Cantadas to the rescue

Boxing promoter Edgardo (Boy) Cantada and his son Gerard attended to fighter Danny Peña and paid for his two-night hospitalization after he was halted by Wyndel Janiola in a "Fistorama" TV card at the Joe Cantada Boxing Arena in Taguig last Thursday.

Janiola had difficulty eluding the rushing tactics of Peña in the early going but once he found his range, began peppering the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) No. 6 lightflyweight contender’s face with lightning-quick precision.

Peña, coming off a win over world-rated Roy Doliguez, was an easy target for Janiola’s cracking blows. Like a raging bull, he charged at Janiola but was repeatedly stopped in his tracks by jab-straight combinations.

An ugly welt swelled Peña’s right eye and he could hardly see when he surrendered at 1:34 of the seventh round. To his credit, Peña never went down.

International referee Silvestre Abainza said the fight was not a mismatch. "Matapang si Peña, hindi umatras hanggang wala na siyang makita from his right eye," noted Abainza who worked the bout. "Si Janiola, nag-concentrate sa ulo. Si Peña, sa katawan. Nahirapan din si Janiola sa umpisa ng laban kasi sugod ng sugod si Peña."

GAB ringside physician Dr. Nasser Cruz did not bother to examine Peña after the surrender, recalled Abainza.

Dr. Cruz and the other GAB staff assigned to supervise the card left the arena shortly after Janiola’s victory which came past midnight.

Peña appeared nervous and pale as he climbed down from the ring. He broke into a cold sweat, sitting on a chair, near his dressing room as trainer Leonardo Pablo frantically thrust the fumes of ammonia under his nose. Then, Peña vomited.

Cantada instructed a standby ambulance to bring Peña to the nearby Medical City of Parañaque.

Janiola’s manager Joy Ouano spoke to Dr. Cruz on his cell and asked if he could accompany Peña to the hospital. But Dr. Cruz said he was already on the way home and it was too late to turn back.

"Nakakagulat ang attitude ni Dr. Cruz," said a boxing observer. "Siya pa naman ang madalas mag-lecture about safety in boxing sa mga world conventions. Dapat inasikaso niya kaagad si Peña. Pinabayaan lang niyang pumasok sa hospital at hindi siya nagpaabala kasi pauwi na sa bahay."

A CT-scan of Peña’s brain revealed no serious injury. He was diagnosed to have suffered a concussion and released after two nights. Cantada sent his son Gerard, the "Fistorama" matchmaker, to settle the bill of P12,000 last Saturday.

"Fistorama" was revived last year to rousing reviews. Cantada’s son took out a matchmaker’s license last year and has earned a reputation for his integrity. The show’s fair matchmaking has lured fighters from all over the country to see action on "Fistorama." In last Thursday’s card, there were fighters from the stables of Tony Aldeguer, Marty Elorde, Emil Romano, Ouano, Ben Hur Abalos of Mandaluyong, Aljoe Jaro, Yoly Alfante and others.

"We do our own matchmaking because our objective is to stage only highly competitive fights," said Cantada. "That’s why the Filipino Channel renewed its contract with us to air our fights to Filipino communities around the world. It’s a commitment we have to our sponsors. Besides, a matchmaker usually takes a cut from a fighter’s purse. In our case, we give the fighters their entire purses, buong-buo without taking a cut for the matchmaker."

Peña, 23, entered the fight with a 10-3 record, including three knockouts. He won his first seven fights in a career that started two years ago. Janiola, 24, raised his record to 15-2, with seven knockouts. The records do not indicate a mismatch, pointed out Cantada. Besides, Peña was rated in the top 10 in the 108-pound division by the GAB.

"Badly outclassed nga si Peña at magaling si Janiola but it was not a mismatch," said a ringside fan. "Badly outclassed din si (Marco Antonio) Barrera ni Manny (Pacquiao) but that was not a mismatch."

Cantada also lamented the GAB’s apathy in disallowing the late weigh-in of a substitute fighter the day before the card. Dondon Digan was booked to face Alfred Nadal in an eight-round flyweight bout but the GAB found Nadal unfit to fight because of a black eye sustained in a previous match. Cantada contacted a substitute, Danny Linasa who is Nadal’s stablemate, but the GAB wouldn’t budge on extending its office hours beyond 5 p.m.

According to Cantada, Linasa was coming in a taxi from Cavite to the GAB office in Makati. Cantada asked for the GAB to wait until 6 p.m. to allow for Linasa to beat the traffic. He said he offered to pay the GAB staff’s overtime. The GAB packed up for home at 4:30 p.m.

"Napaka-walang puso naman ang GAB," said Cantada. "It prevented three fighters from earning a paycheck. Digan, Nadal and Linasa. There were extraordinary circumstances that forced the cancellation of the original match but we had a substitute. All we asked for was some time so Linasa could weigh in at the GAB office. I heard one of the fighters was allowed to take a CT-scan the next day. Bakit siya okay, yung iba hindi. I heard there are exceptions being done in the provinces for extraordinary conditions."

Cantada said in the past, a GAB official was involved in matchmaking and used a dummy — who was incapacitated by a stroke — as a front. "We don’t tolerate shenanigans," continued Cantada. "That’s why we do our own matchmaking."