PACQUIAO REMINISCES HIS AMATEUR DAYS IN DIGOS; PUTS UP FACILITIES AND CHAMPION BOXING TEAM
By Aquiles Z. Zonio
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 07 Jul 2014
?While there on the top
Forget not to look back
Remember all the steps
You used going up??
- Unknown
DIGOS CITY ? Eight-division boxing champion and Sarangani Representative Manny Pacquiao waxed poetic nay nostalgic when he set foot once again in this booming city where he spent six years of his life as amateur boxer.
?How could I ever forget the days of yore when I was a struggling amateur boxer representing Digos and Davao Del Sur?? Pacquiao reminisced after visiting recently his sports facilities here.
Pacquiao put up a modest boxing gym and martial arts training center in his 1,000-square meter lot located just a few minutes ride from the downtown area.
The martial arts training center is almost finished while the boxing gym is about 60 percent completed.
The facilities are being managed by Pacquiao?s long-time friend and former boxing colleague Renato Moreno.
?I am not from here. But I found in its bosom the love and trust necessary in my success as a boxer. I feel deeply indebted to Davao Del Sur for giving me the honor to represent the province in several amateur boxing tournaments,? Pacquiao said.
Pacquiao bared that his entire life as amateur boxer was spent here, not in General Santos or Sarangani.
Pacquiao came over here to grace the opening of PLDT-ABAP national boxing tournament.
Pacquiao and Davao Del Sur governor Claude Bautista served as the main sponsors of the event.
?The province and its people are happy that Congressman Manny Pacquiao has never failed to remember that he spent his life here as amateur boxer. You?re not a stranger to this place, Congressman,? Bautista said.
Pacquiao and Bautista became close friends when the boxer-lawmaker was still a cockfighting aficionado.
Pacquiao, however, gave away all his gamecocks when he embraced a God-centered life way back in January 2012.
No school, no boxing?
Currently, there are 18 amateur boxers under MP Boxing Gym here.
?These facilities were put up in November last year to help poor yet potential boxers in Digos and Davao Del Sur. This is Manny Pacquiao?s way of showing profound gratitude to the place where he first honed his skills and talent as amateur boxer,? Moreno said.
Moreno claimed that the amateur boxers under MP Boxing Gym are enjoying free education, as well as, board and lodging.
?Congressman Pacquiao emphasized to the boxers the utmost value of earning a college degree. The boxers should go to school for them to become beneficiaries of the program. We call it ?No School, No Boxing? program,? Moreno said.
Pacquiao told Philboxing.com that he just wanted to leave another legacy aside from what he had already done in the world of boxing.
?Speaking from my own experiences, I knew how hard the life of a boxer is. Because of poverty, I failed to finish schooling. So, I want these boxers to finish a degree because it?s not yet sure whether they would become successful boxers,? Pacquiao said.
First of its kind?
?We can?t thank you enough for helping us discover promising boxers from the grassroots and for choosing our province as host to PLDT-ABAP national boxing tournament,? Gov. Bautista said.
The ?No School, No Boxing? program of the Pinoy ring icon is the first of its kind in this province.
The Pinoy boxing legend hopes to increase the number of program beneficiaries to find and develop a boxer who would continue and sustain the country?s successful campaign in the world boxing stage.
Less than a year since its inception, the MP Boxing gym had already produced two amateur boxers who became members of the national boxing team.
?We have already produced two boxers who became members of our national team. The first was Lightweight Jonel Dapidran, who turned pro just recently, and Mini Flyweight Aldrin Moreno,? Moreno said.
Dapidran is a first degree cousin of the Pinoy ring idol, while Moreno is the eldest son of boxing trainer and MP boxing gym manager Renato Moreno.
MP Boxing gym stalwart John Paul Bentuso, 16, thanked Pacquiao for giving him the rare chance to go to school and to train as boxer.
?I am a product of a broken family just like Cong. Manny Pacquiao. That?s why I?m so grateful to him for helping me and for giving me the chance to train here as a boxer. He is my inspiration and I hope I would become a successful boxer like him in the future,? Bentuso said.
Who knows? As German philosopher Martin Heidegger once said ?Man makes his own destiny.?
Pacman admitted that, a long time ago, his dream was just to become a world champion then help his mother sustain the basic needs of their family.
?I never dreamed of becoming an eight-division world champion. Of course, I prayed and worked hard at the gym especially during preparation for my fight. My prayers were answered and my sacrifices and hardwork paid off,? Pacquiao said. Aquiles Z. Zonio/Contributor
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Aquiles Z. Zonio.
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