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Art by: Justino Magalona
It's really time to take a hard look at ourselves in the mirror. As fans, we need to truly rally behind our fighters who are trying their best for Filipino boxing to carve it's niche here in the United States and the global stage.
Mexico and Puerto Rico religiously follow their fighters passionately and that's why you see an overflow of their talents scattered in fight cards everywhere. ALA Promotions' decision to go international is a big step in the right direction as they hope to attract big time boxing to PI shores as well on top of continuing to promote and build up world class talents.
It's improving, but we still have a long way to go and the true test is when Pacquiao leaves the game. Trust me, a wake up call is necessary. There's a feeling of being treated as a second class citizen among the boxing community that we have to overcome and break down. As much strides as we've made, to the rest of the world, Philippine boxing is still pretty much the Manny Pacquiao show. It's funny because I even I get looks from older boxing writers trying to pull rank on me as if I don't follow this game closely. And that's why it brings me much joy when I take their money from bets I win while at press row. Trust me, Filipinos know their boxing, it's just that boxing don't really know their Filipinos.
To all the fighters, understand, this opportunity might not be here forever. While it's here, make the most of it. MAKE THE MOST OF IT. Same goes with everyone else. I see a lot of vultures and pathetic grandstanding among certain parties in the Filipino fight game. Some people think their the ish because they roll with Pacquiao or play the politics game to block another fighter because they dislike them. I don't need to name names but come on, it's time to change. What we got right now is a gift, and as Filipinos, we must all work together for the greater benefit of Philippine boxing. We're all we got.
Dennis Guillermo is a freelance sportswriter. You can reach him by email at dennisguillermo2@yahoo.com
RODEL MAYOL INTERVIEW:
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"Let's just meet in the ring and see if he can really knock me out" (click to read)
THE LADIES IN FIGHT SPORTS
(CLICK ON PHOTOS TO VIEW GALLERY)
FIL-CANADIAN MMA MODEL ERIN JADE.jpg)
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Comments
Hey brod DEnnis...there are some crabs in our midst...hindi na talaga yata mawawala ang napakasamang ugaling yan!!! Pero saludo pa rin ako sayo very objective ang mg abanat mo...Keep up the very god job you're doing until these kababayan who are involved in any Pinoy sports wakes up!!!
For the first time, I actually agree with the writer. It's very embarrassing to see a Filipino fighter get knocked out in a title match. Ciso, Sonsona, Mempranum. I agree that it's not the fault of the fighter. It's the fault of the promoter and trainer. They don't look after the welfare of the fighters. All they care about is money. It's very sad. With this, Juanma KO4 Bernabe.
is anyone listening at all?
Brad,
Ganda ng article mo. . . more power.
Sana lalong maging handa pa mga boxers natin sa susunod. We should keep on supporting Filipino Boxers. Sna ung ibang promoters na sugapa sa pera mahiya nman kayo talo lage boxers natin dahil sa nyo. mgbago nman tyo pra sa pagbangon ulit ng PILIPINAS. unumpisahan na ni PACMAN sana ndi natin sasayangin un pra magging kagalanglang ulit tyo sa buong mundo... wag na maging corrupt tataob lng lalo ang pinas dahil sa mga taong ganyan...
Brad Dennis keep writer this kind of article pra matauhan mga boxers at promoters natin sana nga=) umpisa na to pra sa pg babago ng pilipinas... boxers lng pala mgpapa balik ng dangal ng pinas e, nkakahya nman sa politiko natin panay corruption lng alam.hehehe peace=)
There's nothing more I can add to this article. Everything you said is true.
All the boxers you mentioned got knocked out due to body punches. Mepranum already has good defense but there is still a lot of room for improvement.
Sonsona was practically fed to the shark by his promoter. He should have been given more time to adjust to his new weight class before fighting the big names.
Gullible and greedy promoters will bring back our boxers to nothing specially after the retirement of Pacman.
Great article D-Source. It's good to have a FILIPINO voice of reason touching on the issues facing Philippine boxing post-Pacquiao.
great article. but then again its only an article. manny pacquiao made it all happen and now that he's about to step down, its only him that can make changes in phil boxing now that he's a congressman. when he talks, everybody listen. i suggest that d'source relate this observation to d'man.
TO DENNIS, THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONCERN AND I HOPE ALA, SAMMY GELLOANI, MP, RWS PROMOTION AND OTHER FILIPINO BOXING PROMOTIONS WILL TAKE THIS ARTICLE OBJECTIVELY. WHILE WE HAVE TO THANK THEM FOR GIVING OUR OWN BOXERS THE OPPORTUNITY BUT LET US PREPARE THEM PROPERLY. PLEASE CONSIDER INVESTING ON HIRING CONDITIONING EXPERTS, NUTRITIONIST AND COACHES.YES WE HAVE A LOT OF TALENTED AND BRAVE PROSPECTS BUT THEIR TALENT WILL BE MUCH ENHANCED IF THEY ARE PROPERLY CONDITIONED, NOURISHED AND TRAINED. MOST COMMON PROBLEM OF OUR BOXERS IS THE LACK OF STAMINA WHICH COULD BE EASILY SOLVED IF THE ABOVE CONDITION IS MET.
nice article bro. tama laat ng sinabi mo. sana lang yung mga boxers ng ALA kumuha ng magaling na conditioning coach!sayang ang tataas pa nman ng nga expectations sainyo kaso pag nilaban na kayo sa mga high caliber na boxers mga kinakapos kayo lagi. anu bang training gngawa ninyo. sa mga sinusulat ng mga kilalang sports writers sainyo lahat magaganda pero bakit sa laban na wala na kayo.
the problem with our trainers and promoters is that they feed their fighters with patsies and all of a sudden baptize their fighters as manny pacquiao's heir apparent. if boom boom and banal were handled by roach, ariza or say mcgirt, they would have been champions by now.
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