops.
- This is not just for the big cities but also for fight cards held in smaller cities and towns.
4.Medical clearance and emergency medical services - we may not be at par with the medical technology of western nations but training medical personnel in handling acute brain trauma and stabilizing the fighter before transporting him to the nearest hospital will save lives.
- I also wrote in an earlier article that aside from hepatitis, we need to routinely screen boxers for HIV which is also a virus found in the blood of infected individuals. The results of this can and should be confidential.
5.Nutritionists and conditioning coaches for both professional and amateur boxing stables
- this would cost a lot of money but it would reap benefits in the long run.
I?m sure the reader will have his or her won ideas on how to improve things. The 2010 elections are just around the corner. One can only hope change will happen that will have a positive effect on Philippine sports. Millions of pesos are being stuffed inside the pockets of corrupt government officials. Millions are also being wasted in non-sustainable projects. If only a fraction of that money was being used for a decent grassroots sports program.
If you consider the fact that amateur and professional boxers have continued to win for our country despite training on a shoe string budget, imagine what would happen if Filipinos really got united and got serious about sports instead of trying to tear each other apart.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..
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