A Thunderous Boxing Night

Like what occurred in Brisbane, a boxing event can be a tourism knockout! Well, at least there’s something for us to look forward to.

Pacquiao and Ancajas

Oddly enough, the defeat of Manny Pacquiao against Jeff Horn overshadowed the victory of Jerwin Ancajas (27-1-1) over Teiru Kinoshita. Common people keep on talking about Pacquiao's loss but hardly talked about Ancajas' winning glory. Ancajas' first-rate performance against the Japanese to retain his IBF Super Flyweight championship belt at the Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Australia was remarkable. Ancajas won via 7^th round TKO pounding the challenger's body sending him to the canvass like a crumpled bonbori lantern.

The Ancajas-Kinoshita duel was the co-main event of the Horn-Pacquiao last July 2. With the effort of one of Ancajas’ corner men, the home-grown boxer himself, Drian Francisco (29-4-1), the IBF champ will be coming over to grace another professional boxing fest here. Francisco and Ancajas are stable mates in Pacquaio’s MP Promotions. The former is two-time chief spar mate of the latter.

The Main Event

Billed as “Dagundong!”, the slug festival is presented by Knuckleheads Pro Boxing Fraternity. It will be held at Sablayan Astrodome on July 22, 2017 featuring the ex-Olympian Mark Anthony Barriga versus Joel Taduran in the main event. In 2012 London Olympics, Barriga lost to Kazakh fighter Birzhan Zhakypov by just a hairline, 17-16, in their round-of-16 light flyweight match. The referee slapped the then 19-year-old Barriga with a one point deduction in the third round for ducking (which is illegal in amateur boxing) the Kasakh and lost it by points.

But as a pro, Barriga bounced back. In his debut in July last year, he won a UD competing with Melvin Manangquil in Cebu City. He has never fought outside of the Philippines as a professional. His latest fight was held only June 4 at Dipolog City winning a TKO versus Marlou Sandoval. With just more than a month after his last ring appearance, Barriga will be again crossing the ropes here in our province. 

How about his opponent Joel Taduran? Well, with a total of 15 fights across his name, Taduran slightly has the experience. He already boxed outside the Philippines- Japan, China and Indonesia. His first fight abroad was at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo where he was frustrated by Toshiyuri Igarashi in May 7, 2016 via UD. In his last fight, he was TKOed by Junto Nakatani on April 16 this year at Messe Mie, Tsu, Mie, Japan.   

The province’s boxing capital

Boxing, even before the first two professional fights of Manny Pacquiao were held here in the mid-90s, is the most prominent sports among the youth in town. Promotion of boxing is embodied in Sablayan’s Executive-Legislative Agenda for 2016-2019. Sablayan is considered by officials from Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) and other international boxing personalities as the Boxing Mecca of Occidental Mindoro. Former Palawan governor Abraham Khalil “Baham” Mitra, the current chair of Games and Amusement Board (GAB), will also be coming over to supervise the event.

Sablayan Astrodome was the venue of the Drian Francisco- Pichitchai Twins Gym duel for the IBF Pacific Super Bantamweight championship. Francisco won via first round knockout over Thailand's Pichitchai Twins Gym to capture the interim title. Francisco, fighting in his hometown for the first time in his career, delivered a 3-punch combination that sent the Thai crushing to the canvas and was counted out at 33 seconds of the first round. The brawl took place in April 15, 2012.

The sensational fistfight between Jimmy Borbon and Jonard Postrano (2016-01-21) was also held at Sablayan Astrodome and hundreds of other events that cannot be accommodated here for lack of space. Sablayan too, is home to boxing trainers like Joe Francisco, a former Philippine #1 Philippine Junior Featherweight contender, and promoters like Cecilio Alvarez, Sr. of the JBoy Promotion.

Budding local pugilists

It is on record that the amateur boxers from Sablayan excel in many boxing tournaments like the Provincial Meet, the MIMAROPARAA, Palarong Pambansa, Batang Pinoy and those sponsored by DepEd, PSC and the LGU. The Municipal Government led by Mayor Eduardo B. Gadiano and SB Walter B. Marquez, a boxing promoter himself, also sponsored the event as they continue to support the town’s local boxers.

Aside from Drian Francisco, the current roster of professional boxers from Sablayan includes Rodynie Manzano Rafol and the two budding professional boxers in Darren Collamar and Lloyd Dulweras, to mention just three. The list should be long and the sport must not be neglected. The province’s boxing tradition must continue.

Sports tourism

Pacquiao’s nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez once said, “Boxing is always serious.” Promoting and developing sports tourism should be seriously looked into. Especially now that Boxing and other sports are considered attractions within the broader context of local tourism industry.

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(Photo: From Drian Francisco's FB account)