Cebu Boxing in 2007

Bleacher Talk
December 30, 2007

Cebu Boxing in 2007

2007 will go down in Cebu Boxing history as a year of the unheralded pulling the rug from under their more popular brethren, proving time and again that the underdog does come out on top to win battles. In the end, the typical underdog in Cebu remained to be to tops in boxing.

The Philippines produced four world champs in 2007, with two of these champions tracing their roots to Cebu Boxing. Gerry Peñalosa and Donnie Nietes joined Nonito Donaire Jr. and Florante Condes as the country’s officially-recognized world champions alongside uncrowned champ Manny Pacquiao. The interesting thing about this is that both boxers weren’t exactly “expected” by the boxing family to become world champs. They were always the names behind the more popular boxers who were a common sight in the sports pages.

In the case of Nietes, he has always had to play second fiddle to the ALA Gym’s more recognized Boom Boom Bautista, Z Gorres, AJ Banal and Czar Amonsot (now retired). Boxing fans have been expecting the country’s future world champs to come from this list. In fact, Nietes is the only boxer among the ALA Boxing Gym’s top stars who hasn’t seen action or trained in the U.S. No Vegas, No L.A., No Wild Card. And what does he have to show for being only a “role player” in the mix? The WBO championship belt. No more, no less.

For his part, Gerry Peñalosa has been written off by some as a thing of the past whose main goal for reviving his boxing career is to earn a living. He was brought up to the super bantamweight division by Golden Boy Promotions to serve as a “token” challenger to Daniel Ponce de Leon, and came out with an impressive “loss” of a performance. Many ringside analysts saw him coming out the winner of the battle, but maybe the gods of boxing didn’t want to see it this way. But did Peñalosa sulk and weep? On the contrary, he went right back into the gym to prepare for his title fight against WBO bantamweight champ Jhonny Gonzales at the Boxing World Cup. While many considered Gorres and Banal as the stars of the World Cup win for the Pinoys, I felt that Peñalosa was the biggest winner. After all, didn’t he win a world championship? Didn’t he score a textbook knock-out win? Remember that he and Michael Domingo were the Pinoys in the World Cup whose chances of winning were forecasted at less than 50-50. They were installed as clear underdogs that night.

Learning from the Nietes and Peñalosa models, it’s obvious that it’s better for boxers (and their managers) to take the low-profile, low-key approach on the way to a world championship. The same is true of Donaire and Condes who didn’t generate too much noise before winning their world titles. If you look at Manny Pacquiao’s rise to the top, didn’t it start this way? Wasn’t he a “no-name” late sub when he won the IBF super bantamweight title? I’m not sure if it’s too late, but can Boom Boom and company take this path as well? Or have they generated so much noise that it’s hard to keep them “quiet.” I’d rather see them work their butts off away from the spotlight, earn some strategic wins the quiet way, then come back with a bang with a world title belt.

Among the heartbreaking of Cebu Boxing in 2007 were the losses of Z Gorres, Rodel Mayol and Yuka Gejon in world championship fights. I still believe that they are legitimate candidates as future world champs but will have to outdo themselves if they want to win it all. For Mayol and Gejon, they’ll have to take their careers seriously. Accepting fights on a last-minute basis and fighting patsies in between is a sign that their careers aren’t being managed well. There is no doubt that both have the talent and skills to go all the way, but they need to add heart, work ethic and dedication, all of which can’t be taught in the gym. Coupled with their low-profile treatment in the boxing circle, let’s just hope they can come back and recover just in time. We’ll talk about what they ought to be doing next year in Bleacher Talk’s 2008 wishes for boxing.

2007 saw the country (represented by Cebu Boxing) winning the Boxing World Cup. While I think it’s an achievement worth mentioning, I don’t think this is something worth celebrating to the high heavens. I still believe that a real Boxing World Cup should feature no less than the best of two countries in a series of world championship fights.

Another major development in 2007 was the birth of SGG Sports Promotions as a separate entity from the ALA Boxing Gym. The ALA Gym is now taking over its own promotions while SGG will be embarking on its own, opening up his network to a wide base of talents and tying up with Golden Boy Promotions as its local partner. The ALA Gym has been the busiest in 2007, ending the year with four events in December. This includes its tie-up with ABS-CBN for Idol: Search for the Next Boxing Star, a TV-based boxing competition featuring fresh and young boxers.

That was 2007 in a nutshell: The underdogs won. The more popular boxers stayed afloat. And Cebu Boxing remained to be the country’s top dog!

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Time-out: As 2007 comes to a close, we would like to thank all of you for taking time out to read “Bleacher Talk.” We hope that we have provided you with insights and analysis that have made you a better-informed bleacher bum. Happy New Year! >>> You can reach me at bleachertalk@yahoo.com or 09233428193 (for SunCel subscribers).