Post by LATAGAW on Nov 21, 2005 14:47:08 GMT 8
Bohol boxing history was rewritten last night in “Bakbakan sa
Tagbilaran” twin bill at the Garcia Sports Complex featuring an unprecedented two world boxing champions – attracting some 25,000 boxing fans, with all senior citizens exempted from paying.
Today, the national dailies (sports section) will banner the WBO
bantamweight and junior lightweight title bouts featuring two Boholano boxing idols while RPN 9 will beam the bouts nationwide starting at one o’clock. All sports scribes worth their journalistic pens and broadcasters their vocal chords converged into this island paradise – known more for its tourism wonders than fight nights.
The World Boxing Organization bantamweight championship bout between Bohol’s pride 19-year-old Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista and the dangerous African Exterminator (knocked out 23 of his 27 foes) Obote ‘Thunder” Ameme was not expected to last the distance. And indeed with a flourish of a Spanish matador, the Boholano pugilist demolished the raging bull Ameme with a knockout (2nd round, 1 minute and 57 seconds), cementing his unofficial moniker as the next Manny Pacquiao.
Twenty-year old Caesar Amonsot, top-rated WBO junior lightweight
contender, on the other hand, won via knockout in the eighth round over Indonesian defending champion Victor Mausol.
But regardless of the outcomes of the two fierce fights, aside from
making its mark as a tourism gem, Bohol (with last night’s date with boxing history) established her potential as the next future boxing Mecca in the country, south of Manila.
Never before has so much newspaper space, broadcast time and boxing
sport interest been accorded the province since the time of the late Boxing Hall of Famer Cebuano Gabriel “Flash” Elorde came to town to spar in public with some of the country’s classiest boxers then – including the Penalosa brothers (Carl and Rick).
Last night’s boxing event’s stunning success proves that when Boholanos close ranks – from Governor Rico Aumentado, public officials, private business and a cross-section of the Boholano community they are capable of holding world class events and leave pleasant memories to visitors as well.
The event was also a united expression of pride as Boholanos who stood behind two globally competitive ring warriors as they wage war against foreign opponents. It expressed common appreciation for commendable achievements by Boholanos this time in the world of sports.
The rise to boxing prominence of Bautista and Amonsot is itself a tale worth emulating and should serve as shining example for the many of the confused youth of today. The Youth of today – the so-called “Hope of the Motherland” – has so much energy bounded within, which re-channeled to noble and patriotic pursuits – can raise them to the level of heroes.
The singing of the Philippine National Anthem itself before the bout already evoked strong sentiment of patriotic fervor, particularly the last phrase “ang mamatay ng dahil sayo” that literally sweeps the adrenalin of pugilists to high-octane level.
Both boxers are champions of the amateur boxing world where the science and the art of boxing are taught by professionals as contracted by the oido style of many Filipino boxers. Both are also professionally managed by the famous ALA Boxing Gym of Sportsman Antonio Aldeguer of Cebu City proving the adage that one must indeed “leave it to the experts” in matters foreign to us.
The boxers’ rise from relatively poor social beginning to boxing
prominence today affirms the fact that socio-economic status do not matter much in achieving one’s goals.
Bautista was born to a farmer-father (Alberto Sr) and housewife Susana in Can-olin, Candijay, Bohol while Amonsot, was orphaned by the death of his father at age 14 and left with nine siblings (born in Bool District, Tagbilaran City) with mother Miguela.
Boom Boom sold firewood in the morning and went fishing at night to
help the family make ends meet. The Amonsot family, meantime, engaged in selling vegetables and crushing stones for construction to survive the hard times.
According to their manager Aldeguer, both accomplished pugilists, are hardworking and disciplined, true-blue marks of youth having gone through difficult times in life – and learning lessons well. The good manners cannot but come from parents who expect their children to be exactly that – to all people.
Today, the city of Tagbilaran awakes – still groggy from a fight night that has been like no other in modern sports memory here. Such a memorable undertaking could not happen too often in a still-growing metropolis like Tagbilaran City.
But the highest credit should go to the dynamic leadership of the city Mayor Dan Neri Lim and his passionate love for the sports (“not for the money but for history”) who had brought disparate elements into the pot and made them blend to produce the boxing extravaganza.
Surely Mayor Lim must be musing today behind the sports success, “the difficult things, we can do. The impossible – just takes a little time.”
And with that, a new page in Bohol boxing history is now written in
gold.