Victory and defeat, or why we need reprogramming now

By Al S. Mendoza

IT was a week of both victory and defeat.

Our five boxers got wiped out in Milan, Italy.

It came on the heels of Marvin Sonsona’s sensational world title win in Ontario, Canada.

Sensational because Marvin, also from GenSan like Manny Pacquiao, is only 19 and was only in his 14th fight when he decisioned reigning champion Jose Lopez of Puerto Rico on Sept. 5.

We also won the World Pool title on home grounds on Sept. 6.

Woe to Tanamor & Co. in Milan.

Cheers to Bata Reyes and Django Bustamante at SM North, Q.C.

Bata and Django combined to defeat a German duo for the world crown, reestablishing Filipino supremacy on the world stage of billiards.

What Sonsona, Bata and Django did was another moment of pride and joy restored on the Filipino athlete at the international arena of sports.

How I wish billiards would soon be included as a sport in the Olympic calendar.

It is in this game that we might yet finally nab that elusive first Olympic gold medal for the country.

But while we celebrate our pool triumph once more, we are saddened by the debacle in Milan.

Why we sent Tanamor and three of his four teammates to Milan was another bomb waiting to explode on our faces once again.

Tanamor isn’t only old hat; he has become un-recyclable even.

At 31, Tanamor is good for pastureland.

In amateur boxing, 30 and above is bound for the home of the aged.

Why we keep on sending Tanamor to battles overseas boggles the mind.

In two Olympiads in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008, Tanamor wasn’t only a watusi on both occasions; twice he was a dud.

In the run-up to Beijing alone, we spent a fortune preparing him for the mission.

He terribly failed a nation that pinned so much hope on him, losing to an opponent that was so literally unknown and was not given even a Chinaman’s chance against Tanamor.

Why Tanamor was again called to represent the country in Milan is but a sorry reflection of how bankrupt our mindset has become insofar as our approach to international amateur boxing is.

Of the five dispatched to Milan for the World Boxing Championships, only Charly Suarez deserved a slot.

The other three-Genebert Basadre, Joegin Ladon and Joan Tipon-should also have not been sent at all like Tanamor.

Unlike Suarez, they are no greenhorns anymore, all past their prime.

At 21, Suarez is a good prospect.  He won his first fight in Milan. But experience told on him in his next bout, losing to a Korean five inches taller than him.

But Suarez has served as the good teacher for us in Milan.

Through him, we should, indeed, realize once more that we have to recast our program. Look for new projects. Drop the “droppables” like Tanamor.

Only when we start reprogramming our boxing program that we could attain our objective: Winning that Olympic first gold through boxing.

How to do it?

Assemble young boxers. Give them exposure trips.

Always, it should be developmental. There is no shortcut to success.

The road to the 2012 London Olympics is well within reach.

All that is needed is the right program.

All we need to do is shoo away the overstaying, led by Tanamor.

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