Alive and kicking

CANTILAN, Surigao del Sur — The distance between this sleepy town and Butuan airport in Agusan del Norte is 190 kilometers.

Our designated driver insists the trip can be done in three hours.

“Two and a half (hours) actually,” the lady companion of the driver butted in.

But the journey felt much longer.

The travel began almost as soon as we got out of Butuan airport.

Minus a brief stop, it took us four hours to arrive here to cover a special presentation of Blow-By-Blow, the weekly boxing show on Cignal’s ONE Sports channel.

Thursday’s slugfest marked the end of the town’s fiesta that kicked off two weeks ago.

Local officials rolled out the red carpet not just for the participating boxers and their respective handlers but for everyone who came all the way from the Visayas and Mindanao and Manila.

In fact, so special was the boxing show that eight-division legend Manny Pacquiao was slated to arrive in time for the show on board his brand-new BMW motorcycle and accompanied by his pals also on motorbikes.

Pacquiao woke up early so he could arrive just in time for the festivities.

Unlike ours, Pacquiao’s trip covered a distance of over 500 kilometers.

As of this writing, Pacquiao was in the Caraga region and knowing that the boxing royalty was indeed coming over for a brief visit, the town was in celebratory mood.

Pacquiao revived Blow-By-Blow in November 2022 and the program that is being shown every Sunday at 8:30 on ONE Sports continues to put up solid numbers.

With a heavyweight of a backer providing the financial punch, Blow-By-Blow looks poised to maintain its hold on hardcore boxing fans.

Another big show is on tap for next month.

“It’s going to be a world title fight,” Len Barlas Tomas, one of the program’s top executives, said.

“Then we already have something for October so we are pretty much covered the rest of the year,” she added.

So, why is Blow-By-Blow making great inroads?

It is because Pacquiao himself is very much involved in putting up the cards while allowing seasoned matchmaker Art Monis to have a free hand in the selection of the fighters being signed up.

“Sen(ator) MP (Manny Pacquiao) looks at the pairings himself. So, there’s nothing that gets approved without his approval,” Blow-By-Blow chief Marife Barrera said.

Pacquiao takes pride in keeping Blow-By-Blow afloat because of sentimental reasons.

It was the boxing show that made him a star in the country.

In the mid-1990s, Pacquiao fought almost exclusively under the Blow-By-Blow banner and it served as the springboard to his successful campaign in the United States.

“As long as Manny Pacquiao is around, Blow-By-Blow will be here for the Filipino sports fans,” he said.

Cantilan is the fifth provincial stop of the show after General Santos City, Imus, Narvacan and Passi (Iloilo).

Based on its robust TV ratings, there could be more stops along the way.

As Pacquiao said, it is here to stay.

And that’s music to the ears of the supporters of Philippine boxing.