Remembering Rod and Tony

The Philippine sports community lost two distinguished sportsmen in less than a week’s time under different circumstances.

Rodolfo “Rod” Nazario, former business manager of Manny Pacquiao, succumbed to lung cancer after a year-long battle with the big “C”. Rod died at 8:50 a.m. at the Perpetual Help Hospital in Las Pinas on Thursday, Sept. 24, 12 days after celebrating his 74th birthday. Rod left behind his wife, Supreme Court Justice Minita Chico-Nazario, three children and several grandchildren.         

Antonio “Tony” Chua, top official of the Barako Red Bull in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) and former chairman of the PBA board of governors, died in an accident Saturday evening as typhoon “Ondoy” flooded Metro Manila and many parts of Luzon.

I had met Rod a number of times on a “hi, hello” basis, before I really got to sit down with him late 1998 to plan Manny Pacquiao’s defense of his World Boxing Council flyweight crown against Mexico’s Gabriel Mira at the Araneta Coliseum on April 24, 1999. I had seen how Pacquiao had demolished defending champion Chartchai Sasakul of Thailand after eight bruising rounds that had Pacquiao several times in some kind of trouble.

I thought to myself that the young Pacquiao, then turning 20 in 1998, had a bright future and was definitely a crowd pleaser with his aggressive style. I was then President of Uniprom Inc., the promotions outfit of the Araneta group of companies and with the blessings of Jorge “Nene” Araneta, I met with Rod to explore the possibility of having Pacquiao make the first defense of his title in Manila at the Araneta Coliseum during the first quarter of 1999.

After several weeks of discussions and negotiations, Rod and I agreed to Pacquiao’s first defense at the Araneta Coliseum.

I got down to work and got Pagcor and the PCSO and a number of private companies to support the promotion which would be the first world title fight in Manila during the administration of President Joseph Estrada.

Rod would come to my office from time to time where we discussed major and minor fight details. The last time I had been involved in a world title fight was in 1991 when I co-promoted Luisito Espinosa’s unsuccessful defense of his bantamweight title against Israel Contreras of Venezuela in Sept. 1991, also at the Araneta Coliseum. At that time, our biggest concern was another natural disaster like the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo which occurred on June 12, 1991.

At any rate, Rod and I dealt with each other professionally and agreed that, should the opportunity present itself, we would “do it again”.

On Sept. 17, 1999, or around five months after his successful defense of his flyweight crown at the Araneta Coliseum, Pacquiao would lose it to Medgoen Singsurat of Thailand in the provincial setting of Nakhon Si Thammarat by knockout in the third round. Pacquiao had actually lost the title even before climbing into the ring, having failed to make the weight limit of 112 pounds. A dehydrated Pacquiao had become an easy target for the hungry Thai.

Despite the loss, I maintained that Pacquiao still had what the stuff to become truly world class. I found an ally in Rod and Bebot Elorde who was then putting together a Christmas boxing promotion for the benefit of disabled boxers whom the Philippine Sportswriters’ Association, then headed by Bulletin’s Ding Marcelo, had wanted to continue helping. Again, Rod and I found ourselves at the negotiating table. 

We pitted Pacquiao on Dec. 18, 1999 at the Elorde Sports Complex against Reynante Jamili whom the former promptly dispatched in the second round. Pacquiao would later knock out in the fourth round, the rugged, Domy Ursua-like Fil-Aussie, Arnel Barotillo on March 3, 2000, in a promotion organized by newscaster Jay Sonza.

The last time I saw Rod involved in a Pacquiao fight was in March 2005 in Las Vegas with Pacquiao going up against the legendary Erik Morales. It was the first of the Pacquiao-Morales trilogy. I remember Rod, the true gentleman that he was, hesitant, out of delicadeza, to talk about the brewing controversy involving Murad Muhammad and Shelly Finkel over Pacquiao’s business affairs.

I first met Tony Chua when I was commissioner of the Philippine Basketball League (PBL) from 1994 to 1995. At my invitation, Red Bull, the company that Tony represented, and Chow King, joined the PBL to maintain the ideal eight-team lineup. Two teams had left prior to my assumption of office and I found it providential that Red Bull and Chow King would join the league as an expression of support for someone like me who was just starting out as commissioner. Despite the problems I encountered as the glue that binds the league together and as an objective manager who was disinterested in who won the championship, Tony was supportive all throughout my short stint at the PBL.

Tony leaves behind his wife, the former Marissa Militado, and three grown-up kids.