Bleacher Talk

Bleacher Talk Dec. 31, 2006 Neither Here Nor There Cebu Basketball was just that in 2006: neither here nor there. We were the same old Cebu Basketball that didn’t pull any surprises or raise eyebrows, but we still managed to do the same old stuff that we’re already getting used to already. We broke it down to different sections… Our first section is called “What’s up?” (there in Manila). Acknowledging that Manila will still be the ultimate dream for Cebu’s top prospects, who are doing well at the top level of hoops in the PBA? Top-of-mind mention will have to go to Dondon Hontiveros of San Miguel and Junthy Valenzuela of Batang Red Bull. They’ve been the most consistent Cebu-bred performers with Dondon already being considered as one of the league’s biggest stars amidst the presence of those Fil-Ams. First honorable mention goes to Roger Yap while John Ferriols gets second mention. Something worth watching are the “comeback bids” up there being launched by Dale Singson (Alaska) and

Bleacher Talk Dec. 24, 2006 Breaking Through in 2006 Breaking through. This was hands-down the major accomplishment of Cebu Boxing in the year 2006. No, Cebu still doesn’t have a world champion to follow the exploits of Manny Pacquiao. But should a boxer out of the Cebu boxing family become a world champ in the next two years, he’ll surely look back to 2006 as the year that gave him that stepping stone to big time. In 2006, Cebu’s boxing “industry” not only made inroads in the local setting (as this is already a given); it followed the footsteps of one of Cebu’s biggest income earners: the export industry. Our boxers and boxing gyms are now becoming regulars in the international boxing scene, proudly showing off their stuff in front of a worldwide boxing audience. Never before has the local boxing family seen so many boxers train and participate in fights abroad, all the way from the United States to Japan, Russia, France and our neighboring ASEAN countries. 2006 will mark the year whe

Bleacher Talk Dec. 17, 2006 Asian Games Assessing the country’s performance at the Asian Games that just ended in is like sounding like a broken long play record. Pardon the generation gap, but it must be MP3’s or CD’s for today’s generation. The PR campaign hypes that the country had recorded its best Asiad since 1962, thanks to four gold medals. There were also several near-misses and close calls that could’ve added another medal or two. But then again, doesn’t the country’s sports PR team always say the same or a similar thing after each Asiad? And repeat the same words (more or less) after an Olympics or any other international event? Somehow I feel these PR experts need to be more creative with how to say the same thing repeatedly every four years. For the record, the Philippines recorded a 4-6-9 medal tally (gold-silver-bronze), with the golds coming from boxing’s Violita Payla and Joan Tipon; and one each from wushu (Rene Catalan) and nine-ball (Antonio Gabica). This standing wa

Bleacher Talk Dec. 10, 2006 ASEAN Summit & Boxing World Cup Call it irony but on the day that the media announced the postponement of the ASEAN Summit, local boxing gets a confirmation from Tony Aldeguer (ALA) that Cebu will host the eagerly-awaited boxing “World Cup” that will feature a Philippines vs. Mexico card on February 25, 2007. I’m no big fan of politics so I’ll take the good news and forget the bad (but learn from it). Cebu boxing fans were on a high when they heard that SGG Promotions won the purse bid to stage the WBO super flyweight championship fight between champion Fernando Montiel and mandatory challenger Z Gorres. Although we were all excited about the development, this excitement was also “suspended” since there was talk that the fight would be held in Manila. So worry no longer. You can now heave a sigh of relief, say thanks for answered prayers and start saving money asap so you can score a ticket to the fights. Yes, the big show’s coming to town. The irony of

Bleacher Talk December 3, 2006 Go ALA, Go SGG! The Pinoy boxing scene is rejoicing these days, still on a high after Manny Pacquiao’s three-round KO win over Erik Morales. This high was extended when Sammy “Don King” Gello-ani of SGG Promotions won the purse bid to stage the World Boxing Organization (WBO) super flyweight championship fight between champion Fernando Montiel of Mexico and Cebu’s Z Gorres. And it could be on another high when Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista overcomes Giovanni Andrade this morning (Saturday night in the U.S.). Another page in the history books of Pinoy boxing is being written once again by Cebu Boxing, and we should all be proud of what Sammy has done under the leadership of someone who goes by the initials ALA, and the support of Golden Boy Promotions. But the even as us fans continue to rejoice over this latest feat, you can be sure that the celebration of the ALA/SGG/Golden Boy (GB) team was marked with a different type of atmosphere. You can bet that instead

