Soberano, 41, migrated to the US after graduating from the Philippine Military Academy in 1984 and was recently in Manila to check out possible location sites for his movie production company. He is in the process of selling his Orange County home and moving permanently to Asia where he will live in Manila and Beijing.
Muay, or kickboxing, will be introduced as a medal sport in the SEA Games this year. It was a demonstration sport at the 1995 SEA Games in Chiang Mai and the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok.
Seven gold medals are at stake in muay’s SEA Games debut as a regular sport. In the men’s division, there are five events-four weight classes (lightflyweight, flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight) in the combative category and one (57-60 kilograms) in wai kru or the form category. In the women’s division, there are two weight classes (bantamweight, featherweight) in wai kru.
There are 10 muay fighters, including six in three wai kru pairs, in the Philippine team.
"It would be an honor to work with the Philippine team," said Soberano. "I could share my experience as a muay fighter. I’ve often dreamed of coming back and settling down here. I’ve bought a condo in Makati where I’ll live as soon as I dispose of my assets in the US. I’ll also be spending time in Beijing where my partner Andy Pi and I are organizing a mixed martial arts league."
Soberano’s offer was welcomed yesterday by Muay Association of the Philippines secretary-general Red Dumuk who said the former champion could also assist in setting up a professional league here.
Soberano, a La Salle Bacolod high school graduate, went to the US for ranger training but ended up enrolling at San Diego State to study film and TV.
While at San Diego State, Soberano earned spending money delivering newspapers for a Mexican distributor Tomas Agosto in the morning and pizza at night. It was Agosto who invited Soberano to watch no-holds-barred pit-fighting in Agua Caliente, Tijuana, near the US border in San Diego.
Soberano wasn’t impressed by the fighting ability of truck drivers, street brawlers, tough guys and thugs who turned up in the Tijuana cockpits. When Agosto dared him to join the fights, Soberano didn’t hesitate. Agosto bet $200 against Soberano in his first bout and regretted it when the Filipino scored a quick stoppage by ripping an ugly cut on his opponent’s face with a vicious elbow.
"When I was 10, my father, a government lawyer, was assigned in Bangkok for six years," recounted Soberano. "My father brought me to the Lumpinee Stadium to watch kickboxing and I fell in love with it. I began to learn how to fight. Back in Bacolod, I worked out in a Fil-Thai gym and joined full-contact karate competitions. So fighting wasn’t new to me."
Soberano became a popular fighter in Tijuana and pocketed an average of $300 a night, beating up as many as three opponents one after another. He was later discovered by California fight promoter Ruben Urquidez whose brother Benny introduced kickboxing to the US.
Urquidez brought Soberano to his Van Nuys gym and financed his kickboxing career. Soberano made a living in the ring but didn’t forget his education. He eventually earned his degree at San Diego State in 1992.
Legendary black Canadian kickboxer Pete (Sugarfoot) Cunningham taught Soberano the tricks of the trade. Cunningham is in the record books as the first North American to beat a Thai kickboxing champion, Chongpet.
From 1994 to 1996, Soberano reigned as the International Muay Thai Association world welterweight champion. He retired as titlist in 1996 after outpointing Melchor Menor, another Filipino kickboxing expert who’s now a cult figure in Japan.
Soberano compiled a pro record of 26-2, with 20 KOs, in a 10-year career. His two losses were by decision and his biggest paycheck was $40,000 for a title defense in Tokyo.
"Kickboxing is an extremely punishing sport," said Soberano. "You’re considered an old fighter when you’re in your mid-20s. It’s hard on the body. I retired at 32 and started to train fighters. One of my fighters was Chris Brennan, known as the Westside Strangler. I used to train about 20 fighters at the Progressive Martial Arts gym in San Clemente, California."
Aside from training kickboxers, Soberano is involved in film production. He produced, directed and acted in the movie "Streetfighters," filmed in China and starring Zach Taylor and Anna Jogla. His company Tao In Motion produces film clips for mobile phones and has a contract to package fight sequences for the Japanese mixed martial arts group Pride. The films that Soberano produces for mobile phones may be shown in hook-ups to TV or LCDs.
Soberano said he was once featured in a 1991 book on Fil-Am entrepreneurs because of his ventures in sports. He used to own the Black Tiger gym in San Diego and operate a promotions company Ringsports Productions. But his exploits as a world champion were hardly noticed because then, the popular notion was kickboxing was just a blood sport. Today, muay is considered an art and science like traditional boxing.