ALA memories

“The good is oft interred with their bones.” – William Shakespeare, “Julius Caesar”

The demise of ALA Promotions definitely leaves a big void in the Philippine boxing landscape. The company streamlined and professionalized boxing promotions and management, and set standards above what audiences had grown familiar with in the past. ALA Promotions elevated pro boxing from steamy, dingy community halls to slick, carpeted air- conditioned hotel ballrooms. They conquered Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao, Bacolod, Bohol and other venues. They were the middle ground between Las Vegas and local productions, a pipeline to the world. It was not easy, and was a long road to respectability.

Philippine boxing was basically an export business if you wanted to breed a world champion. Tony Aldeguer, the visionary patriarch and ALA himself, once told this writer that they toiled in relative anonymity for roughly two decades before gaining acceptance in the global community. There were well-known boxing managers in the Philippines, yes, but no true international promoters. People snickered at ALA in the beginning, but they kept at it, fired up by the will to prove that Filipinos could be world-class boxing promoters. They took the savage sport to opulent places like Solaire in Metro Manila and The Waterfront in Cebu. ALA Promotions staged the first boxing event in the Mall of Asia Arena in 2011. They succeeded in eventually staging title fights even outside the country, in the US and United Arab Emirates, leaning on the support of massive OFW communities in those places.

Along the way, ALA found and/or polished diamonds in the rough and made them forces to reckon with. Not all stayed, but to a certain degree, all benefited. Internationally known boxers and world champions like Donnie Nietes and Milan Melindo and Boom Boom Bautista, AJ Banal, Mark Magsayo, Genesis Servania, Arthur Villanueva and Z Gorres, among others, fought for the ALA stable. And they had to earn it. You didn’t just get to wear the trademark red and black. No, you worked your way up to it. It would be earned, not handed out.

The significance of their partnership with ABS-CBN Sports cannot be understated. The network gave ALA a platform to a massive audience in the Philippines and overseas. It drew advertisers, even those who traditionally did not support boxing. Most of all, it shaped the image of ALA Promotions as a brand, and gave them added education in the bigger sports marketplace. The relationship with the WBO, on the other hand, lent credibility overseas, and brought foreign talent to the country. For the most part, ALA fights were a brave risk, but a necessary one. The WBO gave them a backing, and indirect familial ties with Manny Pacquiao.

But in an era of hostile takeovers and huge corporate structure, ALA Promotions was still essentially a family affair. This was both good and bad in the short term, but not so beneficial in the larger scheme of things. They primarily courted a Filipino audience, which eventually became limiting. Like Philippine basketball in the 1990’s, they needed to acknowledge the larger world out there, not keep one foot at home. If they were to succeed at a higher level, ALA would have to matriculate by competing or co-promoting with bigger promotions, which was a double-edged sword. It opened them to bigger audiences and more money, but made them vulnerable to being swallowed up in the hype, and brought potential poachers to their door.

Part of growth in any international business is learning from larger, more accomplished rivals by working with them, often at a huge potential risk. Your main product – your boxers – can be dazzled with larger offers from other managers and promoters. And contracts drafted in the Philippines are fragile enough as it is. You wouldn’t be able to enforce them in America or elsewhere. ALA Promotions tried to keep as much as possible in-house. This did not give them multiple inputs or a broader perspective, causing some questionable outcomes. There was the homecoming fight for Boom Boom Bautista in Bohol, where a namesake opponent showed up, not the former multiple world champion he was supposed to fight. Bautista had previously suffered from pain in the wrist due to an undiagnosed floating bone spur. Luckily, it was eventually discovered, and his career was back on track.

Not everyone was happy with how they were handled at ALA, to put a finer point on it. In recent years, Aldeguer the elder had chosen to focus on the boxers, leaving the business mainly to his son Michael. But in the last two years, the business shrank. Last year, the “Pinoy Pride” series dwindled. Also in 2019, the spectacular Mark Magsayo did not renew his contract after being inactive for a year. Happily, Magsayo is fighting in the US in September under MP Promotions. Donnie Nietes has not fought since late 2018, and is now mulling retirement, a huge waste of an all-time great in his twilight years. After a controversial split draw with the taller, younger Aston Palicte, Nietes was advised to abdicate the super flyweight belt and move up in weight. Now, no one wants to fight such a dangerous former champion with no belt at stake.

The pandemic and quarantine have shut down sports all over the world. The situation has killed businesses much bigger than ALA Promotions. With the non-renewal of ABS-CBN’s franchise, the company has nowhere to turn. Who will give them airtime? Who will help them court advertisers? Their boxers are all on their own now.

In his eulogy for his beloved uncle Julius Caesar,  Mark Anthony said “The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones. So let it be with Caesar.” Let that not be the case with ALA Promotions. Let history reflect the courage, tenacity and passion that marked 35 years of trailblazing. Let their good work be the prologue to brighter days for Philippine boxing. And let us remember them with gratitude.