Amateur boxing showdownto spice up Maasin fiesta

CEBU, Philippines - An amateur boxing showdown will highlight the annual fiesta of Maasin City on August 15-16. The city will celebrate its 12th Charter Day on August 10, and the feast of Our Lady of Assumption on August 15. The boxing bouts will be one of the most awaited sports extravaganzas during the twin celebrations of August in this capital of Southern Leyte.

Originally a mixture of professional and amateur bouts, this time the fiesta boxing event will be exclusively for amateurs. The main reason is the unavailability of Maasin City pro boxers Adones Aguelo and Albert Pagara, who had prior fight commitments on schedules very close to the said festivities.

Slated to show his boxing prowess is national boxer Edillo Abrea of Maasin, now in training under the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) in Baguio City. His opponent is undisclosed as of the moment, but he must also be a national boxer of the same weight as Abrea. The proposed bout is given the green light by ABAP Executive Director Ed Picson, who is now in London accompanying lone Filipino Olympic boxer Mark Anthony Barriga.

Boxers from Cebu City, Mandaue City, Bohol Province, Tagbilaran City, Baybay City, Tacloban City, Ormoc City, Northern Samar, Negros Occidental, Leyte and Southern Leyte are invited to join together. Female boxers are also enjoined to take part. The format will be a one-on-one encounter, applying ABAP rules.

The bouts on the first day will be held at the Maasin City Bus Terminal and on the second day will be fought at the Maasin City Gymnasium. The officiating officials are those of the ABAP-trained Southern Leyte Amateur Boxing Association (SOLABA) of which this writer is the incumbent president.

Every year since 1992, amateur boxing has been a yearly feature in all fiestas in Maasin, until professional bouts were integrated into the festivities featuring Maasinhon Philippine Boxing Federation (PBF) flyweight champion Alex Aroy followed by PBF superbantamweight and featherweight champion Aguelo.   Both Aroy and Aguelo won their PBF belts before cheering hometown fans. The fiesta bouts later featured ALA Gym sensation Albert Pagara who traced his roots in Barangay Lib-og of this city. 

Four regular boxing events are held in Maasin every year: Southern Leyte Anniversary Boxing every June, Maasin City Fiesta Boxing every August, Governor’s Birthday Boxing every November and Mayor’s Birthday Boxing every May.

During the Eastern Visayas Regional Athletic Association (EVRAA) held in Maasin last February, the host city won the overall championship in boxing. This year the Maasin boxing team also won the Southern Leyte Anniversary overall championship. In the same tournament last year, it placed second to the combined team of Cebu City and Mandaue City by a difference of one gold medal.