When Milan Millendo successfully defended his world title against the Mexican who was more than an actor than a boxer, word came out that the ALA standout was eyeing at the title held by Brian Viloria.
Nothing followed the blind item so in all probability, the statement was not officially coming from the ALA camp.
My immediate reaction then was that there are so many belts being held by non-Filipinos that boxers like El Metodico can aspire for and those are the ones that our boxers should gun for.
At present, there are already five (5) Filipino world champions, and several international champions. I cannot remember a time when this glorious state of events happened. At least Philippine boxing is not just Manny Pacquiao.
If we start pitting our champions against each other, then we will be losing in the count.
Before the advent of Manny Pacquiao, Philippine professional boxing was in the doldrums. The situation was so bad that the attention of Philippine boxing shifted to amateur boxing with the successes that Onyok Velasco etc. garnered in international amateur boxing. Even before that, we had world champions but rarely more than one at a time.
Pancho Villa was the only one, until Flash Elorde drubbed Harold Gomes at the Big Dome. Then there was Bernabe Villacampo, Rolando Navarette, Luisito Espinosa, Dodie Boy Peñalosa, most of whom did not stay very long in their thrones.
Today, thanks to the efforts of honest to goodness lovers of the sport like Tony Aldeguer, the best of Philippine boxing are being given the chance to reach the zenith of their sport. Hopefully, gone are the days when the dirty hands of gambling intruded into the game.
Let us therefore continue building up the reputation of the Filipino as a world class boxer. This way, more deserving and talented boxers will be given the opportunity to succeed in the sport.
The best way to do this is to maintain visibility by continuously having Filipino champions fighting for world championships.
Manny Pacquiao has shown the way and how it can be done. Lately, he has even forsaken all other vices, not only for boxing but for himself. Will he be as fearsome as before? It still remains to be seen.
Anyway, every time the Pacman, the Hawaian Punch and the Filipino Flash climb the world stage of boxing, more doors will be opened for the Banals, Nieteses, Millendos and others who are just waiting for the time when their own boxing stars will shine.