By Romuel Alarcon
The Southeast Asian Games are just around the corner. it is held in between Asian Games and the Olympics. Todays, Southeast Games will be held between December 10 to 20 2025.
Reading the other day that our Olympic Bronze Medalist Eumir Marcial and the undefeated Middleweight Professional Boxer, will be fighting for the Philippine flag in the coming SEA Games. At first I was elated but come to think of it, this two Pinoy boxers will be fighting in a small regional athletic competition where boxing is included is over kill. These boxers are for higher category of boxing competition like Asian Games, World Championships and the Olympics, not just a small regional competition where we can throw all our up-and-coming sports athletes to be their training ground and confidence building athletic tournament.
One thing more, the entry of Eumir Marcial and Wiljon Mindoro signifies that the amateur boxing organization cannot solve the problem of building strong boxers in the heavier division such as 75kilograms and 80kilograms. Aside from that, it indicates that the amateur boxing body is just keen on having instant boxers like coffee and noodles. No clear-cut program for building boxers to fight in the much heavier category. Discovering and Building boxers to fight in the much heavier category must be done in a more arduous way. We do not need that in a wink of an eye we will be having heavy category boxers. It needs a grass roots boxing tournament for heavy categories like welterweight, super welterweight, middle weight, and if possible, super middle weight. The Philippine Amateur Boxing Organization must do a lot of convincing for huge Collegiate and University sports tournament like UAAP and NCAA to bring back Boxing in their sports program and convince the local government to tap the out of school to be part of the training for boxing for higher category. Giving them Athletic Scholarship to pursue their dreams after boxing. There should be overwhelming changes in the ABAP System of getting boxers whether in the light category or in the much heavier category.
Sports Hub
Title of the Column:
Primadonna Boxers/World Boxing Bodies Elevating boxers to be world champion without throwing a single punch
By Romuel Alarcon
A lot of boxers now a days are very choicy to whom to fight. If the prize is right, they will fight and if not, they will turn it down to the point of relinquishing their title just to get rid of the fight. This does give the boxing fans, and boxing enthusiasts a very bad impression. A very bad precedent to the world of boxing. We can never see a good fight but a fight of their own choice. It will lead to boxing being unpopular.
Another thing which world boxing is being detested is the way world boxing bodies give the crown to whoever they wanted to give, without the boxer throwing any punch by simply elevating them to be world champions. This world boxing bodies can declare the title vacant and ask for a world title fight to boxers with the highest rating and fight for the crown. Now it is being given as if it is just a toy or a plaything. This practice of giving the title to the fighters who are close to the higher ups and enjoying such accolades has been going on for so many decades.
If you will just think even for a moment, the fighter who relinquished the title, took the crown the hard way by fighting somebody to have the crown for himself. It was not given to him in a silver platter. So why give it to a boxer who did not even throw a punch. That is very unfair to the boxer who renounces the crown. World Boxing Bodies should stop such bad practice for the benefit of our boxing fans, boxing enthusiasts and boxing.
ReyFort Media 
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