Saturday, December 23, 2006 Tipon tug-of-war rages By Henry C. Villalva
JOAN Tipon, the 15th Asian Games bantamweight boxing gold medallist, is definitely coming to Bacolod City to spend Christmas with his family.
But unknown to the newest Negrense sports hero, both the Bacolod and Talisay City Governments are engaged in a tug-of-war of sorts as to who really has the right to claim him as their own now that he is already coming home albeit as a celebrity.
Reports have it that Bacolod City is planning to have Tipon go around the major thoroughfares of the city on a motorcade.
But Talisay City officials reportedly told mediamen they will conduct a motorcade upon Tipon's arrival at the Bacolod airport direct to Talisay City.
Talisay City, through the efforts of the late Mayor Anthony Lizares who initiated the city's Atleta sports program, was instrumental in Tipon's early development as a boxer since it was through Atleta that the young pug received a regular allowance while finishing his secondary education in one of Talisay's public schools.
Tipon's mother Fe, told Sun.Star in an earlier interview, that his son was forced to transfer to Talisay "after the support from Negros Amateur Boxing Association (NABA) stopped and he was not getting any help while studying at the Negros Occidental High School."
Mrs. Tipon said the problem remained even after his son transferred from NOHS to Domingo Lacson National High School.
"So when the opportunity came for him to study in Talisay while getting an allowance at the same time came, Joan took it," she relates.
The city government of Talisay reportedly plans to honor the boxing hero in a public ceremony coinciding with the kickoff of the city's age-group amateur competition.
Tipon, 26, of Purok Rosas Pandan, Sitio Sibucao, Barangay Banago, Bacolod City, won one of the country's four golds during the December 1-15 15th Asian Games in Doha, Qatar along with fellow boxer Violito Payla.
The other two gold winners were Rene Catalan in wushu and Antonio Gabica in 9-ball billiards.
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