Boxing talents abound in the provinces but ABAP’s not checking

Despite the uncertainty of boxing’s inclusion in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, some of the sport’s foremost figures could not help but cite chinks on the armor of the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP), the group that runs the affairs of amateur boxing in the country.

“The members of the national pool are not really the best fighters in the country,” veteran trainer Nonoy Neri told DAILY TRIBUNE on Tuesday from his homebase in Davao City.

Neri, a vital part of Manny Pacquiao’s training team, swears that there are talents in the provinces that are waiting to be discovered.

“Here in Davao, in General Santos City, in Digos and in the whole of Mindanao, there are lots of talented young boxers. Many of them come to me for help, many of them wanting to turn professional,” Neri said.

“The problem is that nobody from the ABAP is coming over to check on the amateur programs here. The events being held here are mostly local tournaments,” he added.

Neri’s claims seem to hold water. In Cebu, where boxing is a religion, two-time world title challenger Edito “Ala” Villamor echoed Neri’s observations.

“We stage tournaments using our personal funds and help from sponsors. Here in Cebu, there are lots of very promising boxers who are waiting to be discovered. But how can they be discovered if there are no tournaments to take part in?”

Villamor honed his skills during the time of Cebu’s premier amateur boxing patron Tony Aldeguer, whose assembly line produced the likes of world champions Gerry Penalosa, Malcolm Tunacao, Joma Gamboa, Rodel Mayol and Melvin Jerusalem.

“I remember during the 1980s, Cebu fielded four teams in the nationals,” Villamor recalled with fondness.

Villamor and company actually were being geared by Aldeguer for the amateurs but a sad incident in 1988 at the Quirino Grandstand forced Aldeguer to abandon the amateurs and enter the pros.

In one of the final bouts, Penalosa was beaten on a controversial decision by Charlie Balena.

“A riot nearly erupted,” Villamor said.

Penalosa, with tears in his eyes, threw a stool into the ring in protest for what was deemed a bum decision.

“That was when we all decided to turn professional,” Villamor said.

But in fairness to the ABAP, Villamor said the old leadership reached out to Cebu’s prominent boxing personages for consultation in a move to recruit topnotch talent.

“Sir Ed Picson came over and we discussed what needed to be done. We were all planning to hold regular tournaments but it didn’t materialize as Sir Ed passed away,” he said of the major move made by Picson, then the ABAP president, to beef up the national pool.

The ABAP is now being ran by Antipolo lawmaker Robbie Puno and chaired by Ricky Vargas (formerly ABAP president) with Marcus Manalo serving as secretary general. In the Paris Olympics, only two bronze medals were brought home by the five-man boxing team made up of Eumir Marcial and Carlo Paalam in the men’s and Nesthy Petecio, Aira Villegas and Hergie Bacyadan in the women’s class.

Only Petecio and Vilegas took medals after Marcial, bronze medalist in Tokyo in the middleweight division, was dealt a shocking exit by Uzbekistan’s Turabek Khabibullaev in his light-heavyweight debut. Paalam, silver medalist in Tokyo in a lower weight class, was the recipient of a disputable decision to Australian Charlie Senior in the quarterfinal round while Bacyadan was soundly beaten by Chinese top pick Li Qian. Petecio, also silver medalist in Tokyo, was defeated by 20-year-old Olympic debutante Julia Zsemerata of Poland in the semis.

Villegas was the surprise medalist as she was making her Olympic debut but her amazing run came to a screeching halt when she ran into Turkey’s top bet, Buse Naz Cakiroglu, in the semis.

Fourth Olympic Cycle

The current ABAP leadership traces its roots to the ascension of Vargas to the presidency in 2009 with Manny V. Pangilinan as figurehead owing to the MVP Group’s vast resources.

In 2012 in London the ABAP only had one representative: Mark Anthony Barriga. Four years later in Rio de Janeiro, two entries--Rogen Ladon and Charly Suarez--were eliminated early.

