Boxing boom in the Philippines

The Philippines, a hotbed of boxing in Asia with a storied history of world champions led by such all-time greats as Manny Pacquiao, WBA featherweight champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire, WBO light flyweight champion Donnie “Ahas” Nietes, is enjoying a sudden boom in boxing.
 
Leading the thrust forward is the youthful visionary Michael Aldeguer, president of the famed ALA Promotions and heir to the passion for the sport of renowned boxing patron and father, Antonio “Tony” Aldeguer.
 
ALA Promotions’ partnership with the giant broadcast network ABS-CBN in staging the remarkably successful “Pinoy Pride” series which has become a part of the everyday lives of fight fans and the network’s agreement with the astute Top Rank promoter Bob Arum to telecast some of the biggest fights on HBO Sports such as last Saturday’s classic lightweight title fight between undefeated Terence “Bud” Crawford and former Cuban Olympic gold medalist and unbeaten world featherweight champion Yuriorkis Gamboa have helped enhance boxing fans appreciation of the sport as reflected in the television ratings that have left the competing networks literally knocked out.
 
The first major step in taking Philippine boxing to another level was the successful efforts of ALA Promotions to obtain a license from the California Commission to promote fights in the United States and the parallel moves of Aldeguer to establish an ALA Gym in San Diego with its huge Filipino-American population and to send promising fighters to train and live in the US.
 
Michael Aldeguer who first met with Andy Foster, Executive Officer of the California State Athletic Commission in November 2011, shuttled back and forth between Cebu and Los Angeles and was finally granted a license earlier this year to promote fight cards in the U.S. which, according to Tony Aldeguer, makes it “the first in Asia to be given the privilege.”
 
The renowned boxing patron described the acquisition of a promoter’s license in the U.S. as “a big breakthrough not only for ALA Promotions and television partners ABS-CBN but for the entire country as well. This is another Pinoy Pride.”
 
The move to set up a gym in San Diego will enable Filipino boxers to get top-level sparring with Mexican opponents while also travelling to gyms in Tijuana as was done in the case of Nietes, Milan Melindo, and Genesis “Azukal” Servania who also had brief stints at the Wild Card Gym of celebrated trainer Freddie Roach.

 
The hiring of well known strength and conditioning coach Nick Curson who did an amazing job preparing Nietes for his ninth round demolition of mandatory challenger and interim champion Moises Fuentes of Mexico and his work with Donaire who won the WBA featherweight crown against Simpiwe Vetyeka of South Africa provides another dimension to the seriousness of ALA Promotions quest for more world champions.
 
In a committed effort to enhance the Philippines position as the epicenter of professional boxing in Asia, a ten year partnership with ABS-CBN consummated earlier this year further broadened the vision of ALA Promotions and its TV partners which is essential to progress as evident by the example of Mexico where the two major networks, TV Azteca and Televisa supported by the two biggest advertisers Tecate and Corona, have seen numerous promotions all over the country on a regular basis.
 
To some extent the sustained involvement of Asia Brewery and its Cobra Energy Drink sponsorship authored by its vice president Michael Ngo in “Pinoy Pride” as well as the fights of its pre-eminent endorser Donaire, has provided an impetus to a Mexico-like scenario.
 
With its boxing shows drawing large audiences in its pre-eminent global network TFC or The Filipino Channel, particularly in the Middle East where there are large communities of Filipino overseas workers, a logical step in the expansion of markets is the promotion of a major boxing event in Dubai.
 
Riding the momentum of its incredibly successful staging of “Pinoy Pride 26” at the Waterfront Hotel and Casino last June 21 where the Pagara brothers, WBO International light welterweight champion Jason and younger brother Prince Albert who fought for his first IBF super bantamweight regional title put on a scintillating performance before a sell-out crowd, ALA Promotions and ABS-CBN confirmed they are taking their act to Dubai in an exciting card to be held at the World Trade Center.
 
A welcome recognition is the financial support being extended by Dubai Tourism.

 
In the main event Servania, the undefeated WBO Intercontinental super bantamweight champion with a record of 24-0 with 10 knockouts will defend his title against tough Mexican Jose “Matador” Cabrera who has a record of 22-4-2 with 10 knockouts and has traded punches with some of the big names such as WBO super flyweight champion Omar Andres Narvaez of Argentina who went the distance with Donaire and former WBC super flyweight champion Tomas Rojas who gave former two division world champion Gerry Penalosa a difficult time in a ten round bout on the undercard of the Pacquiao-Oscar Larios WBC International super featherweight title fight at the Araneta Coliseum on July 2, 2006.
 
Charismatic and exciting Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista who was mobbed by Filipino fans in Dubai when he won by a 6th round TKO over Thailand’s Saichon Sotompitak on April 23, 2010 will also be on the card.
 