Bleacher Talk Nov. 26, 2006 Golden Boy, Top Rank & Pinoy Boxing Aren’t you already confused with all the alphabet organizations that make professional boxing the most cluttered sport in terms of initials? Well here are two more sets of initials that you’ll have to add to your boxing vocabulary: GB and TR. While they’re already well-known and are acknowledged as big names of the sport from an international angle, GB and TR will now be closer to us Pinoy boxing fans as they have now dipped their fingers into the Philippine boxing scene, many thanks to Manny Pacquiao. Let’s all extend our “Welcome to Pinoy Boxing” greetings to Oscar de la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions (GB) and Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions (TR), the two most prestigious boxing outfits in boxing today. We have always known the two as promoters of big time boxing events that have featured the country’s best boxers in the U.S. But with the recent developments that have seen more Pinoy world title prospects finally gettin

Bleacher Talk Nov 19, 2006 Boxing 101 with Pacquiao Mark your calendar. November 19, 2006. Sunday. This will go down as the biggest fight in Philippine boxing history. You name it, it’s got it. And it’s a cinch to break every record in local boxing history in terms of “bigness.” What else is there to say when it already has everything one looks for in a great fight? If you do a survey among sports fans, this will easily reach 100% awareness levels. I mean who in the local sports world doesn’t know what’s taking place at around 10 o’clock this morning? Who in the boxing world –not only the Philippines- doesn’t know what’s happening in Las Vegas? You’re going to see everything in the country come to a halt, literally and figuratively. Traffic will be very light. Business will be so-so. And you’ll find Pinoys in only one place: in front of a screen. They’ll be seated in front of a TV at home or at a bar or movie theater nearby. I’m even willing to dare say that this will be the most-watc

Bleacher Talk Nov 12, 2006 Choosing a Leader for SBP For awhile, it was all good news for Philippine basketball family. It looked like the estranged members of the family were all committed to get the family back as one, after having another one of those usual in-fighting among family members. But just like serious family troubles, the main issues that have kept the basketball family into two sides refuse to go away. And so we’re all back to square one. Just as the formation of the Samahang Basketball ng Pilipinas (SBP) had overcome the rough roads of the initial stage of its conception, it now looks like there are even tougher roads up ahead, complete with uphill climbs, winding roads and terrible weather slowing everything down, with a serious threat of stalling the momentum completely. The family is so close, yet so far in finalizing what could be the biggest moment in Philippine basketball history, with only one more thing stalling us. Who is to lead the new

Bleacher Talk Nov. 5, 2006 Keeping Boxing in the News Have you noticed that with Pacquiao-Morales III two weeks away, it seems like all boxing fans are already aware of all the details about the fight? Well ok, this is expected of a fight of this magnitude with only two more weekends left. We can even go back to the day after the Pacquiao-Larios fight in July or the formal launch of the Grand Finale. If you do a survey among boxing fans on their awareness of the Grand Finale somewhere between then and today, you’ll surely get high awareness rating level. While the fight was a product that may not have needed any introduction, it still needed a machinery that would keep fans reminded and up to date about the fight. Not that fans would forget about the fight easily. The fight’s promoters and producers just wanted to be sure that it would be the “only” event that boxing fans would be talking about so the promoters could maximize everything out of the event, i.e. the business

Bleacher Talk Oct. 22, 2006 Business of Boxing Local boxing was jarred by the news that Boy Cantada, the producer of the weekly boxing program “Fistorama,” was quitting the pro scene for good, and was switching to amateur boxing instead. Based on the reports of Quinito Henson (Philippine Star - Oct 20) and Ronnie Nathanielsz (www.philboxing.com – Oct. 19), Cantada is quitting pro boxing “because of the GAB's dictatorial and strong-arm methods.” The one major incident that blew the lid was the GAB’s “arbitrarily increasing the compensation of boxing officials in promotions without prior notice or consultation.” If you analyze both stories, you can’t help but get the impression that the GAB is the one and only reason why Fistorama is turning its back on pro boxing. But is this possible? Is the GAB so incompetent that it can ruin a TV program? I couldn’t help but try to read between the lines because one has to realize that while boxing is a sport, it also happens to be

Bleacher Talk October 15, 2006 Watch Your Weight The boxing world has been rocked lately by booboos of popular boxers who did not make the weight limit for crucial title fights. Diego Corrales weighed in at 140 pounds for his defense of the WBC lightweight title last week. The limit? 135 pounds. He was stripped of his title and Joel Casamayor went on to win the title via a split decision. The irony of it all was that Corrales’ previous fight was called off because his opponent (Jose Luis Castillo) also weighed in over the limit. In the local scene, the most glaring over the limit incident of late was ex-ALA Boy Czar Amonsot hitting 135 pounds for his WBO Asia Pacific super featherweight title fight. This was five pounds above the super featherweight limit of 130. But why all the fuss about making weight? What’s all this business about weight classes and all those “funny” names of weight divisions from “straw,” to “fly,” “bantam,” “feather,” “light,” “welter,” “middle,” light heavy,” “c

