Pacman graces revival
Former eight-division world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and Las Vegas-based MP Promotions head Sean Gibbons headline the list of VIPs attending the revival of the TV series at the Mandaluyong City College this afternoon. It’ll be a blue ribbon affair on a red letter day and the green light is on to welcome the third iteration of the popular fight platform that was introduced in 1994.
No less than Gerry Peñalosa, a former two-division world champion, has his imprint on the fight card as matchmaker. Pacquiao entrusted Peñalosa with the responsibility of producing a show that he hopes to use as a springboard for fighters to become future world titleholders. Asked if he intends Blow By Blow to be a long-term project, Pacquiao said there’s no time limit and this could continue for decades. Pacquiao himself was a Blow By Blow discovery and logged seven fights in Mandaluyong which has been the show’s forever homegrounds. It was on Blow By Blow where Pacquiao faced his first foreign adversary, Indonesia’s Ippo Gala and won his first international crown, the OPBF flyweight diadem he wrested from Thailand’s Chokchai Chokvivat on a fifth round knockout.
It’s fitting that Blow By Blow will be reborn in Mandaluyong whose Mayor Benjamin Abalos is the same patriarch known to have provided the impetus of its initial staging. Blow By Blow made its first TV appearance in 1994 with Rod Nazario, Moy Lainez and Lito Mondejar joining forces to keep it going until 1999. Then, former Agriculture secretary Manny Piñol brought it back to life in 2015 but the second coming was short-lived under the name Blow By Blow Reloaded with the 2016 elections in the calendar.
A touch of nostalgia will brighten up today’s revival as original ring announcer Bobby Mondejar has been tapped to reprise his role. His father Lito is the only surviving member of the triumvirate that produced Blow By Blow in the 1990s. Pacquiao’s presence will also be nostalgic because it was on Blow By Blow where his star began to shine. Pacquiao said he owes his beginnings to Blow By Blow and the Abalos family.
The main event of today’s Blow By Blow rebirth features Pitt Laurente of General Santos City against JR Magboo of Agoncillo, Batangas for the vacant Philippine Boxing Federation superfeatherweight title. Laurente, 22, is a southpaw with a 10-0 record, including 6 KOs and considered a hot prospect. He defeated world title challenger Ernesto Saulong, a veteran of 30 fights, in only his sixth bout last year. Magboo, 33, has an 18-7-2 record, with nine KOs and once battled former super WBA, IBF and WBO lightweight king George Kambosos. He was unbeaten in his first 18 fights then lost seven of his last nine so the itch to return to the winning track is unbearable. In the chief aperitif, Michael Mendoza of Camarines Sur takes on Enrique Magsalin of Iloilo for the Philippine flyweight title. Mendoza, 24, has an 11-2-2 record, with four KOs while Magsalin, 27, is 7-3-2, with one KO. The entire card features 10 fights and the show is free to the public.