UNSCRUPULOUS EXPLOTATION OF FILIPINO BOXERS
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 19 May 2010
When Filipino minimum weight Michael Rodriguez who has a miserable record of 19 defeats against only 7 wins with not a single win by knockout lost a unanimous decision to stocky veteran Pigmy Muangchaiyaphum whose record is 40-5-2 with 18 knockouts in Thailand the other day it came as no surprise at all.
The biggest surprise which demands an answer from the Games and Amusements Board boxing division headed by Dr. Nasser Cruz is that the GAB, which is mandated by law to supervise and control the sport and above all protect our boxers from unscrupulous individuals who exploit these poor young men striving to earn a decent living, approved the obvious mismatch.
Rodriguez was coming off back-to-back losses and had lost 8 of his last 11 fights but the GAB apparently sanctioned his bout against Muangchaiyaphum who is rated No. 4 in the world by both the WBC and the WBA and No. 2 by the WBO.
As well known and respected Panamanian boxing aficionado Carlos Costa who watched the fight card in Thailand noted, boxers like Rodriguez ?should not be allowed to fight world ranked destroyers. Thank goodness nothing happened.?
Rodriguez was one of the fighters sneaked out of the country along with 24 year old Lito Sisnorio, the former WBC Youth Flyweight champion who suffered a brutal 4th round knockout at the hands of former world flyweight champion Chatchai Sasakul on March 30, 2007 and died after undergoing brain surgery at the Piyamin Hospital for removal of a blood clot.
Prior to the Sasakul battering, Sisonorio was badly beaten by another world champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam.Then GAB chairman Eric Buhain launched what he claimed was a determined effort to crack down on unscrupulous individuals who exploit poor fighters and don?t secure the necessary clearance to fight from the GAB. That was then but now it seems, the GAB itself is the prime violator of its own publicly announced standards.
We learned that Rodriguez? purse was US$100 per round, win or lose. If the Filipino was knocked out in the first round of the scheduled six rounder he would have traveled all the way to Bangkok to virtually risk his life for a measly P4,500 a round.
On the other hand if Rodriguez by some minor miracle knocked out Pigmy in the first round he still would have earned P4,500. Surely, assuming he had a chance to do the impossible, would he have done it and lost money?
Under the circumstances Rodriguez? strategy was to somehow survive the six rounds so he could earn US$600/- or around P27,000. And he did.
Rodriguez reportedly has no manager and trains by himself. Given his situation we wonder how his fights against well-trained, world rated fighters are sanctioned by the GAB.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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