Bleacher Talk Oct. 8, 2006 National Collegiate Champ Around three weeks ago through Bleacher Talk, this writer was praying that a genuine national collegiate tournament be revived so that the basketball family can determine a real champion of champions among the various collegiate leagues in the country. To my pleasant surprise a day later, I chanced upon the Philippine Star column of Rey Gamboa that included a teaser about the ongoing Collegiate Champions’ League. The good news I was looking for started Thursday and will declare a national champion in two weeks. When the Champions’ League was launched four years ago (or is it five?), I truly believed that this had the makings of a big tournament that would gain the respect and admiration of the basketball fan. It brought in all the various collegiate league champions to a tournament similar to the playoff scheme of the U.S. NCAA Basketball Tournament. The highlights? This year’s edition brings in a Sweet Sixtee

Quilaton, Salim Win in Manila Quezon City - Rodel Quilaton and Reman Salim of the SGG Boxing Stable followed the wrath created by Typhoon Milenyo on Manila by scoring lopsided wins over their Manila counterparts Friday night at Bakbakan Sa Project 6: Pangalawang Hataw, at the Project 6 Gym in Quezon City. Quilaton scored a clinical unanimous decision win over Gerald Ubatay in a repeat of their 2005 match that ended in a controversial split decision win for Quilaton. The SGG ward, relying on his superior boxing skills, kept the charging Ubatay at bay with a crisp right jab and literally ran circles around his foe to stay away from Ubatay's wild punches. The southpaw Quilaton then used an array of left straights and right uppercuts to follow up his jabs to please the local crowd and give Ubatay a neat boxing lesson. It was a far better performance compared to their first fight where Quilaton had difficulty with Ubatay's style. In the other main event, Salim needed only two rounds

Bleacher Talk October 1, 2006 Cebu Football On The Rise “Sunod sa basket, uso naman kaayo ang football ron, no? This was the statement that I had been waiting to hear to gauge whether or not the growth of Cebu Football was for real. This came from a friend who has zero interest in football and yet discovered that many kids are now taking up the sport. This comment was prompted by the “noise” created by last weekend’s CebuFA Aboitiz National Football Festival. And I’m sure the leaders of the Cebu Football Association (CebuFA) led by Jonathan “Maxi” Maximo must be sporting ear-to-ear smiles these days. It sure looks like the previous highs of local football have now been surpassed and there doesn’t seem to be anything that can stop this momentum. The wonder of it all is that I don’t think we’ve even scratched the surface of what local football can achieve. I have always been an advocate of “forgetting” what one has achieved with the eye of doing more in the future. Sure, we’ve already ac

Bleacher Talk Sept. 24, 2006 UV’s 6th = # 3 It isn’t even fair anymore! Each time one talks about the CESAFI basketball tournament, it’s already a given to say that UV will win it even before the season starts. The real battle is actually for second place. True enough, UV won its sixth straight CESAFI championship when it nipped USC, 88-83, in overtime in Game 2 of the best of three championship series. It has now become an annual tradition for the Lancers of Coach Boy Cabahug to have an early Christmas celebration since the first season of the CESAFI. Congratulations and pats of ‘good job” are in store for Coach Boy, his coaching staff and the hard-working crew of Lancers. But this is where I’ll have to come in and take the killjoy role of a fan and a concerned follower who wants to challenge the way UV approaches Cebu Basketball. After winning a sixth straight, what’s next? Is UV satisfied with just winning the CESAFI every year? Are these their only goals as a ballclub?

Bleacher Talk Sept 17, 2006 Regional Ball: NBC & MVBA Just when you thought you already had enough of basketball, the scene is shifting to high gear. The UAAP, NCAA, Cebu’s CESAFI and most of the collegiate leagues are entering the crucial playoff stage of it respective tournaments. The PBA is set to kick off in October and this will be followed by the PBL most likely also around October. But do you know what other leagues are going to keep the country busy with basketball action, especially in the south? Amidst all the mumbo-jumbo of alphabet leagues scattered nationwide, we in the Vismin welcome the regional / commercial basketball leagues: the National Basketball Conference (NBC) and the Mindanao Visayas Basketball Association (MVBA). The NBC kicked off its National Cup yesterday, while the MVBA refuses to be left behind as it launches its second conference on September 23. One can’t help but ask why there have to be two regional inter-city based leagues. Are the two leagues riv

Bleacher Talk Sept 10, 2006 One College Basketball Family Yes. The headline should look very familiar. It was taken right out of last week’s column, “One Basketball Family.” And this is a natural rejoinder that looks into a natural consequence that will hopefully come out of the soon to be launched brand new national sports association for basketball. Ever since we started writing this column, one of our favorite pet peeve topics every year has been the lack of a legitimate and genuine tournament to determine a national collegiate champion. Sure, a number of attempts have been made to pit the best college teams against each other through the years, but none of these grew to become the credible college tournament that basketball fans looked up to when looking for a college basketball champion. The closest that we got to having a tournament that could’ve been “it” was the Champions’ League that disappeared last year. True to its name, the tournament gathered the collegiate