Wednesday, February 06, 2008 Pta. Taytay sends 8 pugs to Golden Gloves finals
AMATEUR boxers carrying the colors of Barangay Punta Taytay have earned the most number of championship berths in the ongoing 1st Monico Cup Golden Gloves Inter-Barangay Amateur Boxing Tournament at 8, followed by Sum-ag with 7 and Pahanocoy with 5 while Barangay 10 has 4, Handumanan 3, Alijis and Handumanan 2 apiece, and Mansilingan, Singcang-Airport and Barangay 13 1 each.
The championship is slated this Sunday, February 10, starting 1:30 p.m. at the SM City Bacolod south parking lot, according to tournament committee chairman Monico "Nicky" Puentevella, Jr. who said that the championship bouts will be covered by sports writers from Manila.
Eleven finals bouts are scheduled in this grassroots sports outreach project organized by the congressional district office of Bacolod Rep. Monico O. Puentevella in cooperation with the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and the Negros Amateur Boxing Association (NABA) headed by Games and Amusements Board (GAB) commissioner and former Bacolod councilor Juan Ramon "Monju" Guanzon.
The tournament, which kicked off last Nov. 18, 2007, is sponsored by SM Supermalls, PAGCOR, PCSO, PLDT, Smart, Nestle Philippines, Tanduay, Globe Telecoms, Milo and Merci.
The tournament aims to discover fresh boxing talents from the barangays of Bacolod City following the likes of 15th Asian Games bantamweight gold medalist Joan Tipon of Barangay Banago and 24th Southeast Asian Games bronze medalist Albert Pabila of Barangay Handumanan, among others.
The Monico Golden Gloves slugfest came on the heels of the 1st Gov. Joseph Marañon Inter-LGU/Inter-Club Amateur Boxing Tournament which ended last Dec. 8, 2007 in Murcia and was likewise staged in partnership with NABA.
"The staging of consecutive tournaments is good for upcoming boxers from the grassroots since it gives them the much-needed exposure so they can develop the confidence they need," said Guanzon, who is credited for giving Tipon the first formal training at the age of 7 when he became one of several child prodigies adopted into the NABA grassroots development program then being funded by the late Bacolod Rep. Romeo Guanzon.
