What’s in a boxer’s name?
During a television pre-production meeting for the ABS-CBN coverage of the highly successful boxing series “Pinoy Pride” on its 20th edition at the at the Southeastern Philippines Gym in Davao City on Saturday, April 20, the official program showed that undefeated Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation super flyweight champion would face top contender listed as Marco Singwancha.
We promptly took issue and made it clear that as a TV commentator we would refuse to refer to the challenger by any name other than his real name, which was Marco Demecillo.
We learned that Demecillo, a fighter belonging to the stable of Rex “Wakee” Salud, had allegedly agreed to use the name Singwancha for a price.
How much we do not know and didn’t even care to find out.
We learned from ALA Promotions that Salud had pleaded with them to use the name Singwancha on the fight card because of a commitment he had made to Thai businessman Naris Singwancha.
To us, his commitment meant nothing. We cast it aside.
If all the fighters who carry the Singwancha name belonged to his stable, then referring to them as fighters from that particular stable would be acceptable. But to have different fighters from various stables carrying the Singwancha name should never have been allowed or tolerated by the GAB.
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We have, in the past, heard and read of more Filipino boxers carrying the name of the Thai boxing patron whose apparent claim to fame is that he is generous to the boxers, who receive anywhere between $100 or $200 after a win in an important fight, and is reportedly willing to pay a good price to have his name tagged on to a promising Filipino boxer and the opportunity to step into the ring with the fighter.
Well-known ring announcer Ted Lerner recalled that during the recent Gabriel “Flash” Elorde Annual Awards dinner, he was struck by the fact that every other fighter carried the name Singwancha.
When Games and Amusements Board chairman Monchu Guanzon strode up to our TV panel prior to the start of our coverage we told him what we felt was nothing short of an act of desecration, where a boxer’s family name in an OPBF regional title fight was substituted by the name Singwancha.
Filipinos, just like other peoples with a sense of heritage and history, must surely consider their family names precious and something not to be trifled with or peddled at a price.
It is for this reason that Filipino parents, fathers in particular, always long for a son (although they welcome their daughters just as much) because sons carry the family name from one generation to another.
Indeed, Kabalarian Philosophy states that “the power of a name and its value has long been immortalized in prose, poetry and religious ceremony. Everyone recognizes himself or herself by name.”
Upset by reports that the Singwancha name was all over the records, in both local and international organizations ratings and fight records, we checked on the latest ratings of the GAB on its official website.
We were shocked to discover that there were no less than two champions and 10 rated fighters named Singwancha, with five Singwanchas rated in the light flyweight division alone!
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We cannot fathom why and how the Games and Amusements Board and its boxing division headed by Dr. Nasser Cruz allowed this travesty to take place, although we certainly are not short on suspicions.
When we questioned chairman Guanzon in the past on stringent rules that stymied poor boxers opportunities to earn a decent living by serving as sparring partners for Japanese world champions preparing for title fights as in the case of Salud’s fighter Marlon Tapales, he anchored his position on his concern about what President Aquino would think about the agency directly under the Office of the President in case of any unfortunate ring tragedy.
The chairman was obviously proud to announce that the agency is under the Office of the President which was highlighted by the GAB seal tagged onto the weighing scale for “Pinoy Pride XIX”.
Against this background we wonder how Malacanang would react when in an all-Filipino showdown for the OPBF super flyweight title one of the fighters was called to the scales under the name Marco Singwancha when his family name is Demecillo?
This type of shameless shenanigan certainly doesn’t walk the straight path so often espoused by President Aquino. Indeed, it signifies, at the very least, a lack of integrity which we have consistently defined as the quality of wholeness.
What is even worse is that while the managers of the boxers who carry the name Singwancha get rewarded for their acquiescence, the fighters themselves don’t benefit at all unless they win and Naris Singwancha pulls out some dollars from what appears to be deep pockets and rewards them for their effort.
Chairman Guanzon and his officials have instituted some rules that seek to prevent fighters from being badly injured or, God forbid, being killed.
To us, substituting a fighter’s family name with that of someone else – Singwancha to be specific – is worse than death because a family name in many respects is sacred and means everything.
Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.
