Rematch in the works

Boxing manager Gabriel (Bebot) Elorde Jr. is bidding to promote a rematch between Zamboanga Sibugay’s Silvester Lopez and Mexico’s Juan Jose Montes in Manila on Dec. 4 with WBC president Jose Sulaiman confirming that the proposal will be taken up in the governing body’s annual convention in Cancun on Nov. 1-6.

Elorde has offered Montes a net purse of $20,000 with three round-trip airplane tickets to face Lopez here. Last Oct. 2, Montes beat Lopez on a disputed sixth round technical decision in a WBC superflyweight title eliminator in Guadalajara. Lopez was promised $18,000 for the fight but returned to Manila with an unsettled balance of $9,800. The balance was later remitted by Mexican promoter Hector Garcia only it was $1,000 short of the contracted amount. Garcia deducted $1,000 from the purse to pay for the WBC sanction fee but Elorde said the contract stipulated the amount to be covered by the promoter.

Elorde made an impassioned appeal to Sulaiman to approve the rematch, calling on the WBC’s integrity and fairness. He said Lopez’ knockdown in the first round was clearly a mistake as Montes pushed him to the canvas after landing a rabbit punch on the neck. Referee Frank Gentile counted a mandatory eight on Lopez. In the rematch, Elorde said he will request the WBC for neutral judges.

Montes suffered a bad cut over the right eyebrow in the second round and it appeared that the wound was inflicted by a legitimate blow. Instead, Gentile said it was caused by a headbutt, slapping an automatic one-point deduction on the Filipino. Before the start of the sixth round, Montes was ruled unfit to continue because of the cut and declared the winner on points as all three Mexican judges scored it 48-45.

“I will take a DVD (of the fight) to the convention where a decision will be taken,” said Sulaiman. “At this time, just days before the convention, we have no authority for any ruling which must come from the convention. I believe that the ratings committee has kept Lopez in the position that he had before the fight.”

Sulaiman’s disclosure of Lopez staying as the WBC No. 2 contender was a veritable admission that something went wrong in deciding the outcome of the fight against the No.1 rated Montes.

Elorde said the rematch should determine once and for all who is the rightful mandatory challenger of WBC titleholder Tomas Rojas. Lopez appeared to be gaining ground when Montes, bleeding from his cut, was not allowed to continue the bout.

Elorde is now arranging to air the abbreviated bout on local TV so fans may judge for themselves if Montes deserved to win. Fans are wondering if Montes really scored a legitimate knockdown in the first round, if the Mexican’s cut was inflicted by a punch or a butt and if Lopez should’ve won by technical knockout instead of losing by technical decision.

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Lawyer Danrex Tapdasan said before getting his first big break by working three championship fights sanctioned by the US-based World Professional Boxing Federation (WPBF) in Ghana last July, he had his first taste of international competition in a WBO Oriental lightweight title bout between Anthony (Rocky) Marcial and Dante Paulino in Cebu City last May.

Tapdasan, 32, was paid $200 to work as the referee in the WBO clash but took home only $100 after settling his license fee.

Last August, Tapdasan accepted a P1,000 offer to work the Florante Condes-Sofyan Effendi bout in Cebu even as he paid for his own plane fare. He stayed in international judge Salven Lagumbay’s home to save on expenses during his visit. “It’s not the money, it’s the satisfaction of doing work that you enjoy,” said Tapdasan. “No regrets in accepting the offer. I knew I had to pay my way to Cebu but I willingly took the job.”

Tapdasan is still involved in litigation, his specialty, out of his own law office in Makati and teaches at Jose Rizal University. Last year, he got married to Joy Garlito and they’re still in the honeymoon stage. They met while working in Congress. Tapdasan worked with Rep. Jocelyn Limkaichong while Joy was initially with the late Rep. Emilio Macias then with Rep. George Arnaiz (Negros Oriental, Second District). Last weekend, the Tapdasans were in Zamboanga City to witness Gerry Penalosa’s farewell ring appearance.

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Powerade coach Bo Perasol said if the referees call it fairly, teams with smaller lineups are not severely handicapped by size in the PBA Philippine Cup.

“I will always maintain that whatever officiating changes we make will only be appreciated if the rules are applied consistently,” said Perasol. “It favored our team a bit in our first game this season because we wore down Rain Or Shine’s shooters with only 17 percent three-point shooting. In our case, most of our guards are known shooters. So if Gary (David) gets tired, there are still Mark Macapagal, RenRen Ritualo, Paolo Mendoza and Chico Lanete.”

Powerade knocked down 11-of-23 treys compared to the Elasto Painters’ 3-of-17 in the Tigers’ 111-103 win last Oct. 6.