THE 'PINOY PRIDE IX' EXPERIENCE - PART 3
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 09 Oct 2011
Bacolod City:- Part of the hardest thing to do when out of town to see a boxing card or be a part of a team involved in one or two of the fights is waiting for the event to finally unfold.
That is exactly what I experienced as I sat in my hotel room waiting for my pick-up to go to the event.
Having so much time, practically the whole day in fact waiting for that to happen, I decided to call the Philippine Airlines to check on my flight schedule early Sunday to return to Manila and thus to LA. True to form, PAL canceled my return flight to Manila and did not even bother to call me to let me know despite the fact that I left them a ?call back number? specifically for that purpose. What an efficient company, huh?
I called Dennis Canete of ALA Promotions and told him the situation and he fixed my problem. Canete instructed their travel coordinator, Brent Estonilo to resolve the problem and when I returned back from the fight, an e-mail from Estonilo indicated that she had re-booked my flight with Air Philippines. That, my friends is efficiency!
At a little past 11:00 am I went down stairs to the hotel restaurant and joined Ted Lerner for lunch. The ex-pat who now makes Angeles City his home was tasked to be the ring announcer for Pinoy Pride IX. We had a very interesting conversation about the fight business as a whole. It was nice to know the points of view of someone like Lerner who is a veteran sports writer and a neutral observer of the sports.
At 3:30 PM Canete called me and asked me to take a cab to the Team hotel so I can join them as we ride to the venue. There I met the whole ALA Team. Each one was pumped ? up for the fight including the grand guru Don Antonio Aldeguer and his son Michael.
We got to the St De La Salle Coliseum a little past 5 PM and the place was already rocking despite the rain showers that blanketed the city on and off during the day.
The venue was far decent compared to the ?Galleras? in Mexico where Donnie Nietes fought and defended his minimumweight title three times. The Team dressing room was very large and had an area for the boxers to warm up. The toilet facilities were very clean and fully operational. In short, it was very comfortable.
Part of my job as a cutman was to witness the ?taping? of the hands of the visiting team. Thus, my self and Pio Solon, the young and very efficient conditioning coach of Team ALA sat on the dressing room of the Ramon Hirales Garcia and Mario Briones as their respective trainers taped their hands prior to donning their fight gloves.
With that I did not see any of the undercard fights, but I heard the young team members of ALA did not do too badly, particularly young Albert Pagara who battered Kenya?s Shaabam Madilu and Merlito Sabillo. For a late substitute, I heard Pagara was impressive.
The first fight I got involved with as a ?cut man? was the AJ Banal vs. Mario Briones fight. Banal did very well against his taller opponent. Although he appeared to begin to lose steam at the end, did enough in the early rounds to score a convincing unanimous decision.
In the big main event, Donnie Nietes won via a unanimous decision over Ramon Hirales Garcia of Mexico and in the process snatched the latter?s WBO World Junior Flyweight belt.
The fight was very close but what was most surprising were the scores of the two visiting judges, Lisa Giampa of Las Vegas who scored it as 118-110 and Carlos Ortiz of New York who turned in a 117-111 score. Filipino judge Denrex Tapdasan who scored it 115- 113 was probably the better indicator of the very close fight. But then again, judges sit in different areas around the ring and due to circumstances may see the fight in different angles.
It was exciting to be in Nietes? corner. The scene was intense particularly when Nietes got cut by head butts. He had an half and inch cut at the right part of his hairline early in the fight which modesty aside I managed very quick and easy. The same was true for the initial cut on the upper left eyebrow which was barely quarter of an inch when it first appeared after a head butt in the middle of round 9. But when the same area was hit again later, a huge gaping one inch cut appeared. I had to work a little harder to manage that one but given the right meds and procedures, it became a no-factor in the fight.
After the fight, Team ALA treated a few select people including friends, relatives and sports writers to a very late or rather very early morning (it?s was past midnight, you know) dinner at the ?manukan?. The place is nationally famous for the true Bacolod treat called ?chicken inasal?. I must tell you, it was so much fun having Chito Katangkatang and Dennis Guillermo on my side of the table. The guys were so much fun to be with and Dennis was a delight to watch as he ate and washed down his food with San Mig Light. I pity his doctor back in Indiana but hey, as I always told everyone during the weekend, ?we didn?t come to Bacolod to sleep.?
I left Bacolod feeling fulfilled. I got to see and talk to my old friends, Dong Secuya and Salven Lagumbay and even had a small drink with the mayor of the City, Bing Leonardia. Of course not to forget Bruce McTavish and Ronnie Nathanielz and the big guns in Manila dailies, - the guys I simply call Nick, Abac, Roy, and Gerry.
I am so happy for Team ALA particularly Tony Aldeguer. After all his sacrifices and the money he spent developing world class boxers in his gym, he deserves nothing less.
Congratulations, Don Antonio. I am so glad that things are finally falling in the right places. The same goes to Donnie Nietes- my new champion (again)!
I must also commend his young son Michael who is now doing most of the work for ALA. The same goes for Dennis, Chad and Brent. Of course coaches Edito, Edmund and Piolo. You guys are the best and I am so proud to be associated with you. You truly make Team ALA a classy organization.
Now back to my old stomping grounds - Los Angeles. Thanks for the memories-Bacolod!
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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