Cebu boxing in 2009

Cebu - It will be a year of learning and growing and the entry of new faces for Cebu Boxing in 2009. While we don’t expect any extraordinary big event or achievement to take place, Cebu will continue to be busy and will still hold its torch up high, proud to be the country’s hotbed of boxing.

Our world champions kick off the year with title defenses. Donnie Nietes defends (and will win) his WBO minimumweight against Mexico ’s Erik Ramirez in Mexico on February 28. Gerry Peñalosa is supposed to defend his WBO bantamweight title, but there are talks that he may move up in weight to face Juan Manuel Lopez in a WBO super bantamweight showdown instead. These two events by themselves are already enough fireworks for local boxing. If this pushes through, Gerry is expected relinquish his WBO bantamweight belt. He is set to fight Mexican Heriberto Ruiz in a non-title next month before he either defends his title or challenge Juanma Lopez. Ruiz is the same Mexican who defeated Boom Boom Bautsita late last year.

A forecast for the year is never complete with a preview of the ALA Boxing Gym. They continue to be the lead boxing outfit in Cebu with all boxing fans following their every move. And so when AJ Banal and Boom Boom Bautista lost in their last fights of the year, so did the hearts of boxing fans who expected the two to step up to give Cebu the fireworks of 2008. If there’s going to be a theme for the ALA team this year, it will be one of learning, growing, maturing, and going back to square one. Banal, Bautista and the likes of Z Gorres and Czar Amonsot are “re-launching” their respective careers but from a different outlook. They’ll be featured in fights that seek to build their confidence, see how they fare against different types of opponents and check on how they develop not only from a physical side, but more importantly from a mental and maturity angle. Gorres and Banal will venture into the heavier bantamweight division and this will mean doing it all over again in convincing the boxing bodies to consider them as top ten contenders. For the rest of the ALA team, it will be a year of taking steps one at a time and learning what needs to be learned slowly but surely. They won’t be rushing things for their other prospects in Milan Melindo, Jason Pagara, Michael Domingo and Mark Jason Melligen.

Unfortunately for Cebu , the ALA Boys seem to be the only Cebuano options who are considered to break into the world scene and are thus being followed closely by the local fans. The other more popular local boxers who were expected to hit it big abroad will be limited to just that: trying to make a name for themselves but with little chances of making it. Randy Suico starts all over after losing his OPBF lightweight championship. Malcolm Tuñacao and Yuka Gejon aren’t getting any younger, and will need an extraordinary assist to get back at the world scene. The other upstarts from other gyms like the RWS (Wakee Salud) stable are too raw and young with nobody expected to stand out. But this situation has paved the way for prospects from other areas to show their stuff, thanks to the hardworking Sammy Gello-ani of SGG Promotions who’ll be one of the busiest promoters this year in either as a full-time promoter of co-promoter. The likes WBO regional champions Jhonriel Casimero, Ciso Morales, Anthony Marcial and Marvin Sonsona have now made Cebu their base for boxing. While they’re not yet ripe for a shot at a world championship, they’ll become a most welcome sight to fill up the year with boxing activities.

Another welcome addition to local boxing is the Braveheart stable of Vice Governor Manny Piñol of North Cotabato . He kicks off the year with a big event next month, featuring his growing breed of boxers who started out as amateur prospects and are now making names for themselves in the local scene. Not many local fans know Braveheart’s Rolando Magbanua, Jundy Maraon, Glenn Gonzales, Lorenzo Villanueva, Eldrin Dapudong and Reynaldo Belandres, but given the right breaks, they’re all capable of stealing the limelight from some of Cebu ’s best boxers. In line with Piñol’s thrust to bring his boxers to Cebu , he’s also setting up a boxing gym with no less than Nonito Donaire Sr. as the head trainer/consultant. The gym will serve as the training base for the Braveheart boxers and will also become Donaire’s link to his network in the United States . More gyms mean more boxers, and more boxers means more boxing for Cebu . The busy just got even busier. With ALA , SGG, RWS and now Braveheart in place, we’re already booked for the rest of the year.

Another development worth following is the election of a new set of managers for amateur boxing. Ricky Vargas and Pato Gregorio are the now the 1-2 punch for the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP), and they’ve already spoken about their dreams for amateur boxing, thanks to the support of Manny Pangilinan. While I think that their main goal of winning a gold in the 2012 Olympics is a little unrealistic, they still deserve our support. I just hope that they get the right persons, complemented with the correct activities to improve the country’s stature in the international boxing. They all have to be on the same page and have the same noble intentions for the country (not for themselves). And for this we wish them a lot of luck.

That’s the whole lot for Cebu Boxing in 2009. As Mills Lane would say, “Let’s get it on!”

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Time-out: Happy birthday to our favorite dentist, Dra. Pinky Chupungco Navarro! >>> You can reach me at [email protected]. - THE FREEMAN