Pinoy Pride hits the West Coast

Yes. That’s correct. Pinoy Pride is going to the west coast. No, not Balamban or Toledo but the West Coast of the USA! Mark your calendars. October 17 at the Stub Hub Center in Carson, California. Cebu Boxing goes stateside with the first edition of the Pinoy Pride series in the US, Pinoy Pride 33: Filipinos Kontra Latinos. WBO world champion Donnie Nietes headlines the cast along with Albert Pagara, Jason Pagara and Mark Magsayo. It’s an all-Pinoy cast headlining the card in the US.

As a simple announcement, plug or advertisement, it might not sound like anything out of the ordinary. But this is huge and is going to change the landscape of Philippine sports. For the first time in the history of Philippine sports, a Filipino boxing promoter/promotions outfit is putting up a boxing event in the United States. And they’re proudly from Cebu. ALA Promotions, together with broadcast giant ABS-CBN will stand out as the daring duo that plunged into putting up a sporting event in the U.S. For the record, some basketball events have been organized in the US, but these were exhibition games for showbiz personalities or former PBA stars. Mainstream basketball (PBA,UAAP or NCAA) hasn’t had a regular season event in the US I hope historians can help me out on this but it looks like Pinoy Pride 33 will go down as the first mainstream sports event organized by a Pinoy outfit in the US.

 I can still recall a few years back when ALA Promotions was launched as a separate entity from ALA Boxing. ALA Promotions President Michael Aldeguer and ALA himself Antonio Aldeguer discussed the thrust to bring world-class boxing to the Philippines. Why bring boxers go to the United States when you can do it here? And so they did. With the Waterfront Hotel as a venue partner for a start, international-level boxing events kicked off with Pinoy boxers facing off against foreigner opponents from Mexico and other Latino countries. Also involved were boxers from Indonesia, Thailand and Japan. The venue was dressed up to the TV standards of ABS-CBN, and this meant the needed lighting for TV, an excellent sound system that echoed across the venue, and a five-star atmosphere. It was like bringing Las Vegas boxing to the Philippines. Fast forward to today and the results have been phenomenal. TV ratings are at record levels, making it a hit on Sunday mornings, and the event has made trips to Manila, Davao, Bacolod and two international editions in Dubai. Nietes became the longest reigning Pinoy world champion on the show. Merlito Sabillo won his world title thanks to his exposure on Pinoy Pride where he also defended it once before losing the title in Mexico. AJ Banal bowed to Pungluang Sor Singyu in his quest for a world title, also on Pinoy Pride. The bottom line? I’m sure ALA Promotions is now smiling ear-to-ear, unlike the past where ALA’s pockets were drained at practically every event. ABS-CBN is also enjoying its fair share of advertising revenues, thanks to the TV program’s telecast’s high ratings on Sunday mornings, easily beating its competition on the other channels. From all angles, Pinoy Pride is a huge success. By default, it’s already the biggest boxing event in the history of Philippine sports, a feat that hasn’t drawn any significant activity from the other well-known established boxing promoters. So what do they do after 32 editions of staging world class boxing at home? They’ll just keep on rolling and trailblazing.

It’s all about raising the bar, taking the lead and leaving everyone else behind. This is what the market leaders do. San Miguel Beer, Lucky Me! Noodles, Colgate, Milo and Nescafé. Through the years, these brands have established themselves as the best of the best and have pushed themselves to excel at higher levels even if they’re already #1. While ALA Promotions is not yet at this level, they sure know what they’re doing where they’re headed. By expanding their market to the US and exploring newer territories, they’re widening the gap between themselves and the closest competitor in the boxing promotions market.They may not have a monopoly in the boxing industry, but they sure do have the lion’s share of TV audience, revenues and respect. To-date, no other boxing promoter has come close to what ALA has achieved. But I would surely love to see others learn from the ALA phenomenon and follow suit so the boxing industry will grow even more. ALA can’t do it all be itself. There are more talented boxers who can also be world beaters and all they need is the support of innovative, forward-looking boxing promoters. Sanman Promotions (General Santos), MP Promotions (GenSan and Davao) and Sonrise Promotions (Davao) all have the resources to get things going and I hope that they also step

up to the plate and deliver.

Here’s a toast to Pinoy Pride 33 on October 17. We wish ALA Promotions all the best and look forward to seeing them continue raising the bar and taking Pinoy boxing to heights never reached before.