By Ronnie Nathanielsz
The signing of an historic agreement between respected Cebu boxing patron Antonio “Tony” Aldeguer, his longtime friend, promoter and boxing manager Sammy Gello-ani and two top executives from the famed Golden Boy Promotions of Oscar De La Hoya last Saturday provided a “golden opportunity” for Filipino boxers.
Eric Gomez, vice president and matchmaker and veteran international matchmaker and adviser Sampson Lewkowicz flew to Cebu and after lengthy discussions with Aldeguer and Gello-ani last Friday evening both sides realized they shared a common vision. Gomez said “when we sat down and started talking we took the words out of Tony’s mouth and we said exactly what he was thinking and that is to give these kids an opportunity to form an alliance.”
The vision of Golden Boy Promotions has been simply stated. It “strives to become the leading boxing promotional company through integrity, honesty, hard work and determination. We want to offer promising young fighters a platform from which they can showcase their talents to a global audience and want to offer our viewers and fans high quality programming.”
Golden Boy Promotions is “ committed to recruiting, developing and retaining the best and brightest young fighters to help achieve our mission.” In essence this indeed is the vision of Tony Aldeguer, Sammy Gello-ani and the ALA Gym.
To the 32 year old Gomez who has been a steadfast friend of De La Hoya and is proud of the fact explained it was “not just about coming and taking these fighters” from the ALA Gym. He conceded that “these fighters belong to Tony, they belong to the Philippines and we respect that. All we are doing is working together to let the rest of the world see them and to know these great talents.”
Clearly with Mexico right next door compared to the Philippines which is thousands of miles away, the easiest route would be to deal with fellow Hispanics. But Golden Boy saw in the Filipinos, no doubt inspired by the achievements of ring idol Manny Pacquiao who had demolished the two legendary Mexican warriors Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik “El Terrible” Morales, that the future was here. Effectively they stepped in and followed through on a plan that Murad Muhammad had envisioned when Pacquiao was at his peak but fell apart after he and the “Pacman” separated following a bitter dispute.
It was no coincidence that Lewkowicz worked for Murad and had in fact seen a tape of Pacquiao’s WBC flyweight title fight against Thailand’s Chatchai Sasakul and in his words “forced him (Murad) to sign Manny because nobody had the vision at that moment.” Lewkowicz said he had to play Pacquiao’s vicious left that ripped through Sasakul in slo-motion “because it was so fast and deadly.” He knew then, they had discovered the next ring sensation.
Lewkowicz said he had found out about the background of the late world junior lightweight champion Gabriel “Flash” Elorde who was from Bogo, Cebu and felt “it was time to bring the Filipinos back.”
To Gomez and Lewkowicz, first it was the whites, then came the Afro-Americans followed by the Hispanics. Now they said “its the time of the Filipinos.”
The first two promising fighters from the ALA gym who will benefit from the tie-up with Golden Boy are WBO Asia Pacific bantamweight champion Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista and newly crowned OPBF super flyweight champion Z “The Dream” Gorres. They are both scheduled to fight on the undercard of WBC super featherweight champion Marco Antonio Barrera's title defense against Rocky Juarez on May 20 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. But this agreement is not only about Bautista and Gorres.
Lewkowicz made it clear that even four rounders or fighters making their pro debut “could go to America if Tony decides which one of these kids deserves to come to the US. It’s a bonus for hard training and good behavior.” He said “the future is right here" not only for Gorres and Bautista but the four rounders. “This is excellent for boxing and I believe that God is big and he moves in mysterious ways and I personally say thank you to Manny Pacquiao.”
To the veteran matchmaker Pacquiao definitely was the catalyst for big name promoters looking at Filipino boxers. He said he demonstrated “the pedigree of the Filipino fighters and we knew that all they didn’t have was the opportunity to demonstrate how good they are, always coming in as an opponent and not as a challenger.” Now, with the agreement between Golden Boy Promotions and the ALA Gym things are bound to change.
But the Filipino people have a vital role to play according to Lewkowicz. “They must follow and support their idols not only in the Philippines but all over the world. This is what is good for boxing. The Filipinos will bring life back to boxing.”
Lewkowicz is proud of the fact that he had “the vision in 2001 and today in 2006 it’s a reality.” He points out that when Pacquiao went to the US and won the IBF junior featherweight title with a six round demolition of Lelohonolo Ledwaba “ I didn’t have Golden Boy whom I can trust to give the right direction to the boxer” noting that De La Hoya has, among others, Marco Antonio Barrera, Bernard Hopkins and Sugar Shane Mosley who are “all part of the company.” He emphasized that what Golden Boy and Oscar did was “to bring a new generation of honorable promoters who can put his life on the line when all these kids go into the boxing world.
Other promoters only wear a suit and they cash in.”Referring to the sad situation of some fighters who have problems “because of drugs, alcohol abuse, problems of education and problems between mother and father” Lewkowicz sadly concluded that it “sometimes ends in tragedy.” But he said that with “ the right education, the show of family love, you never have that problem.” He believes ALA “is the good family that brings to boxing a new hope of not only excellent fighters but responsible fighters and responsible human beings.”
Gello-ani who played a crucial role in the negotiations which were given a boost by Filipino-American Leon Panoncillo, the top man of the WBO in the Asia-Pacific region who brought the parties together, said initially contracts were signed for Bautista and Gorres who will fight under the promotional arm of Golden Boy “ but if we see the potential and want US exposure for a fighter like A.J. Banal for instance they will listen to us.”
Gello-ani was obviously overjoyed with what he termed “the biggest achievement because it doesn’t only deal with the boxers it deals with the business itself of the boxing industry.” Gello-ani reflected the sentiments of Aldeguer and felt “comfortable because the lines are open and they are not dictating.”
The stable of promising young fighters in the ALA Gym were “so happy because the priority will be our boxers.” As a promoter, a load was taken off his chest. “I now don’t have to worry about the promotions and the exposure of the boys in the US. This lessens our problems looking for schedules which is one aspect that has been solved,” added Gello-ani with a sigh of relief.
Gello-ani is certain that the exposure under the Golden Boy umbrella will be “beneficial to the boxing industry in the Philippines.” He revealed that Golden Boy Promotions “opened the lines to us and they feel we can provide what they are looking for.” Gello-ani was also impressed by the fact that De La Hoya and Gomez are “young ones with good ideas and very receptive.”
Top Rank headed by the wily Bob Arum had also attempted to entice the ALA Gym and sent them a letter but Gello-ani emphasized that if they were happy with Golden Boy and they are “doing well why do we have to look around?” Another welcome aspect was that the agreement was “the simplest contract I ever signed” according to Aldeguer. “They made things simple with not many restrictions that would make us uncomfortable” added Gello-ani. The botton line is, “we work together for the best interests of everybody.”
Gomez summed up the agreement saying “I hope everything comes up golden. We are going to do the best we can and on behalf of Oscar De La Hoya and everybody else at Golden Boy Promotions we give you are word that we will do the right thing for these fighters. We love the Philippines, its very similar to our home in Mexico. The people are beautiful, lovely and warm. They support their fighters no matter what. We respect and kove that about them and we are going to do the best.”
Surely, a golden era in Philippine boxing is upon us thanks to Tony Aldeguer, Sammy Gello-ani and “The Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya – a superb boxer and a champion of champions; a gentleman of absolute class and a man of unsullied integrity.