I just could not believe it that after 25 years, former World Boxing Association bantamweight and World Boxing Council featherweight champion Luisito Espinosa is still fighting.
Yes, fighting for the unpaid balance of $120,349 owed to him by promoters in a title fight in Koronadal, South Cotabato. In today’s conversion, this amount of money would be P7,101,794.49. Luisito is a millionaire! Unfortunately, he is not.
Now, he has sought the help of President Bongbong Marcos.
Can the president of our beloved Republic help him get that money?
I hope so.
When we were young sportswriters in the 1990s, we heard stories of promoters or organizers to be nowhere to be found during the awarding ceremonies, to the dismay of tournament winners. Or should they be awarded their prize money, they would later realize that it lacked a few hundreds or even thousands.
These unfortunate incidents can only be prevented with the help of the Games and Amusements Board, in the case of professional sports, and the Sports Development Office or Sports Commission, in the case of amateur sports.
What will they do exactly?
That is to make sure that the prize money or awards are secured for the winners.
How would they do that?
The condition is that the event would never take place, unless the prize money is available, all of it, not a partial amount, but all of it.
These government bureaucrats can help with the paperwork because they all know how the process works. Once the funding is validated and made available, payrolls are prepared, the person in charge is identified, the prize winners are properly identified, then the prize money is released to the winners, not to any other person, but directly to the winners, and that should be done at the end of the event.
A simple process like this can prevent theft!
Not giving the whole prize money to Luisito is a classic thievery in broad daylight! Kawat gyud na!
For those involved in the failure to deliver the prize money to Luisito, you know it is your fault. I hope that you are still alive and well, and not on your deathbeds, thinking of how to redeem yourselves for your failure to help Luisito Espinosa, who brought honor to this country by emerging as a world boxing champion in two weight divisions!
You see, boxers are wired to just train to fight. They were never trained how to secure their prize money, although that has changed after the unfortunate 1997 Luisito event, as fighters these days would never climb the ring, unless a secured cheque under their name is given first, one way of outsmarting scheming promoters.
Let this be a lesson not to be forgotten.
I guess, this is a call for our legislators to craft some laws to totally prevent this financial disaster for athletes. I don’t know, probably a plunder case to sports promoters because the prize money involved especially in professional sports run into millions of pesos.
If you happen to be reading this column by an ordinary mortal, I hope this simple suggestion would keep you awake at night.
We have to save our athletes from financial disasters brought to them by sports promoters.
As for Luisito, I hope one or two kind-hearted multi-millionaires in this lovely country would come to his assistance.
Alam niyo mga Bossing, you don’t have to wait for Luisito to be sick of cancer and dying before millions of pesos start flowing to his family as a donation.
Right, Toto Rey Lachica, sports editor of Tempo, president of the Philippine Sportswriters Association, and proud son of Koronadal? Suggestion lang man To.
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Comments are welcome by sending an email to mpb_sports@yahoo.com.
