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PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY August 16 - 31, 2016
COMMENTARIES/ SPORTS
Spectator
The Olympiad is not the overall picture
Games.
In fact, two
By Al S. Mendoza
of the first nine
Olympic medals,
RICKY Vargas still rules
sans gold up to now, were
the nation’s boxing body.
silver—both coming via close
That is as sure as Rodrigo
fights for the gold in the 1964
Roa Duterte is President of
Tokyo Olympics and 1996
the Philippines since June 30
Atlanta Games.
this year.
For the record, a third
Yes, Vargas has said he
silver was shouldered home
would resign his post.
by weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz—
But saying is one thing,
our lone medal in Rio, yes, but
doing it is another.
it propelled us to 69th overall
At this point, that idiom
in a roster of 204 countries.
stands. Vargas has resigned
Vargas
was
already
in words but not in deed.
boxing presi dent when our
And until a new boxing
boxers also came home
president is elected, Vargas
zero from the 2012 London
remains president.
Olympics. Two medal-less
And in the coming
Olympiads—that sure hurt
elections for the boxing body,
Vargas.
he should run again.
I know Vargas. He is a
The debacle in the Rio
very emotional person. Most
Olympics should not deter
mission-driven fellers are like
him from pursuing more
that. Failures are not in their
boxing victories under his
vocabularies.
watch.
Thus, with a second
For the record, Ricky’s
successive stinker in the
resignation piece came on the
Olympics, Vargas thought
heels of the sickening setbacks
he’s had enough. Time to
suffered by our boxers Charly
quit.
Suarez and Rogen Ladon in
Praiseworthy.
By
the just-ended Rio Olympics.
offering to resign, Vargas
Seemingly,
if
not
was, in effect, taking the rap
obviously, Vargas is resigning
himself for our back-to-back
as a result of his displeasure
Olympic boxing debacles
in the losses of Suarez and
under his watch.
Ladon. He’s done so much
Here’s a glass to him.
for the sport. And it would
How many are like him, who
floor Vargas seeing his wards
lives by the credo, “The buck
fall by the wayside a second
stops here.” He’s a class act,
time.
period.
We all know the entire
Is
Vargas
being
nation had pinned so much
imprisoned by his Olympic
hope on boxing to produce
dream—a dream almost as
Olympic glory—the sport
impossible to achieve, given
being traditionally a medal
the fierce foes we always face
producer in the quadrennial
there?
But why allow yourself
to forget other victories you
have achieved, such as those
gold medals our boxers had
plucked consistently in the
SEA Games, Asian Games and
other World Championship
tussles?
The Olympiad is not
the totality of our sports
mission. Let us look at the
entire picture: Other than
the Olympics, there are other
arenas where we are actually
most capable of bringing
home the so-called bacon.
The Olympics are but a
dream factory, the rest of the
battlefields are where victories
are really achievable.
That is why it hurts to
see Vargas go—should he
really proceed to honor his
threat. He can do more for
boxing—Olympic
losses
notwithstanding.
How many are like
Vargas,
a
paragon
of
untarnished leadership whose
only resolve resonating all this
time is to put boxing back to
its old pedestal—in the region
most especially?
Vargas comes from a
vanishing breed. Therefore,
the likes of him must be
declared a protected species.
The least we could do now is
to restrain him from stepping
down.
Let’s all push him to
get re-elected again. For the
good of Philippine boxing.
P.S. The remains of Baby
Dalupan, the greatest Filipino
basketball coach of all time,
have been brought to their
final resting place. You will be
missed, “Maestro.”
* * *
Ramirez on course for
new sports vision
THERE is hope in
Philippine sports.
Not only because Hidilyn
Diaz gave us an Olympic silver
that shone like gold but, hey,
look at this: President Duterte
loves sports.
Barely has he warmed
up his Palace seat when the
President requested our
athletes to come see him at
Malacanang.
To every athlete, having
an audience with a sitting
President is an experience of
a lifetime.
The rare occasion, of
course, had materialized with
great effort from chairman
Butch Ramirez of the
Philippine Sports Commission
(PSC).
Digong wanted not just
to say goodbye but also to
wish our athletes well in their
difficult mission to do battle
on the greatest, grandest,
stage of sports.
“I know that you are up
against the best in the world,”
he had said. “But there is one
thing I wish that you would
do in Rio: Always give it your
best shot at all times.”
Then he gave the
athletes a pleasant surprise:
Jacking up their allowances
from $1,000 to $3,000 each.
Upon the arrival of
Hidilyn Diaz, who emerged as
the lone medalist in Rio from
among our 13 athletes, the
President wanted to see her
pronto.
Meeting her in his
beloved Davao, the President
rewarded Hidilyn with more
cash incentive.
Undisclosed was the
additional
amount,
but
knowing Digong’s legendary
generosity, it sure sweetened
the pot for the overwhelmed
weightlifter.
Already the winner of a
law-mandated P5 million for
her silver, Hidilyn, when she
finally got home to her native
Zamboanga City, was oozing
with oodles of money she had
never imagined would ever
come her way.
After Manny Pacquiao
himself had tossed in his
“humble” share of cash bonus
to the Olympic toast—all the
more fattening Hidilyn’s bank
account—the police saw it fit
to provide protection for the
silver medalist round-theclock.
Then an elated Ramirez
revealed that the President
had given him orders to “unify
Philippine sports.”
How?
By
initiating
conciliatory talks among
the PSC, National Sports
Associations and the Philippine
Olympic Committee.
It wouldn’t be easy, of
course, given the nature that
the POC is non-government
and always “allergic to
government
intervention
(kuno).”
But knowing Ramirez,
the task at hand is doable.
And keeping in mind the
President’s “give it your best
shot” mantra, he’d be on
track.
We are behind you, Mr.
Chairman. Go for it!
Donaire to see action in Pacquiao-Vargas card
Two of the biggest names
in Philippine boxing history
will see action in the same
card.
This after Top Rank Inc.
chief Bob Arum announced
that Nonito Donaire Jr. will
fight Jessie Magdaleno as
the co-main event of Manny
Pacquiao’s return bout with
Jessie Vargas on November 5
in Las Vegas.
The veteran promoter
said the decision to include
Donaire in the card is to
attract more Filipino fans to
the venue.
“We are looking to do
something really spectacular
for all Filipino people,” Arum
said in a report by ABS-CBN’s
Bev Llorente.
Arum said Donaire will
likely defend his WBO super
bantamweight title against
Magdaleno (15-0, with 11
KOs), an undefeated prospect
from Las Vegas, before
Pacquiao takes on Vargas at
the Thomas & Mack Center.
“When we made the
fight, one of the reasons why
we are in Thomas and Mack,
it sets up so that we can have
more than 6,000 seats t hat
we are charging 50 dollars
from, so that the Filipinos
who come here who usually
watch it on closed circuit can
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
watch it for
as low as 50
dollars,” he
continued.
Donaire
is
coming
off a TKO
win
over
Zsolt Bedak,
defending
his belt in
front of a
home crowd
Cebu
City
last
April.
He will get to do it again, this
time in front of Filipino fans in
Las Vegas.
“It (Thomas & Mack
Center)’s gonna be packed
with Filipino fans,” said
Arum. (PS)