Ang Kalatas November 2015 Issue | Page 12

NO JOKING Ring death in Oz Filipino boxer involved in another tragedy IN THE split-second that Campbelltown’s Davey Browne jr took his eyes off the action for a quick look at his glove laces, a whistling right-cross from Filipino boxing import Carlo Magali barreled through his defence and put an end to the Australian’s life. Editorial: IN THIS CORNER JAIME K. PIMENTEL Editor PinOzInPlay Sports officials hold the aces AMONG safety safeguards in boxing are rules allowing one of three ‘officials’ to stop a contest from continuing: the referee, the ring doctor, and the designated member of the local police force. At the outset let us say that this is not an indictment on those involved in deaths at boxing matches with Filipino contestants in Australia recently. But it has to be said that boxing officials from referees to ring doctors and designated members of the police force at ringside must equally take responsibility for the conduct and safety of boxers at official contests under the Marquis of Queensberry Rules of boxing. That applies to both amateur and professional boxing. We know from experience as an amateur boxing referee and judge, and as a news reporter on boxing, that a boxing official can assist in determining a match result. For example, a referee has several ways of distracting one boxer to give the opponent an advantage: breaking a clinch too early to stop a good ‘inside fighter’ from scoring, harassing a boxer for what may look like minor infringements so the boxer loses concentration, or merely demonstrating disdain towards one boxer. A ring doctor can allow a contestant whom he may deem to become medically unfit at stage of a bout to continue boxing. A designated police officer can look the other way when one boxer becomes “unfit fight”. Further to that, “industry politics” sometimes plays in the rest of boxing officialdom that may result in mismatches or unfit boxers being allowed to pass or skip tests before matches. This misconduct happens in professional as it does in amateur boxing. Insiders have been privy to that, unfortunately. Boxing is a very risky sport. But it is still a sport with strict rules and safeguards. Banning boxing, as in the Marquis of Queensbury Rules, may not be the answer to avoiding deaths in the ring. If banned, the game may only go underground and become even more dangerous to society. We say: Look to the way boxing bouts ~ or “fights” as we refer to it in the pros ~ are officiated and organised. Turn your eyes of boxing officialdom. 02 PinOzInPlay The tragedy immediately sparked yet another outcry across the world to ban boxing. It was the fourth death in an Australian boxing ring involving a Filipino import: Dencio Cabanela in July 1921 and Alberto Jangalay in October 1971 both dying in the ring; John Moralde surviving in March and Carlo Maagali in September 2015. Browne was knocked out at Ingleburn RSL Club on Friday, September 11, and died on Tuesday, September 15, 2015 at Liverpool Hospital. It was only months after another Australian boxing champion, Brayd Smith, had died following a match against another Filipino import, John Moralde. Carlo Magali, right, bores in under Davey Browne’s left jab to come closer for his counter-attack. The circumstances between the two tragedies differed: A boxing official who was at ringside said he believed Browne was “out cold before he hit the floor” and never recovered. In the fight on Saturday, March 14, Smith completed 12 rounds and posed for photographs with M oralde before returning to his dressing room, collapsing, and then dying in hospital two days later. The similarity was that both fights were scheduled for 12 rounds with regional world titles at stake: The Browne v Magali fight was for the World Boxing Council (WBC) Eurasia Pacific featherweight title. The Smith v Moralde fight was for the World Boxing Council (WBC) Asian Continental featherweight title. Moralde had been a last-minute substitute to challenge Smith for the vacant title. The Browne v Magali fight had been set for May 23, but rescheduled by promoters for September 15. Meantime, there has been renewed calls to ban boxing in Australia. The Australian Medical Association went further and called for banning boxing from the Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games as well as prohibiting all forms of combat sports for men and women under the age of 18 years. Similar calls have been issued for years. Padilla completes Ironman PINOZ Magellan ‘Jun’ Padilla completed the Port Macquarie Ironman 70.3 Port Macquarie swimbike-run race in 6hr 26min 6sec representing FilOz Triathlon Club recently. It was not the easiest courses of the local Ironman circuit. The bike ride was a challenging climb up Matthew Flinders Drive. Padilla’s day kicked off well in the 1.9km swim on the Hastings River, using the other participants to guide him throughout so he did not spend too much time rounding the buoys. He was out of the water in 42min :27sec. The 90km, 2-lap bike leg was the toughest, according to Padilla. He was averaging 30kph up to the 75km, when he hit the climbing section on Matthew Flinders Drive. Padilla had to get off the bike and walk up the hill because he was starting to develop leg cramps. Once he got to the top of the climb, it was a downhill cruise, giving him time to recover for the run. Padilla completed the bike ride in 3hr 16min 5sec. The final leg of the race, a 21km run after completion of a hard bike ride, was daunting challenge to running at his intended 5-5:15 km/hr pace. But Padilla knew it was just a matter of soldiering on to complete the race as every Ironman would do. He battled cramps almost after every 2km of running until the 12km mark, where he managed to pick up the pace, albeit still slower than he would have liked. He managed to surge in the last 2km to complete the run leg in 02:22:34. He battled cramps almost after every 2km of running until the 12km mark, where he managed to pick up the pace, albeit still slower than he would have liked. Magellan ‘Jun’ Padilla on his Ironman bike segment. This is the print issue of PinozInPlay, everything about Pinoys in the Australian sporting arena. Feel free to send your stories, your sport photos, game calendars and all that has something to do with the world of sports. Visit pinozinplay.com or find PinOzInPlay in Facebook. E-mail: [email protected] November 2015