Good news/Bad news for Cebu boxing

The past two weekends has been a case of “good news-bad news” for Cebu Boxing with an ironic twist that may lead to more twists in the future. The good news was that Marlon Tapales was to defend his World Boxing Organization bantamweight title against Shohei Omori in Japan, while Arthur Villanueva was to fight Zolani Tete of South Africa in a title eliminator bout for the same championship in London.

Then the sad news dropped. Tapales didn’t make the 118 pound weight limit at the weigh-in and immediately lost his world championship without even throwing a punch. This is one of the toughest heartbreakers to take. After two to three months of training and losing weight, everything goes down the drain just because of missing the weight. Worse, Tapales gave Omori a possible free ride to a championship if Omori won (he didn’t). A Tapales win would simply leave the title vacant. More sad news dawned when Villanueva lost via unanimous decision to Tete. This was a double whammy of sorts as the WBO later declared that Tete would now be named as the regular WBO world bantamweight champion. That title could’ve gone to Villanueva had he won. We could’ve had a Pinoy replacing Tapales as the regular champion. At this point, I can only wonder if Villanueva could’ve put up a different kind of fight if he knew he was fighting for a regular world championship. It’s also ironic that while Tapales lost his title and Villanueva lost to Tete, there were talks of a possible fight between both Pinoys if both had won their fights last week. Tapales did win his fight by knock-out but it was just a regular “W” for his record that didn’t bring with it a WBO championship belt. He then declared that the was leaving the 118-pound division and move up a weight class.

With Tapales moving up to the junior featherweight division (122 pounds), more twists are about to unfold. In the same weight class are other Pinoy contenders: former WBO world champion Nonito Donaire Jr. (who might move up to 126 pounds), WBO Asia Pacific champion Juan Miguel Elorde, WBO Oriental champion Jhack Tepora, Japan-based Genesis Servania and Albert Pagara who last fought as a featherweight. The latest is that Servania is moving up in weight and fought for the WBO Asia Pacific featherweight championship against another Pinoy Ralph John Lulu in Japan last night. Pagara will also most likely continue fighting at 126 pounds, leaving Donaire, Tapales, Elorde and Tepora as the Pinoy contenders. As former world champions, Donaire and Tapales may have the easier path to another shot at a world championship. Expect both to have a tune-up fight or two before going for a world championship. Elorde is content with defending his regional title and will go for a world title if offered a shot. Tepora is slowly but surely being groomed and will most likely face tougher foes this year as he matures and develops. This is a scenario that actually paints a good picture for Pinoy boxing. Not only are we producing world-class boxers, we’re also beginning to crowd the top ten rankings of the WBO. With all of them ranked, this gives the country better chances of winning a world championship.

The other good news actually took place last night. I’m writing this piece before the actual fight takes place, but I’m 90% sure that Donnie Nietes won the IBF flyweight championship of the world last night, his third world championship. After winning the WBO minimumweight and junior flyweight championships, the IBF world title will be the new belt for Donnie’s collection. Aside from joining only a few Pinoy boxers to have won world championships in more than one weight division, Nietes remains to be the longest-reigning world champion in Philippine sports history. It’s also a good news scenario since Nietes replaces another Pinoy in Johnriel Casimero who let go of the title to move up to the super flyweight division (115 pounds), and also go for third world championship. The IBF path was the most logical for Nietes with Zou Shiming of China as the WBO world flyweight champion. It would’ve taken awhile before Donnie would’ve gotten a shot at Shiming. Another twist? The current IBF super flyweight champion is also a Pinoy in Jerwin Ancajas. Will we see a Casimero vs. Ancajas title fight in the near future?

Don’t be surprised to see this good news/bad news scenario pick up even more soon when more Pinoys barge into the top ten rankings of the lighter weight divisions (from 105 to 126 pounds). When all is said and done, they might be facing each other in world championship fights. Good news/bad news indeed, but it’s a scenario which I don’t mind at all.

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The BEST basketball clinic of the Milo Summer Sports Program will be held May 8 to 13 at the Sacred Heart SchoolAteneo de Cebu Mango Avenue campus gym. For more details, check out their Facebook page BEST Center Sports-Cebu.