The Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines lashed back at the Philippine Sports Commission for dipping its fingers in what is purely an affair for a national sports association.
ABAP president Ricky Vargas, stung by PSC chairman Richie Garcia’s plans to stage a national qualifying tilt for all boxers seeking berths to regional tournaments like the Southeast Asian Games and Asian Games, sent the PSC a strongly-worded letter late Monday.
Vargas said the ABAP has been doing its job in staging regional tournaments and box-offs all over the country in the hopes of finding talent.
“Since we took over in 2009, we have staged over a dozen regional and national tournaments all over the country. We invited you to Cagayan de Oro but were unavailable,” wrote Vargas.
“This year we are holding tournaments in Las Pinas, Bago City, General Santos and Southern Leyte.”
Vargas belied claims by Garcia that the ABAP is practicing favoritism in the selection of boxers, saying that if there had been instances of such, it was not done during their term.
Vargas said the ABAP’s roster includes fighters from South Cotabato, Zamboanga del Norte, Davao del Norte and Palawan, something that doesn’t give credence to accusations that the current ABAP is favoring fighters from a certain region of the country.
About two weeks ago, Garcia met with Cebu boxing patron Tony Aldeguer and the PSC big boss said the promoter is willing to lend a hand in helping the country find medal hopefuls for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Vargas demanded that Garcia issue a correction regarding his scathing accusations against the ABAP.
“This is a serious accusation that casts aspersions on my character and competence,” said Vargas.
Garcia would later retract his statements, saying the PSC had never encountered problems dealing with the ABAP.
