Stage dads, steer clear
WBC passes rule barring fathers of boxers from being chief seconds to sons in corners
THE World Boxing Council (WBC) passed a rule that barred fathers from from being chief second to their son’s corners in a fight after a “trainers’ roundtable” in the organization’s 54th annual convention in Florida.
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman raised the issue to the trainers and among those who agreed were trainers Abel Sanchez and Eddie Mustafa Muhammed according to a report at BoxingScene.com.
The chief second is the head trainer or cornerman for a boxer. He is allowed into the ring in between rounds to administer advice and otherwise take care of his charge.
“The father is more aggressive towards his son, and lets fight on too long. That’s what history shows,” said Sulaiman.
Some of Cebu’s top trainers, however, think differently.
Brix Flores, who trains most of the fighters at the RWS Gym, feels that a father sympathizes more than a trainer that doesn’t have any relation with the fighter.
“In my opinion I believe that a father has more compassion than a trainer that’s not the fighter’s father. So the tendency is that the fight will end earlier because the father will have pity on his son and stop the fight,” he said.
ALA Gym head trainer Edito Villamor believes that each father-trainer is unique and differs from one another.
“I think it’s not all father/trainers that let the fights on too long, there are also some that stop it early. But if that is the rule of the WBC, then we must follow,” said Villamor, who himself has a son that is currently into boxing in the amateur ranks. “I don’t know about the other fathers if they are okay with this. But if this is their new rule then we can’t do anything about it. They can train their sons but if they second it just depends on the father.” Some of the most prominent father-son tandems here in the Philippines are the Donaire’s of Nonito Jr. And Nonito Sr., and the Peñalosa’s of Dodie Boy Jr., Dave and Dodie Boy Sr.
Other renowned father-son duos are Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Floyd Mayweather Sr.; Angel Garcia and Daniel Garcia; and Chris Eubank Jr. And Chris Eubank Sr.