Why are we so persecuted?

Challenger Juanito Rubillar lost a decision to World Boxing Council (WBC) lightflyweight champion Jorge Arce of Mexico under controversial circumstances in Tijuana last week.

Manny Pacquiao is in Los Angeles training for a fight that he doesn’t know about.

Diosdado Gabi was suddenly scratched as WBC flyweight titlist Pongsaklek Wonjongkam’s next challenger to make room for Carlos Bouchan-Salazar of Mexico when it seemed like the fight was sealed as early as a month ago.

What’s going on? Why are Filipinos continually being persecuted? Why are the odds always stacked against us?

There appears to be no respect for Filipinos in the boxing community. And it’s because of our own doing.

Filipinos are known to fight among ourselves to get contracts for fighters abroad. We undercut each other and have a reputation of trying to pull a fast one when nobody’s looking. Also, we come in cheap. We settle for crumbs like beggars. It’s like we don’t value ourselves. We agree to onerous conditions if there’s a quick buck to be made. Our southpaw fighters are forced to switch to the orthodox style by foreign promoters or else they won’t get paid. Some fighters agree to take a dive for a few extra dollars. Others make a quick exit because they’re out of shape and don’t relish the thought of getting hurt. Matchmakers ask for under-the-table money so fighters don’t know how much they’re really supposed to earn for risking life and limb in the ring.

Games and Amusements Board (GAB) officials travel the world to attend boxing conventions. But do they make an impact? If they’ve earned the respect of the likes of Jose Sulaiman and Gilberto Mendoza, why are Filipinos looked down on by boxing bigwigs?

In the International Boxing Hall of Fame, two shoo-ins for enshrinement continue to be ignored. They are former world middleweight champion Ceferino Garcia and the late impresario Lope Sarreal, Sr., both Filipinos. Why? Garcia introduced the bolo punch in boxing and made a name for himself in the US. The man whom he dethroned for the middleweight crown, Fred Apostoli, is in the Hall of Fame so why isn’t Garcia? Sarreal created a boom for boxing in Asia and produced a string of world champions of various nationalities, including Mexican, Japanese and Thai. He was considered George Parnassus’ peer and known to influence promoters such as Sad Sam Ichinose of Hawaii. Parnassus and Ichinose are in the Hall of Fame but why isn’t Sarreal?

Once upon a time, the Philippines was considered a world boxing power, in and out of the ring. Sarreal was a force to reckon with in negotiating title bouts. The tandem of Justiniano Montano and Rudy Salud was respected the world over. When Montano and Salud spoke, world boxing authorities listened. Former GAB chairmen like Manuel Nieto and Luis Tabuena were respected, too. They knew their boxing. They were men of integrity and held their heads up in whatever forum anywhere in the globe.

Today, the Philippines is the lost soul in world sports.

Take Rubillar’s case.

Last Sept. 5, he fought Arce in Tijuana. Rubillar hadn’t lost in his last 10 fights and his previous defeat was to the same Arce three years ago. In their first bout, Arce won a unanimous decision on scores of 119-107, 117-109 and 117-109.

Arce was known to be encountering difficulty making the 108-pound limit. At the weigh-in for the Rubillar rematch, no WBC official witnessed Arce climbing the scales. Rubillar’s manager Gabriel (Bebot) Elorde tried to check Arce’s weight but was prevented from coming close to the scales. Arce was surrounded by about 20 supporters and a towel was draped over the scales. Elorde cried foul, raised a howl and protested to high heavens. But nobody cared to listen.

Rubillar was clearly the aggressor in the fight. In the ninth round, he floored Arce with a right to the head. Arce went down but complained to American referee Toby Gibson, beholden to the Mexico-based WBC for the assignment, that he was struck by an illegal rabbit punch. Instead of scoring a knockdown for Rubillar, Gibson deducted a point from the Filipino for the alleged foul blow. What a travesty of justice.

When the bout ended, Arce was declared the winner by split decision. Roy Ovalle scored it 119-112 for Arce and David Harris, 115-112, also for the Mexican. Gale Van Hoy had it 115-112 for Rubillar. The discrepancy in the scorecards was glaring. Three days after the fight, the WBC announced that Van Hoy had reversed his decision and declared Arce the winner by a unanimous decision.

Elorde was furious. He has offered Arce a $100,000 purse to stake his title against Rubillar in a third meeting here in December. Don’t hold your breath waiting for the WBC to react.

Take Pacquiao’s case.

His US promoter Murad Muhammad was led into a trap of no return by the cunning Bob Arum. Muhammad had clinched a deal for Pacquiao to face Marco Antonio Barrera in November. Then Arum came along, dangling an offer for Pacquiao to take on double world champion Erik Morales instead. Muhammad took the bait, abandoning Barrera. With Muhammad in the palm of his hand, Arum turned around and signed Barrera to battle Morales. The ploy left Pacquiao out in the cold.

Pacquiao’s business manager Rod Nazario is threatening not to rehire Muhammad when his promotional contract expires in February unless he strikes a deal before the year ends. Meanwhile, Pacquiao is in limbo–a fighter training with no one to train for.

Take Gabi’s case.

Over a month ago, negotiations began for Gabi to face Pongsaklek on Oct. 8 in Phuket. The only kink was Gabi’s purse but that was eventually settled.

The other day, a boxing website reported that Gabi had been dumped as Pongsaklek’s challenger and Bouchan-Salazar was named as his replacement. Bouchan-Salazar is Mexican like Sulaiman who is the WBC president.

GAB chairman Eduardo Villanueva will attend the WBC convention in Phuket next month. Pongsaklek’s defense against Bouchan-Salazar will be the highlight of the convention. You wonder if the GAB will take issue with the WBC on Gabi’s sudden dismissal.

It’s time for us to take a stand and make the world realize we won’t be pushed around anymore. But before we can do that, we must resolve to change our ways. No more crab mentality. No more back-stabbing. No more undercutting. No more under-the-table payments. No more corruption. No more monkey business.

We must earn the respect of others by proving we deserve to be respected. Otherwise, we will forever be persecuted.