KUALA LUMPUR – Former police chief and now Bureau of Corrections director general Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa is no stranger to boxing.
A former amateur boxer who is still into the sport, Dela Rosa — in town for the fight of his good Manny Pacquiao on Sunday against Lucas Matthysse — said he will push for the revival of boxing in prisons.
Philstar.com first brought up the topic, citing as an example middleweight great Bernard Hopkins, who also became state champion when he joined the penitentiary’s boxing program.
“Isa sa mga programa ng BuCor (Bureau of Corrections) yung Sports and Recreation. Yan yun, pwede yan doon (One of the programs of BuCor is Sports and Recreation. Boxing will be under that),” the corrections chief said in a chat with Filipino reporters Saturday.
When told that boxing could be an ideal and safer way to settle rifts among rival prison gangs, the burly Dela Rosa agreed.
“Maganda di ba? (It’s good, right?),” he said.
“Sputnik versus Commando. Batang Cebu versus Batang City Jail,” Dela Rosa continued, citing the most notorious prison gangs in the Philippines.
Dela Rosa said there had been boxing tournaments for those behind bars before but for some reason, these are no longer regularly held.
“Ire-revive ko. Mabuti ni-remind niyo ako (I will revive it. Thanks for reminding me.),” he said.
Dela Rosa said boxing is still very much a part of his life, training when he has the time, mostly hitting the mitts with a trainer.