Elorde Awards Night reset

The 20th Gabriel (Flash) Elorde Memorial Awards Night, scheduled at the Okada Manila Hotel on March 25, has been postponed because of the coronavirus outbreak. Liza Elorde said the other day the annual event to honor the country’s top boxers and commemorate the late Flash’s 85th birthday will be reset to probably the last week of April or the first week of May, depending on the virus situation.

Three fights will precede the awarding rites. Juan Miguel Elorde will make a comeback after losing to WBO superbantamweight champion Emanuel Navarrete in Las Vegas last September. Mig, 33, returns to Okada where he outpointed Japan’s Shohei Kawashima last year. In another bout, Arvin Magramo takes on Garen Diagan for the WBO Asia Pacific Youth lightflyweight belt. It’s a grudge rematch as Diagan pounded out a split eight-round decision over Magramo in September 2018. Since the loss, Magramo has won four in a row to raise his record to 12-1-1, with 8 KOs. Diagan has also won his last four outings to improve his mark to 7-1, with 3 KOs. Both are 23-year-old southpaws. Diagan’s only loss was a decision to Marco Rementizo in 2017.

In the third fight, unbeaten Delmar Pellio of Aklan battles Ulysses Lagos of Sultan Kudarat for the WBO Asia Pacific Youth featherweight title. Pellio, 20, has a 9-0 record, with 4 KOs while Lagos, also 20, packs a 12-2 mark, with 6 KOs. Lagos will be making his Manila debut and is coming off three wins by KO.

Magramo’s older brother Giemel was supposed to face unbeaten Japanese contender Junto Nakatani for the vacant WBO flyweight crown at the Korakuen Hall, Tokyo, on April 4 but the fight has been postponed to June 6. The new date, however, isn’t final. If global conditions are back to normal and the COVID-19 is under control, then the fight will proceed.

It’s difficult for a fighter to adjust to a postponement because of training conditions. When a bout is set up, a training program is laid out so a fighter reaches his peak at the right weight for the weigh-in on the eve of fight night. If it’s a 12-rounder, the fighter builds up his sparring routine from four to six to eight to 10 to 12 rounds over a period of time. About a week before the fight, he tapers off and finishes sparring. With a postponement, the training program has to be re-configured because a fighter can’t peak too early. The danger of burning out is a serious concern.

In Giemel’s case, the two-month postponement will mean bulking up in weight so he has pounds to burn from now until June. It’s almost like starting the training program all over again. At least, he’s not the only one affected by the delay because Nakatani is in the same predicament.

For Giemel, it’s his chance of a lifetime to become a world champion like uncle Ronnie who reigned as WBF minimumweight champion twice in 1994 and 1995. His father Melvin was also a pro boxer but never got to fight for a world crown. Melvin was a former WBO Intercontinental, OPBF and Philippine flyweight champion whose claim to fame was surviving the distance in losing a decision to Manny Pacquiao in 1997. Pacquiao once said Magramo was one of his toughest opponents and during their fight, the Senator was so buzzed that he went to the wrong corner after the bell sounded to end a hard-fought round.

Giemel, 25, is ranked No. 1 by the WBO. His record is 24-1, with 20 KOs. Nakatani, 22, is the WBO’s No. 3 contender. The Japanese is taller than Magramo by three inches and boasts a 20-0 record, with 15 KOs. Giemel, however, isn’t fazed by the height discrepancy. He’s a pressure fighter who likes to bore in and bang. Nakatani will try to stave him off with his long jab so Giemel must find a way to narrow the gap, crowd and turn the fight into a toe-to-toe brawl. Angel Acosta is ranked No. 2 by the WBO so the winner of the Magramo-Nakatani duel will be mandated to stake the crown against the Puerto Rican. The 112-pound throne was relinquished by Japan’s Kosei Tanaka who has moved up to the superflyweight division.