Article by Aurawind
Every boxing aficionado from across the world knows who Manny Pacquiao is. Every time he steps into the ring, Unfazed, “Pacman”, as he is aptly called, in a David-like fashion courageously takes on goliaths of the boxing world. Weaving and bobbing through every punch, he doesn’t only deliver astounding victories but also gives his fellow Filipinos a sense of pride, joy and most importantly unity. As exciting as his matches are, the opposite can be said to Filipino amateur boxers vying to capture that elusive Olympic boxing gold, which seemed to slip from our grasps every time we compete. Philippines is one of the remaining countries who has failed to win a single gold medal since the beginning of the Olympics in 1896. We only managed to win a total of 9 medals; 5 coming from Filipino boxers. The closest we’ve got in achieving such feat came in the 1996 Olympic games held in Atlanta, when Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco lost in a highly controversial gold medal match against Bulgaria’s Daniel Petrov Bujilov. In the succeeding Olympics Games, we failed to net a single medal even after garnering accolades from different international boxing events and meets. Now with less than 2 years till the start of the 2012 London Olympics, Will we ever get a taste of gold or is this reality just a mere dream?
Fortunately, a grassroots program has been implemented to finance the development of aspiring boxers and hone their talents further to be at par with other countries in the Olympics. Suntok Ginto aims to give boxers world-class training and build facilities for boxers to increase our chances of bagging the gold in the upcoming Olympics. Even though support from the private sector has been generous for the past few years, it’s still not sufficient to create an Olympic-level sports program. Funding has always been a problem; resources are spread over different sports. The end result is a lackluster showing by our athletes. We should only focus in a sport in which there’s a big chance of getting gold. Like our Asian neighbor, Thailand invested heavily in their boxing program and in 1996 the fruits of their labor finally paid off as they won their first gold medal. On the same note, Suntok Ginto serves as a wake-up call to the Filipino people to unite and for a single cause, a gold medal in the 2012 Olympic Games.
Despite hauling medals in the recently concluded Asian Games in Guangzhou, the attention given by the Filipino people and the government has waned and is usually overshadowed by other popular sports such as basketball and our recnt favorite, soccer. With the Olympics just around the corner, the road to the top is still filled of obstacles and challenges and it’s definitely a steep one.
About the Author
Aura Wind is an avid boxing fan, he’s one of the supporters of Suntok Ginto
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