Speedy Boy Vin Diesel will be going home bruised even before he could go to battle in the ring at the “Golpe-Golpe de Zamboanga” boxing tournament here.
So will Romy Munding, who has bruises in the jaw, chest and arms, and Roel Teopilo.
Nilo Tagamacio, 18, who is known as “Speedy Boy Vin Diesel” in the boxing world, of Maranding, Lanao del Norte, Munding, 22, and Teopilo were among the four persons wounded in Sunday’s bomb attack outside Red Palm Pension House in Barangay Guiwan here.
Still in serious condition at the intensive care unit of Zamboanga City Medical Center was Marvin Artes, a referee of the Games and Amusement Board (GAB).
Six other persons suffered injuries in an earlier bomb explosion inside a cockfighting area in Barangay San Roque.
Taganacio, of Maranding, Lanao del Norte, and Munding, of Mahayag, Zamboanga del Sur, are among the local pugilists from different provinces who are trying their luck to win the P10,000 top prize in the tournament sponsored by Zamboanga City Representative Erico Basilio Fabian as part of the city’s La Hermosa Festival celebration.
Boxing officials, however, decided to withdraw them from their matches because of their injuries, according to Vicente Cabalog, GAB supervisor for western Mindanao. “They are not fit to fight,” he said.
Promised money
The fights start today with no weight divisions. Age and size are simply the bases for matching boxers, who are to receive P1,000 for every round they survive on the ring during the 10-round match.
Cabalog said the wounded boxers were told that they would still get P10,000 as promised by Fabian.
Another GAB referee, Andres Manatad, who was outside the pension house when the blast occurred, said he had to remove the debris himself as rescuers arrived an hour later.
“I had to remove big blocks of concrete one after the other. The four (Artes, Munding, Taganacio and another boxer Roel Teopilo) were covered with debris,” he said.
“I shouted for help but the cops who responded pointed a gun at me. I ignored and shouted at the cops that all my companions were covered with debris,” he added.
Senior Supt. Edwin De Ocampo, acting city police chief, said terrorists were behind the bombings. He, however, could not identify them.
“We recovered the same bomb components. The bombers used cellular phones as triggering devices, including about two kilos of powder and nails,” De Ocampo said.