Eala unwraps slugfest, hoop league today

Former PBA commissioner Noli Eala is set to announce the details of a blockbuster boxing card and a regional basketball league in separate press conferences today.

Eala was designated as “point man” by a consortium of investors to stage a major fight card at the Araneta Coliseum on Dec. 2, featuring Rey (Boom Boom) Bautista in a comeback bout against WBC Fecombox (Federation of Boxing Commissions of the Mexican Republic) superbantamweight champion Antonio (Barrio) Meza.

The card will also pit rising star A. J. Banal against WBC Fecombox superflyweight titlist Jovanny (Bambino) Soto and Philippine bantamweight ruler Michael Domingo against Tanzania’s Anthony Mathias.

Eala will appear with Bautista, Banal and Domingo to disclose details of the project at the PSA Forum this morning in Shakey’s on UN Avenue. It will be Bautista’s first press conference since losing to WBO super bantamweight champion Daniel Ponce de Leon in a shock first round knockout in Sacramento last August.

In the afternoon, Eala will preside in another press briefing at the Trader’s Hotel, this time to launch Liga Pilipinas, a regional community-based league sanctioned by the Samahang Basketbol Ng Pilipinas.

ALA stable owner Tony Aldeguer said Eala was personally handpicked to produce the boxing show. Golden Boy matchmaker Sampson Lewkowicz signed up the foreign opponents for the Filipinos in the card while Aldeguer is taking care of assembling the undercard.

Eala flew to Cebu for a one-day conference with Aldeguer to finalize the project details last week.

“It’s a challenge for me to be involved in promoting a boxing card of this magnitude,” said Eala. “It’s also an honor for me to be working with a consortium of investors who are passionate about sports. For Boom Boom, it’s ‘resbak’ time. We know he’s capable of someday becoming a world champion. He was sidetracked in his last fight but we’re confident he’ll come back wiser, stronger and mentally tougher.”

Bautista, 21, will face the press at the PSA Forum to declare he’s ready for Meza whose record is 25-2, with 23 KOs. Meza, 24, has won his last five outings and will be an acid test for Bautista.

Eala described Banal as a future world champion and a Manny Pacquiao fight-alike. Like Meza, Banal’s opponent Soto is no pushover and is out to defend Mexican pride.

Banal, 18, has a 15-0-1 record, with 12 KOs, and is fresh from a first round disposal of Mexican Esau Gaona. Soto, 23, is a multiple champion who holds the WBC Fecombox, Mexican, WBA Fedecentro and Mexican Pacific Coast belts. He turned pro in 2002, three years before Banal, and has won his last nine bouts, eight by KO, in raising his record to 25-7-1, with 20 KOs.

As for Liga Pilipinas, Eala said the cage league will be community-based and partially community-funded with recognition from the local government units. Among the league’s backers are Misamis Oriental Gov. Oscar Moreno, Michel Lhuillier, Joe Soberano, Yayoy Alcoseba, Tito Palma, Tac Padilla and Tagaytay City Mayor Abraham Tolentino.

Eala said Liga Pilipinas will unify the existing basketball leagues which are focused on regional development and hinted of an impending merger between the National Basketball Conference (NBC) and the Mindanao Visayas Basketball Association (MVBA).

Eala said details of Liga Pilipinas will be divulged at the press conference this afternoon. There are plans for Liga Pilipinas regional champion teams to participate in the annual Philippine Olympic Festival starting next year.