SOMODIO LOOKS FORWARD TO WORKING IN BIG FIGHTS
By Eddie Alinea
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 04 Jul 2012
SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- He dreamed of someday becoming a civil engineer.
To accomplish his dream, he used boxing as a vehicle. As a member of the University of Baguio boxing team, the farthest Iloilo boy Marvin Somodio could go was earn a slot in the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines training pool in the company of his more illustrious team mates, Olympian Harry Tanamor, Asian Games gold medalist Joan Tipon and Southeast Asian Games campaigners Violito Payla and Bill Vicera, among others.
"Masyado daw akong maliit kaya hindi ako nakapasok sa Philippine team (They said I was too small as a boxer, reason why I was not chosen to the Philippine team)," the now 28-year-old, Somodio, who barely stands five feet and fought as a light-flyweight in his fighting days, told this writer in a telephone interview from Los Angeles.
Frustrated, he turned pro and had a couple of fights, but his lack of physical built needed in the profession, forced him to get quit, too, despite winning both his first pro fights. To make things worse, he had to also forego his studies for lack of money to sustain his dream of earning an engineering degree.
In 1999, Boy Catolico, then a member of the national coaching staff who also handled the UB boxing team recommended the sixth child in the brood of nine born in the union of Mario Somodio (deceased) and wife Luzvivina to businessman-sportsman Anson Tiu Co, whose family owns the Cooyeesan Hotel, now known as Manny Pacquiao's home while undergoing altitude training for his coming fights.
The rest, as the saying goes, is history.
As caretaker of the Shape Up Boxing Gym, home to the boxing stable of Tiu Co, Somodio has been working with Pacquiao's chief trainer Freddie Roach from 2009 during the former WBO welterweight champion's build up for his fight with Miguel Cotto up this day.
Somodio's work ethics and his ability to learn fast impressed Roach deeply that after the Pacman's Baguio training camp for his title-bout with Timothy Bradley last June 9, the Boston-born trainer and owner of the Wild Card Gym in L.A. brought the young Filipino strength and conditioning trainer along when the camp moved to the U. S.
Somodio obtained a three-year contract to work as assistant trainer at the Wild Card Gym handling the fine-tuning programs of former junior-welterweight world champion Amir Khan and reigning reigning middleweight kingpin Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.
If everything goes well as planned, Somodio could be standing in Khan's and Chavez's corners along with Roach in the duo's coming outings (this coming July 13 for Khan against Danny Garcia and in September for Chavez Jr. against Sergio Martinez) and turn his failure in his engineering course to success.
Nearly two weeks ago Somodio assisted coach Eric Brown in guiding Pacquiao's sparring partner Friday Ruslan Provodnikov to a second round knockout win over Jose Reynoso in the headliner of ESPN's "Friday Night Fight" held in Corona in California.
On July 12, the eve of Khan's fight against Garcia, Somodio will be assisting Roach as corner man to guide British junior-welterweight prospect Lian Vaughan who will be fighting in Hollywood.
"I am still lucky even if I did not succeed in my dream to become an engineer.
who would have thought that I can work here in the U. S.?? Somodio said. "Kaya nga lubos ang pasasalamat ko kay Cong Manny, kay coach Freddie at lahat ng tumulong sa akin, kasama na ang media."
Somodio said he will be returning him after the Chavez fight to again do his share in the strength and conditioning aspect of Pacquiao's training camp in Baguio for his November fight against a still unnamed opponent.
(Top photo ? Somodio with Manny Pacquiao in Baguio. Photo by Wendell Rupert Alinea)
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eddie Alinea.
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