Bleacher Talk

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...