By Rey Danseco
 
Reigning Philippine featherweight champion Jeffrey Oñate has accepted the 80,000 pesos purse offer to put his title on the line against top ranked contender Vinvin Rufino on Johnny Elorde’s televised black-tie corporate charity boxing dinner presentation on May 5.

The Games and Amusement Board (GAB) officially approved Monday the title fight after receiving the signed contract offer of Elorde from Oñate’s manager, former Mayor Luisito Marti of Sta. Cruz town in Zambales province.

The schedule 12-round rumble, which classified as Oñate’s mandatory defense, will take place at the exclusive The NBC Tent in Taguig City’s posh The Fort. Taguig is part of Metropolitan Manila.

Elorde, Rufino’s manager and the fight card’s promoter, link-up with Parañaque City-based Springboard Foundation to put up the charitable event dubbed “Live Match III” which will feature at least three or four pair of pro-boxing.

There will also have live entertainment of the country’s leading performers, an auction of sports memorabilia, featuring items signed by sporting legends, such as cyclist Lance Armstrong, boxer Muhammad Ali, golfer Tiger Woods, booters Pele and Ronaldo, and England's greatest all-round cricketer Andrew Flintoff and many others.

Also slated in the affair are amateur fight between local expatriate Bryan "Spam" Feldcamp, the Nomads Sports Club Rugby vice captain and Randy "The Heckle" Musters, member of Nomad soccer team, which will support the main fights.

More than 500 Filipino and expatriate business people are expected as well as popular Filipino athletes and dignitaries are expected to attend the event.

In one of two previous editions of the charitable event, the millions peso proceeds went to building schools and daycare centers, improving medical facilities for children, micro-loans for young mothers, and projects that help abandoned and abused children.

Some of noted auctioned materials in the past were sports memorabilia, which netted P1.2 million, T-shirts of crickets and rugby players from Australia were bought P180,000 each, a cost higher than Michael Jordan’s red NBA basketball jersey No. 23 that sold for P100,000.