Espinosa survives nightmare; immigration hitches hit party in LA,Mexico

MERIDA -- Luisito Espinosa is safe and sound in Merida, the Yucatan peninsula capital in the southeast tip of Mexico, after surviving a harrowing experience to reach here from Manila.

Espinosa is expected to make the 126-pound limit at the weigh-in today (tomorrow in Manila) and will enter the ring a 2-1 favorite to beat hometown hero Guty Espadas, Jr., in a scheduled 12-round bout for the vacant World Boxing Council (WBC) featherweight title at the Poliforum Zamna on Friday (Saturday in Manila).

Espinosa, father Dio, brother Lando, trainer Robert Aguallo, and assistant trainers Eric Itliong and Ramon Factor arrived in Los Angeles on a Philippine Airlines flight at night last April 5. They were scheduled to leave for Merida via Mexico City early the next morning but since Dio, Itliong and Factor had no US visas and couldn't leave the Los Angeles airport, the group decided to take the 12 midnight flight instead.

When they arrived in Mexico City at 5:00 a.m., immigration authorities refused to stamp their passports because they could only show one-way tickets. Their return tickets were booked in the US and had not been issued to them.

Authorities held Espinosa and his party for 12 hours in the airport before finally allowing them to fly to Merida -- without stamped passports. Aguallo, an American who was born in Mexico, convinced the authorities to allow their departure for Espinosa's sake. Espinosa, who barely slept during the 3-hour flight from Los Angeles to Mexico City, napped on the cold airport floor while officials debated whether or not to allow the group to proceed to Merida.

At the Merida airport, authorities refused to stamp their passports, too. Espinosa and his companions were required to physically present themselves at the immigration office here to plead their case under threat of deportation as illegal aliens. It took the authorities two days before finally agreeing to stamp their passports. If not for Aguallo, who speaks Spanish, maybe Espinosa would've been deported.

In all, Espinosa and his party logged 35 hours, including layovers, to travel from Manila to Merida.

The day after Espinosa left Manila, his wife Mariecherie, their children John Louie and Janica, her mother Lilia, and her brother Mark followed to Merida.

Yesterday, Espinosa's manager Erlinda (Boots) Aniel, her children Jason and Alex, and family friend Joji Vendil arrived here from San Francisco. Former Philippine Sports Commission Chairman Philip Juico also flew in yesterday.

Aniel arranged for Espinosa to arrive in Merida 10 days before the fight even if Top Rank Promotions is paying for hotel accommodations and food expenses only for five days.

Aguallo said Espinosa is in tip-top shape despite the nightmarish trip. Espinosa sparred three rounds with Juan Fuentes at the San Francisco de Asis gym last Saturday in a press preview and looked sharp.

The local media is trying to stir anti-Espinosa sentiments by portraying him as an ingrate. The press chastised Espinosa for "sneaking" into Merida without warning at dawn and for supposedly distrusting his hosts by refusing to drink the local water. Aguallo, who is shielding Espinosa from media distractions, has also been harangued.

"I'm a trainer who happens to be a Mexican," said Aguallo. "I'm a professional. This is business and my boss is Luisito. This has nothing to do with race."

Espinosa, who is billeted at the Holiday Inn, limbers up every morning at 7 for about an hour then for another hour in the afternoon. -