No less than Ludy Ceriales, the only Filipina International Boxing Association (AIBA) 3-star referee and judge will be the event’s tournament manager.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Excitement continues to build up for the upcoming Palarong Pambansa VisMin Boxing Cup next month as tournament organizers revealed the eight competing teams in the major amateur slugfest at the Cebu City Sports Center (CCSC).
No less than Ludy Ceriales, the only Filipina International Boxing Association (AIBA) 3-star referee and judge announced the official list of teams vying in the boxing tournament slated from July 12 to 15, 2022.
In a Zoom presser, Ceriales, the event’s tournament manager, announced that the eight competing teams are Cebu City, Cebu Province, Cebu North, Davao Region, Cagayan de Oro, Negros Occidental, Iloilo City, and Ormoc City.
A total of eighty boxers, ten from each team will vie for supremacy in 10-weight categories divided into two divisions; the youth and junior boys.
“This is going to be a slugfest, especially since we’re going to see boxers from Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Cebu, and the rest of the competing teams. We all know these boxers are top-calibers in their region, so, expect exciting matches from start to finish,” said Ceriales.
“Of course, we will make sure that this event will be safe for the boxers. We tapped top-caliber technical officials for this. We have our own medical team, our partner hospital. We will also conduct a refresher course. The boxers themselves are not just patsy amateurs. They’ve been training since the pandemic started.”
Ceriales recently officiated the IBA World Women’s Boxing Championships in Istanbul, Turkey.
THE SEARCH FOR THE NEXT PACQUIAO
Ceriales made it clear that one of their main goals for staging the tournament is to discover the next Filipino boxing star.
She pointed out that Cebu is the perfect venue for their event because of its boxing prestige. Cebu has long been known as a hotbed in boxing.
Cebu has been a regular host of international boxing events before the Covid-19 pandemic happened, and many top-caliber boxers are from the province.
“Cebu has top-quality boxers that is why it has three teams in the tournament. At the same time, DepEd is looking for skillful boxers that can follow the footsteps of Manny Pacquiao, Carlo Paalam, and other notable boxers. We need to discover new boxers with broad knowledge and techniques, especially here in Region VII,” said Ceriales.
ONGOING PREPARATIONS
For Cebu City Sports Commission (CCSC) chairman John Pages, they’re honored to have Ceriales on board.
The presence of Ceriales for them means that the upcoming tournament will not settle for anything less in terms of organization.
Still, Pages with the help of the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (ABAP) Central Visayas, DepEd, and the local sports stakeholders, they are continuing the preparation for the four-day tournament.
“This is a very big event, we’re expecting a thousand spectators, around a hundred boxing coaches and trainers, 30 plus officials. We’re really on the peak of preparations karon. We’ve been working hard for this event to be successful as possible,” said Pages. /rcg
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