Lawyer turns to boxing

Danrex Tapdasan never imagined he would someday become a professional boxing referee when as a boy, he forced himself to take afternoon naps so he could stay awake to watch weekend fights at night with his father in their home province of Zamboanga del Sur.

Tapdasan also never imagined it when he graduated cum laude with a political science degree at Silliman University, finished law at San Beda College, worked in the staff of Rep. Jocelyn Limkaichong (Negros Oriental, First District) and as an associate with the Mario Ongkiko law office, won a case over noted lawyer Homobono Adaza for the Fabella family on a property dispute.

But today, Tapdasan is one of the hardest-working referees licensed by the Games and Amusements Board (GAB). At 32, the “new kid on the block” said he’s still got a lot to learn and won’t ever stop learning to improve on his decision-making in the ring.

Tapdasan said he thought of first becoming a judge because he got tired of paying hard-earned money to watch fights in the stadium. “I’ve always been a big boxing fan,” he said. “I used to pay P3,000 or P5,000 for a ringside ticket to watch fights. So one day, I told myself why not try to become a judge. That way, I won’t have to pay my way in and I’ll even get paid for work.”

So Tapdasan hit the books on how to judge a fight before finding the courage to apply for a license.

Two years ago, he went to the GAB office in Makati to apply for a judge’s license and was referred to boxing chief Dr. Nasser Cruz. “I didn’t know anyone at the office and the staff pointed me to Dr. Cruz,” he recalled. “I introduced myself. I asked if I could apply to become a judge. Dr. Cruz and I spoke for a long time. He wanted to find out how serious I was and how much I knew about judging. Luckily, I had read up on how to judge. Dr. Cruz advised me to start training by attending boxing events.”

Tapdasan worked as a “trainee” in five boxing events, sitting in the back row, scoring each fight and turning his paper to the GAB panel for review after every round. In January last year, Tapdasan was assigned to judge his first four-rounder in the undercard of the Bernabe Concepcion-Sande Otieno mainer at the Araneta Coliseum. It was like living a dream for Tapdasan.

* * *

Tapdasan persevered in going wherever to accept judging assignments, often spending more for transportation and food than earning from the job. Under the GAB guidelines, a judge is paid P400 for a four-rounder, P600 for a six-rounder and an eight-rounder and P800 for a 10-rounder while a referee picks up P600 for a four-rounder, P800 for a six-rounder and an eight-rounder and P1,000 for a 10-rounder.

As he got proficient in judging fights, Tapdasan was encouraged by the GAB to try his hand in becoming a referee. He said why not?

In October last year, Tapdasan made his debut as a referee in a four-rounder in the undercard of the Drian Francisco-Roberto Vasquez mainer at the Cuneta Astrodome.

Somehow, a referee’s work appealed more to Tapdasan whose idols are international arbiters Bruce McTavish, Ver Abainza, Ferdie Estrella and Vio Garcia. He watched endless tapes of matches, not studying the fighters but the referees. Tapdasan was determined to make his mark as the third man in the ring.

Then came his big break. The newly organized, China-based World Professional Boxing Federation (WPBF) wanted a Filipino to work three championship bouts on the same card at the Ohene Djan Sports Stadium in Accra, Ghana. None of the top Filipino referees wanted to take the job. Finally, the offer fell on Tapdasan’s lap.

“I’m young,” said Tapdasan. “I’ll try anything. So I accepted the job last July. I went to Ghana with promoter Dante Almario. We were the only two Filipinos in the gym.”

Tapdasan was paid only $300 per fight but the money didn’t matter. He relished the experience of working three WPBF title bouts, one after another. Ghana legend Azumah Nelson was at ringside and so were Manny Pacquiao victim Joshua Clottey and former IBF bantamweight champion Joseph Agbeko. Tapdasan made a good account of himself. Although he was dwarfed in working the lightheavyweight championship fight between Ghana’s Braimah Kamoko and Argentina’s Hector Velazco, the 5-4 Tapdasan stood tall. He counted in Spanish as Velazco took a mandatory-eight en route to losing by a 10th round stoppage. Tapdasan also worked the WPBF welterweight title bout between Ghana’s Joshua Okine and Uzbekistan’s Muhammad Abdullayev and the WPBF lightwelterweight championship fight between Ghana’s Albert Mensah and Russia’s Karen Tevosyan.

“What an adventure in Ghana,” said Tapdasan. “I didn’t really know if I would come out alive. The hosts weren’t as hospitable as we are. The night of the fights, they didn’t provide for dinner so I went from lunch to breakfast the next day. No wonder I got dizzy after working three straight fights.”