Bleacher Talk

Bleacher Talk January 25, 2009 Amateur Boxing: Looking Good? If you’re a boxing fan, you can’t help but feel excited with the latest developments in amateur boxing, the same amateur boxing scene where the country’s (and Cebu’s) best boxers once displayed their skills and talents as young potential stars. For the first time in a long time, it now looks like amateur boxing is headed towards the right direction with the right set of people on board as managers of the sport. For a sport that has had its share of controversies, politics and a not-so-clean image over-all, it now looks like there’s hope. We have always believed that there is no shortage of boxing talent across the country. The main problem is that our past programs haven’t been able to nurture, harness and maximize this scenario. But it now looks like we’re all in for a surprise. At this point, there’s nowhere else to go but up and so anything new and different from what we’ve always been doing will surely...

Bleacher Talk January 18, 2009 Sports 101 - Running True or false? Sportswriters are experts in the sport or events that they write about. I hate to put all of us on the spot, but that’s something we need to ask ourselves. Are we just mere writers of what happens or do we go beyond this and tackle everything that goes with the sport? All of us sportswriters have our own favorite sport, regardless of whether or not we actually know how to play it. When Bleacher Talk writes about events such as basketball, boxing, badminton, football (soccer) or baseball, we’re pretty confident with what we write since we have first hand knowledge and experience about how the game is played from both a competitive or leisure aspect. But then the world of sports is more than that, isn’t it? With this, the Sportswriters Association of Cebu (SAC) went back to school. It was time to “sharpen the saw” and know more about the events that we cover, analyze, write about and pass on to our readers. For those who ...

Bleacher Talk January 12, 2009 Cebu Boxing in 2009 It will be a year of learning and growing and the entry of new faces for Cebu Boxing in 2009. While we don’t expect any extraordinary big event or achievement to take place, Cebu will continue to be busy and will still hold its torch up high, proud to be the country’s hotbed of boxing. Our world champions kick off the year with title defenses. Donnie Nietes defends (and will win) his WBO minimumweight against Mexico’s Erik Ramirez in Mexico on February 28. Gerry Peñalosa is supposed to defend his WBO bantamweight title, but there are talks that he may move up in weight to face Juan Manuel Lopez in a WBO super bantamweight showdown instead. These two events by themselves are already enough fireworks for local boxing. If this pushes through, Gerry is expected relinquish his WBO bantamweight belt. He is set to fight Mexican Heriberto Ruiz in a non-title next month before he either defends his title or challenge Juanma Lopez. Ruiz is the s...

Bleacher Talk January 4, 2009 Cebu Basketball in 2009 While Cebu Basketball in 2008 went well, so much more can be done and achieved in 2009. And so as the new year starts, we make our little corner’s wishes and forecasts for the year. While we’re no professional fortune teller, there are a few things which are certain to happen and few more which we would like to see develop. In the end, we’d like to see Cebu Basketball get back to its status as one of the country’s top sources of basketball talent, something which has been slipping away. We may not achieve it this year but there are things that can be done to get there. As Cebu’s biggest and most popular basketball show, the CESAFI will be seeking ways to further strengthen its stature as Cebu’s favorite event. Thanks to a more competitive line-up of teams, the CESAFI has become more unpredictable and this has drawn record fans for the past two years. The trend is seen to be maintained even if it looks like another UV year. That’s un...

Cebu Boxing Year-ender Cebu Boxing’s 2008 performance has brought in a few surprises in what has been a learning and growing experience for all. Although he’s not a product of Cebu Boxing, the year started and ended with Manny Pacquiao. Without the Pacman, Cebu Boxing wouldn’t be where it is today as we became the first choice of promoters and matchmakers looking for future world beaters out of the Philippines. Pacquiao’s dominance opened the doors for the Cebu Boxing family, making it a lot easier for Cebu boxers and promoters to break into the world scene. Some have been successful, while some have not. But more importantly, this has now become the level at which Cebu Boxing will now be evaluated from now on. For our world champions, it was a case of doing enough to maintain their titles, but they were also inactive for much of the year, something that may not be good for them in the long run. Long-time Cebu product Gerry Peñalosa retained his WBO bantamweight championship by defeati...