Ordeal in Japan

Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) bantamweight champion Jess Maca of Garcia Hernandez, Bohol, is back in town after repulsing Hiroaki Murakoshi on points in his seventh title defense in Shizuoka, Japan, last Sunday.

The good news is his crown is intact. The bad news is he didn’t get paid his entire purse.

Beating Murakoshi was easy. Getting to Shizuoka wasn’t. It was a horrible trip, said boxing judge Vic Rodriguez who accompanied Maca, his manager Flor Rontal, and matchmaker Jun Sarreal’s son Lovell to Shizuoka.

First, whoever planned the flight was a sadist. The group flew to Narita from Manila via Hong Kong and Taipei on Cathay Pacific. On the way back, the route was Narita, Hong Kong and finally, in Manila.

No problem with the airline. Flying on Cathay Pacific is a charm. But why stop in Hong Kong and Taipei when you can take a direct flight from Manila to Narita? Did someone in the group deliberately make Hong Kong a stop so he could get off and do some shopping on the way back, at the others’ expense?

The group arrived in Narita late last Thursday. Fight coordinator Shuki Murayama, who speaks Tagalog and is a long-time associate of the Elorde and Sarreal families, met the group at the airport. The visitors were taken by bus to the Narita View Hotel where they spent the night. The next morning, they were back at the airport to wait an hour for Korean referee Kim’s arrival. Then, they motored to Tokyo where Maca reported for a test weigh-in. It was a two-hour wait. Once cleared, Maca rejoined the group and they trooped to the railway station for the train ride to Shizuoka.

Rodriguez said they were in and out of trains, lugging their bags throughout the grueling journey. He noticed the Korean referee, who was with them, huffed and puffed along the way. "An older man would’ve been TKOd," joked Rodriguez. The entire trip from Tokyo to Shizuoka took about four hours.

The Shizuoka hotel was typical of accommodations for visiting Filipino fighters — small, comfortable, and clean. Rodriguez had no complaints. At the weigh-in the day before the fight, promoters didn’t invite Kim and Rodriguez because "the taxi was too small." There was no service car to drive the visitors around.

On the day of the fight, the group was told to check out at 11 a.m. and leave for the stadium at 1 p.m. So Rodriguez and the others had to bring their luggage to the fight site which was a 30-minute train ride away. They were like refugees on the run.

"While I was judging, I had my luggage with me," recounted Rodriguez. "I never experienced that kind of treatment before." Another first that Rodriguez experienced was getting paid, not in dollars, but in yen. He was paid the equivalent of $400 as a judge in the OPBF title bout.

Maca shed off four pounds over the bantamweight limit of 118 a day before the weigh-in but didn’t seem bothered by it. When the bell rang, it was business as usual for the dusky 30-year-old veteran. He blasted Murakoshi, who trained for the fight sparring against Filipinos here, from pillar to post in coasting to a unanimous decision. Ring scholar Joe Koizumi said Maca "dominated the contest by hitting the onrushing but less accurate Japanese with precision." Koizumi added that Murakoshi was on the verge of collapsing in the final round but the bell came to his rescue.

Rodriguez scored it a 120-108 shutout. Kim saw it 117-113 and the Japanese judge, 117-114. Rodriguez said he was surprised that in the Korean and Japanese scorecards, the fight was even after six rounds. "Parang inalalayan nila si Murakoshi," he noted. But Maca wouldn’t be denied his 10th straight win in Japan — all by decision. The win raised Maca’s record to 42-16-5, with 16 KOs. He hasn’t lost since dropping a verdict to Veerapol Sahaprom, now the World Boxing Council (WBC) bantamweight titlist, in Bangkok in 1997.

Maca’s itching to challenge Veerapol but the Thai’s avoiding him. Instead, Veerapol has agreed to stake his crown against another Filipino, No. 9 contender Abner Cordero, in May. The word is Veerapol asked for a southpaw challenger. Maca is righthanded and Cordero is lefthanded.

Rontal said Maca’s purse of $20,000 should’ve been paid after the weigh-in by the promoter Matsuyama. But he was told to wait until after the fight by Murayama.

When the fight ended, there was still no money. Maca and Rontal were furious. They refused to leave the stadium until Matsuyama, who spoke no English, coughed up the money. A sympathetic Japanese reporter intervened and found out Matsuyama had paid Maca’s entire purse to Murayama two months ago. Murayama claimed he wired $10,000 of the purse to Sarreal and spent the balance.

Finally, Matsuyama produced $7,000 in cash to appease Maca who seemed ready to climb back into the ring for another fight. Rontal said he was given a $1,000 advance so Matsuyama still owed $12,000. He added that of the $20,000 purse, Sarreal would get a commission of $3,000 as matchmaker.

The Filipinos left the stadium two hours after the fight because of the protracted discussions about the missing money. Under a drizzle and carrying their bags, they caught the 10 p.m. train to Tokyo where they checked in at the Sato Hotel for the night.

"Paubo-ubo si Jess at ’di siya naka-shower after the fight," recalled Rodriguez. "Nabasa pa nga kaming lahat ng ulan sa kakalakad namin. We were treated shabbily. It’s the last time I’ll ever agree to judge a fight where Murayama is involved."

In Manila, Sarrel said Murayama sent some money to pay for the visiting group’s plane fare but it was nowhere close to $10,000. He said he advised Rontal not to leave Tokyo until Maca got the full balance of his purse. But if Rontal stayed longer in Tokyo, he would’ve had to pay for his hotel and other expenses. Sarreal said he has spoken to Murayama and promised to get to the bottom of the story.

As for Maca, Rontal said he’s ready to fight for the world title. But why does the WBC keep on demoting Maca even if he hasn’t lost in five years? Last August, Maca was the WBC’s No. 3 contender. At the end of the year, he was down to No. 6 . This month, Maca dropped to No. 7.

Surely, the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) has a lot to complain about. It should protest Maca’s unjustified demotion in the WBC ratings. And it should also protest Maca’s failure to receive his full purse for the Murakoshi fight to the Japan Boxing Commission (JBC).