VALCARCEL DETERMINED TO RESURRECT FIGHT GAME!
Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel
Cartegena, Colombia– Having been at a loss on how to get people to engage in boxing, be it as a fighter or a fan, I was thinking that Bob Arum’s Top Rank, Don King, Gary Shaw, Arthur Pellulu, Oscar De La Hoya, the promoters that are rich and getting richer, Main Events and Kathy Duva too, they should all come together and fund a worldwide training program that develops professional fighters. Larry Merchant, the HBO Godfather said that most of the aforementioned promoters cannot unite to make mega-bucks, thus the idea of them coming out of the pocket together was DOA! (Dead On Arrival)
PACO’S PLAN TO REBUILD GAME
Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel, the World Boxing Organization leader, Valcarcel laid out a plan yesterday that reminds me a lot of the path in which the UFC has went to build new fighters, as well as their fan base. The plan is to build and or fund boxing gyms in some 35 countries in Asia, Europe, Australia, South America and will include the United States where boxing is hurting. Valcarcel believes that putting 20 % of the 2011 WBO budget into “talent development” will pay off big. He continued, “By developing fighters and providing training for them in order to reach the world class level will be the goal. This will bring new talent to boxing, and new exciting talent will bring new fans.” This benevolence on behalf of the WBO is nothing new. In 2008, they donated several millions of dollars to fight poverty in Panama.
CURRENT AMATEUR CLIMATE
IS A BIT CHILLY!
Seeing professional boxing differs greatly from the amateur program, very few fighters, Americans in particular, have made a smooth transition from fighting for trophies to fighting for money. With only three Gold Medal winners in the past 19 years, Oscar De La Hoya in 1992, David Reid’s hail mary punch in 1996, and Andre Ward pevailed in 2004, the US, who used to share medals with Cuba every four turns of the Roman calendar, they haven’t had a decent team since 1988 and the games at Seoul, Korea.
TWO WBO 154 LB. CHAMPS DON’T LOOK ALIKE!
WBO 154 lb. champs Miguel Cotto (38-2, 28 KOs of Puerto Rico) and unbeaten female Hannah Gabriela (10-0-1, 6 KOs) of Costa Rica, arrived today and were present when Valcarcel, Paco to everybody, was honored by the Governor of the state in a refurbished 19th century military fort constructed of Adobe. The 23rd annual WBO convention will climax tonight with a poolside feast, live music and dancing. Next year the WBO will hold their 24th get together at home in their native Puerto Rico.
Pedro Fernandez