64 Pinoy boxers banned from fighting abroad

A total of 64 Filipino boxers rated by the Philippine Games and Amusements Board (GAB) can no longer fight abroad after a regulation came out requiring a boxer to score at least two wins of his last three fights. (Photo by Ian Go/Flickr, CC BY-ND 2.0)

DAVAO CITY — A total of 64 Filipino boxers rated by the Philippine Games and Amusements Board (GAB) can no longer fight abroad after a regulation came out requiring a boxer to score at least two wins of his last three fights.

Among the rated boxers are current Philippine featherweight champion Randy “The Master” Braga (lost-win-lost), Philippine Boxing Federation (PBF) lightweight champion Rosekie “Kapre” Cristobal (win-lost-lost), Asian Boxing Federation (ABF) flyweight champion Merlito “Tiger” Sabillo (win-lost-lost) and former WBF Asia Pacific featherweight champion Rimar “Terminator” Metuda (win-lost-lost).

“We have formally written a letter requesting the GAB to reconsider the 2-of-3 rule for the boxers to fight abroad,” said international promoter-manager-matchmaker Brico Santig of La Trinidad, Benguet.

The letter, which was received by GAB main office in Makati, has been signed by almost 250 boxing promoters, managers, matchmakers, trainers and professional boxers from all over the Philippines.

These include the country’s top promoters and managers Gabriel “Bebot” Elorde Jr. of Paranaque, Jim Claude Mananquil, Dexter Tan and Art Advincula of Gen. Santos City, Dino Olivetti of Binan, Juan Monis of Valenzuela, Jun Gandez of Batangas, Jennifer Javellana of Iloilo, Wowie Lalanto of Cagayan de Oro, Troy Agustin Jr. of Tarlac and Joven Jimenez of Cavite.

“We would like to inform GAB that we are now deeply affected by 2-of-3 Rule,” they said.

Part of letter stated that “the Philippine ratings of the 64 boxers are useless because they still cannot fight abroad and so they lost their opportunity to earn money or become an international or world champion. To cite an example, the loss-loss-win card in the last three fights which is within the 2-out-of-loss and maybe given a chance to fight for a regional or even world championship by a governing body for sport. It really depends. In such case, since the 2-of-3 rule is in effect, we have thrown away the big opportunity for Filipino boxers.”

“In the world bodies of boxing, the top 15 rated boxers are qualified to fight for the world, international or regional championship belts. They don’t use the 2-of-3 Rule and only needed rated boxers to qualify to fight,” the letter said.

The signatories urged GAB to be more objective, rather than subjective on the matter.

“If the record of the boxer, who is being invited to fight overseas, looks inferior, maybe your committee on the matter may evaluate the opponent of the boxer. There are many ways to see if the fight is not lopsided,” the letter said.

It cited cases of several potential boxers who are affected by the regulation. They also appealed to GAB to give more consideration to female boxers, who are just very few in the Philippines.”

“As long as it is not mismatch, we believe the Filipina fighters should be allowed to fight abroad, regardless of their records, as long as they pass all the medical clearances and that the bout is not a mismatch,” the letter said.

They are confident that GAB Chairman Abraham Kahlil Mitra will help them with their request given the many good things he gave to boxing like the extension of the licensure and the recent approval of the free medical and CT scan for professional boxers. GAB also gave a free registration to all the participants of the highly-successful 3rd GAB Philippine Boxing Convention held in Davao City last April.