The Sports Market out there

The sports market out there. One might think that we’re talking about the foreign market in sports. In a way, yes, but today, let’s refresh, take a break and get out of the metropolis to visit the sports market outside urban Cebu. It’s a market that hasn’t received too much attention primarily because a lot or majority of the sports action takes place in Metro Cebu. When we wrote about the absence of a long-running commercial league for basketball in Cebu, we cited that the “panalay” leagues draw more people and larger crowds in places outside Cebu City, the recognized hotbed of the sport in the province. Places like Minglanilla, Argao, Naga, Medellin, Danao and Balamban are known to gather big crowds for sports events.

This leads me to our Friday night trip to the “west coast” in Balamban to check out the “Rumble in Balamban” boxing event put up by Omega Pro Sports International in partnership with the West Cebu Industrial Park and the local government of Balamban.  (We wrote a separate story about this in today’s sports page). Events like these are what we need as a form of a break from the usual big city events as these open our eyes an remind us that there is a sports market out there beyond the boundaries of the urban jungle in which we play. Pardon the bias. Having grown up in the neighboring city of Toledo up there in the hills of Lutopan, seeing a full-house Balamban Sports Complex amidst a fiesta-atmosphere in the town proper makes us proud and homesick of the simple, laid-back, country-style lifestyle. A highlight of this lifestyle is that the forms of entertainment for the general public are either concerts, “peryas,” dance parties (discos) and sports events. Since the big sports events aren’t held too often, any sports spectacle that comes from the city is always anticipated to be big. This is why those short, week-long basketball tournaments are well-attended and followed by the local folk. The last big event I remember watching in Balamban was the CVIRAA of 2015. At the championship game between Cebu City and Mandaue City which was held late in the morning/before noon, we couldn’t get a seat and ended up staying along the baseline with a horde of others. The sidelines were also filled people sitting on the floor who had to move back each time an inbound pass would be made from those spots where they sat.

The Rumble in Balamban didn’t fail to impress us. It was a pleasant surprise to see a more than the usual boxing set-up in a town on the west coast; complete with lights, a TV production crew, a wide screen (LED) on the stage, blaring music and the usual full-house crowd. I was expecting just the usual boxing ring and a one-microphone PA system. The crowd was treated to a total of seven regular fights and two special event/sparring sessions. The Omega Boxing Gym boxers came out of the night with six wins and a draw, with all six wins coming by way of knock-out. All fights were well-applauded and accompanied with the usual cheering and jeering of the crowd. The crowd always sided on the underdog’s side, the opponents of all the Omega Boxing Gym boys. I had a feeling that the crowd knew that somehow, the Omega boxes were in better shape and were favored to win all their fights; thus the rare opportunity to cheer for the unexpected and a possible upset win over the host gym. Each time the underdog landed punches, the crowd went wild and cheered him on. In the end, the boxers in better shape and training came out on top. The crowd also applauded them even if they also cheered for the underdog. The important thing is that the crowd was treated to fights that were entertaining and kept fans on the edge of their seats. One such fight was the one between Ponciano Rimandiman of Omega Boxing Gym and Lenmar Prescillas. It was a bell-to-bell affair that saw both boxers land big punches and rock each other in a phone-booth brawl. Rimandiman sent Prescilas to the canvass in he first round but Prescillas bounced back to rock Rimandiman groggy in the second round. The end came in the third when Rimandiman knocked Prescillas down again. After seeing enough, referee Tony Pesons stopped the bout and awarded a TKO win to Rimandiman. To prove that a promoter’s fighter not always wins all  fights, Rodel Kirk Pelenio of the Ablaca Stable held Mark Vicelles of Omega to a split draw. While all the other fights were one-sided for the Omega side, the crowd had fun cheering for the underdog and appreciated the way the winners scored their wins. But it wasn’t all about boxing. On the side, the promoter raffled off special gift packs from Sunpride and International Pharmaceutical Inc., makers of Omega.

Looking back, we were impressed with the crowd support and the local partners who worked to bring boxing to Balamban. And they didn’t bring in a simple boxing show. They brought in more than a boxing spectacle. It was a sporting experience for all that proved that indeed, there is a sports market out there.