The Tiger’s tale

Merlito “Tiger” Sabillo has won over a new legion of fans. The WBO world minimumweight champion successfully defended his title for the first time in a new venue, in a television debut seen internationally. It was a fitting welcome for a boxer who took the long hard route to get where he is today. Saturday evening, he methodically dismantled sixth-ranked WBO contender Jorle Estrada of Colombia inside nine rounds for his 12th knockout in 23 fights without a defeat.

The Bacolod native had a rough upbringing, eking out a few pesos a day by joining street fights in the public market, taking on all comers. This harks back to the days of the Great Depression in the late 1920’s, where Filipino dockside workers used to join pierside brawls to make extra money in the US. Just as in those days, there were no weight classes and most of the time, no gloves.

Sabillo tried other sports, looking for a livelihood so he could feed his family. For a time, he was enamored with basketball, but was too short to go far in the sport. Eventually, he gravitated towards boxing, and turned pro at the advanced age of 24. But showing power in both fists, he quickly advanced from provincial bouts to the Philippine championship to a regional belt and now, a world title.

Fighting for the vacant world title, Sabillo has to leave the Philippines for the first time to face the hard-hitting Luis dela Rosa at the Coliseo Mario de Leon in Cerete, Colombia. Along the way, the small Filipino contingent missed a connecting flight, and Sabillo had to sleep in the airport as they await the next available aircraft. Nevertheless, the contender was unfazed, delivering an eighth-round TKO win, earning the interim title. He was eventually declared champion of the division.

Against Estrada, the tables would be turned, it was the challenger’s first time outside of his homeland. But Estrada did not lack luster, vowing to take the title home one way or another, even boldly predicting he would knock Sabillo out in the seventh round. There was a lot of pressure on the Filipino champion. The fight was broadcast by ABS-CBN live to Mexico and Florida to the large Mexican and Filipino communities there, respectively. In addition, he was fighting in front of the top management of both ABS-CBN and ALA Promotions. The two entities had recently signed a long-term agreement. Aside from ABS-CBN chairman Gabby Lopez and top executives Charo Santos-Concio and March Ventosa, a whole galaxy of ABS-CBN stars attended the card at the grand ballroom of Solaire Resort and Casino, many watching professional boxing for the first time. ABS-CBN talents Diether Ocampo, Gerald Anderson, Bea Alonzo, Jake Cuenca, Zanjo Marudo, Rayver Cruz and many others were in the crowd. Angeline Quinto performed the Philippine anthem.

But for Sabillo, that was all gravy. This was an opportunity he would not allow to slip past, he had to rein in his nervous energy and follow the fight plan against the challenger.

“He was moving around a lot, it was a bit hard at first,” Sabillo said after the bout. “Actually, I was getting impatient, but my corner just kept telling me to go for the body, go for the body, go for the body, and our plan worked.”

Ironically, Sabillo had been savagely pounding the left side of Estrada’s rib cage with vicious right hooks all fight long. But it was a left hook to the other side of Estrada’s torso that caused the challenger to grimace, clutch his side, and collapse to the canvas. So devastating was the blow that the Colombian’s cornermen had to move his stool to where he was sitting just so he would be more comfortable. It took a few minutes before he was able to get up on his own.

All in all, it was an impressive night for Filipino boxers. “King” Arthur Villanueva took home the WBO Asia Pacific superflyweight belt by stopping the dangerous Arturo Badillo of Mexico. Villanueva, who had a record of 22-0 with 11 knockouts going into the fight, similarly showed patience, using a two-punch combination relentlessly until the opportunity came for his opponent to call it a day.

Another big story was the successful comeback of AJ “Bazooka” Banal, who managed an early stoppage of Abraham Gomez. Both fighters were bloodied in the first round, as the southpaw Filipino and orthodox Mexican repeatedly clashed heads. Gomez was cut around the right eye, then in the forehead, then around the other eye, and his corner said “no mas”.

“The card met all our expectations, and then some,” said ALA Promotions CEO Michael Aldeguer afterwards. “It was very meaningful that we got the full support of our partner ABS-CBN.”

Aldeguer, who signed a long-term deal with the network, told The STAR that he had just returned from a trip to Dubai, and that they were planning their first international fight card for the Filipino community there in October. This would coincide with a live performance by the cast of ABS-CBN’s live musical variety show ASAP. ALA is also responding to the high demand for more training centers by looking for locations for gyms in Metro Manila. More and more talented young boxers are approaching ALA for the chance to become world champions like Sabillo and Donnie Nietes.