D is for ‘Daddy’
Boholst: My family is my priority, not an option
‘We are not running away from a challenge.’
Delfin Boholst wears three hats in boxing.
He is a trainer, a manager and a conditioning coach.
It’s hard to find all three in one person these days.
Most of the time, a trainer also dabbles as a fitness coach. There are also trainer-manager combinations.
But all three in one fellow?
Rare.
Quite rare, actually.
But Boholst is all three.
Initially, he wore just two hats: trainer and manager.
But during his stint with a former world champion just before Covid-19, Boholst tried his hand at strength training, enrolling in short courses in the United States and learning from foreign-trained Filipino experts to beef up his CV.
Nowadays, Boholst handles only one fighter because the boxer is extra special, and he believes focusing on one will be beneficial to both himself and his client.
DELFIN Boholst won numerous medals here and abroad during his storied stint in the Philippine national team from 2005 until 2012.
Photograph courtesy of DELFIN BOHOLST/fb
That fighter is top super featherweight Charly Suarez, Boholst’s pal during their days on the Philippine national team.
They have been playing beautiful music together for almost a decade, with Suarez now awaiting word on a make-or-break fight in the United States scheduled for February 2027.
“Charly and I are a team,” said Boholst, who was a member of the national team from 2005 to 2012.
During his stint, Boholst literally went places, touring and competing in Asia and Europe and even in the United States.
Born in Polomolok, South Cotabato, Boholst fought as a light welterweight and welterweight because of his height.
He reigned as national champion for three straight years, won a bronze and a silver medal at the Tammer Cup in Finland in 2006 and 2010, respectively, took gold in a mini-tournament in Los Angeles in 2010 and topped the MVP Cup in Manila that same year.
In between were stints in the world championships in Chicago and Azerbaijan, Olympic qualifiers for the Beijing and London Games, two Asian Games appearances and a lone tour of duty in the Southeast Asian Games.
These days, however, Boholst is heavily immersed in Suarez’s career, training him at the Philippine Army facility in Fort Bonifacio in preparation for a vital clash with former amateur opponent Vasyl Lomachenko of Ukraine.
“This is a winnable fight for us despite the odds and what the others are saying,” said Boholst, who said he has received assurances from Uruguayan-American promoter Sampson Lewkowicz that the fight is close to being finalized.
In fact, Top Rank head Bob Arum, the Harvard-educated Hall of Fame promoter, mentioned Las Vegas as the site of the Lomachenko encounter, with 13 February being eyed as the date.
A win by Suarez would propel him to a three-belt showdown with O’Shaquie Foster of the United States, holder of the World Boxing Council, World Boxing Organization and International Boxing Federation belts.
“We are not running away from a challenge,” said Boholst, who has come to realize that the path toward a coveted shot at a title is usually littered with land mines.
“If we don’t take this fight, our dream ends,” said Boholst, who graduated from Bukidnon State University in Malaybalay with an economics degree in 2004.
DELFIN Boholst (second from left) and world No. 1 super-featherweight contender Charly Suarez make a good team.
Photograph courtesy of JHAY OTAMIAS
For Boholst, boxing has come to symbolize one word: sacrifice.
“It’s hard, most especially if you have a family,” he said.
Married to Janice and the father of Martina, Julianna and Jose Daniel, Boholst insists that being away from his loved ones is difficult.
“Family is important and it’s hard to be away from my kids.”
Just this year, Boholst was away from his growing family for months while taking care of Suarez in the United States.
So whenever he is home and not working overseas, he makes it a point to spend time with his wife and children.
“My family is everything to me.”
Though boxing holds a special place in his heart, Boholst knows where to draw the line.
With his success in handling Suarez, Boholst has been approached by many fighters who want him to train them and manage their careers.
“Up until now, fighters still come to me asking that I train them and handle them,” Boholst said.
But Boholst knows that if he agrees, his family will have to take a back seat.
For a family man like him, that is something that is not negotiable.
When he is home, Boholst takes off all three boxing hats in favor of the most important one.
“Home is my priority,” he said.
That’s beautiful, Delfin. Well done.