Bautista, hot on his comeback trail, faces strong and resilient Mexican Juan Jose “Piquet” Martinez who has a scary record of 15 knockouts in 19 wins with only one defeat while undefeated 25 year old “King Arthur” Villanueva (25-0, 14 KO’s) battles Nicaragua’s Henry “El Crespo” Maldonado (18-3, 13 KO’s) in a fight card dubbed “Duel In Dubai” which, on the face of the match-ups is bound to be a dandy.
 
Obviously learning from the successful ventures of ALA Promotions, other promoters are looking to try and emulate what ALA has done in an effort to capitalize on the growing fan base.
 
However, they must realize that the success of ALA Promotions has been a testament to commitment, hard work, vision, planning and above all integrity because there are no quick, get-rich opportunities in boxing.
 
The involvement of well-known evangelist Pastor Apollo Quiboloy in a tie-up with longtime boxing man and journalist as well as one-time North Cotabato governor Manny Pinol in setting up Sunshine Sports Management is worth watching.
 
Pastor Quiboloy has the resources, the TV equipment and network although it is nowhere near the nationwide dominance of ABS-CBN. How this effort will pan out remains to be seen but, for fans of the sport, it’s a welcome development.
 
In its first event at the Almendras Gym in Davao City, former world flyweight champion Sonny Boy Jaro scored a 5th round knockout over Tanzania’s Ichal Tobida prompting Sonny Boy’s manager Alojoe Jaro to tell Yahoo Philippines he plans to negotiate for a title shot at newly crowned super flyweight champion Carlos Cuadras who won the title with an 8th round technical decision over Thailand’s Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.

 
Aljoe Jaro told Yahoo Philippines that Sonny Boy put on a good show against the durable Tanzanian and his biggest asset remains his punching power.
 
Sonny Boy Jaro is best remembered for his stunning 6th round knockout victory over long-reigning champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam on March 2, 2012 although the Filipino lost the title in his first defense when he dropped a twelve round split decision to Japan’s Toshiyuki Igarahshi.

In the hospitable environment of Tubod, Lanao Del Norte, Marlon Tapales, the 22 year old protégé of Rex “Wakee Salud retained his WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight title with an impressive twelve round unanimous decision over tough and durable Tanzanian challenger Fadhili Majiha.
 
Tapales who dropped Majiha in the sixth round won comfortably on the scorecards of all three judges. Salven Lagumbay and Tony Pesons both scored it for Tapales 117-110 while Roel Densing had Tapales the winner by a wider 119-108 margin.
 
With the win Tapales improved to 26-2 with 9 knockouts while the 20 year old Majiha dropped to 15-4-4 with 7 knockouts.
 
Wakee Salud told us the Tanzanian was “a very good fighter who was fast and durable.”
 
Salud indicated to Yahoo Philippines that he’d like to have Tapales see action on a Top Rank card in Macau but that the problem remains to be Pacquiao adviser Micke Koncz who has insisted that Arum honors his agreement with MP Promotions which Koncz runs and that any Filipino boxer who fights on a Top Rank card must sigh up with MP Promotions.
 
Salud, like many others, is not prepared to do this and while Pacquiao announces his desire to help Filipino boxers get exposure abroad, his adviser is proving to be a stumbling block.
 
Ring announcer and Freeman columnist Rico Navarro brands the multiple fights in different venues all over the country “an excellent development for the sport. It means more opportunities for the nation’s boxers and more action for us boxing fans.”
 
There are, without a doubt, scores of future world champions on the fringes, waiting to be given a chance to prove their worth. With more promoters taking an active part in staging fights in different venues in our country, these young men will hopefully get the opportunity they deserve.
 
But we need to ensure that managers and promoters don’t short-change their fighters and that mismatches don’t take place. This can only happen if the government agency tasked with the supervision and control of boxing does its job efficiently and with the integrity of the sport paramount.
 
While the sport is picking up in the Philippines and more players are entering the marketplace in a sense, ALA Promotions continues to enhance the quality of its “Pinoy Pride” series in terms of the quality of the match-ups and the creativeness of the television coverage and promotions of ABS-CBN and its various platforms while at the same time broadening its international thrust.

 
Sometime in November, ALA Promotions plans to stage the next title defense of Nietes at the SubHub Center, former the Home Depot Center in California which would give Nietes the recognition he has richly earned through the years as he stands on the threshold of surpassing the remarkable record of “Flash” Elorde.
 
Truly, boxing is enjoying a boom in the Philippines and ALA Promotions and its television partner ABS-CBN are showing the way in keeping with the network’s commitment “In the service of the Filipino.”