In the runup to Paris, the ABAP emphasized the importance of finally ending boxing’s gold medal quest in the 2024 Summer Games. After a landmark performance in Tokyo in 2021 where Paalam and Petecio were awarded silvers and Marcial grabbed the bronze, the ABAP had high hopes of ending the drought in Paris.

Besides, the 2024 Olympic team was probably the most prepared.

It traveled the world for training and competition, setting up camps in the United States, Italy and Thailand before relocating to Metz in France and Saarbrucken in Germany shortly before the opening ceremonies in Paris. In the end, only consolation prizes had to be brought back to the Philippines, leaving the ABAP with no other choice but to settle for crumbs.

But generally speaking, it was still a modest finish as boxing lived up to its reliability. The bronzes of Petecio and Villegas make up the total of 18 Olympic medals that the Philippines has won in its 100 years of participation.

These latest additions also hiked boxing’s total output to 10 Olympics medals, the most by any sport in the country.

Scouting for fresh talents

Still, concerns remain about its capability of finally putting an end to the elusive hunt in 2028. Four years from now, Paalam would already be 30, Petecio 36; Bacyadan almost 34; Marcial (also nearing 34 and probably still fighting in the pros or retired); and Villegas nearly 33.

That leaves the ABAP with the job of finding successors given that the next Olympics is a mere four years away.

Brix Flores, who bagged the bronze in the 1986 Seoul Olympics and one of Cebu’s most dedicated trainers both for pros and amateurs, insists that “staging regular tournaments is vital.” Like Villamor, Flores runs a gym in Mandaue and holding mini-tournaments is one way of stumbling on talents.

But with limited funds, it is extremely difficult to keep the program running. Flores stressed that he could not remember the last time a National Open was held to allow the fighters in the provinces to showcase their talents.

“Honestly, I don’t remember. Yes, we have the Palaro, PNG (Philippine National Games) and Batang Pinoy but it would be better if we do regular tournaments,” he said.

“We are on our own,” he said, adding that he was also tickled pink when Picson came for a visit some years back.

Same old, same old

Art Monis, the lead matchmaker of the weekly boxing program Blow-By-Blow on Cignal ONE Sports, used to fight as an amateur back in the days in his native La Union and he also laments the supposed lack of interaction between the ABAP and the boxing groups in the provinces.

“There are plenty of talents, unknown amateurs in the provinces waiting to be discovered.”

“The thing is, the ABAP doesn’t conduct visits. You get to see the same old faces competing.”

Monis added: “There is too much politics involved.”

Neri said that because the ABAP is nowhere to be found, most boxers are more inclined to enter the pros than make the national team.

“That’s happening. A lot of fighters I have seen should be in the amateurs. They are built for the amateurs because they are tall and rangy. Perfect for amateur-style boxing. But again, there’s nobody coming over to check on them.”

Will boxing make it to 2028?

Following the controversy in Paris, ranging from gender issues, the inability to find a sanctioning body that will oversee Olympic boxing and spotty officiating in the previous Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided not to list boxing as one of the sports that won’t be played in Los Angeles.

However, the decision is not yet final. The IOC said that a decision will be made in 2025.

The International Boxing Association (IBA) used to be the governing body for boxing but in Tokyo 2021, the IPC created a commission that performed IBA’s functions.

Still, controversies keep on coming and the IOC said that a new body has to be put up soon to save the sport from being scratched off in Los Angeles.

World Boxing is the group being groomed to take over from IBA but it has yet to garner enough support for it to be given the green light to assume the IBAs previous roles.

The Philippines is one of the earliest backers of World Boxing, which is being headed by Boris Van Der Vors, and formed only in April 2023 as the alternative to IBA, whose mandate was stripped by the IOC.

Currently, it has a membership of 37 national federations from across the world but needs at least 50 to get the IOC’s approval.

The United States, Canada, England, Italy, Germany, Argentina, Brazil, India, the Netherlands, South Korea, Australia, and of course, the Philippines are among the prominent members of World Boxing.

Notably absent are powerhouse nations Uzbekistan, which ruled Paris boxing, and Kazakhstan, China and even traditional contender Cuba.

Given boxing’s image in Olympic boxing, it is just a matter of time before World Boxing meets the standard.