Onyok’s lament

Thirty years after blatantly being cheated out of an Olympic gold medal, Mansueto “Onyok” Velasco Jr. has quietly made a life for himself and his family in Solana, Cagayan, hometown of his wife May, teaching boxing to local youth. After devoting so much of his life to boxing for flag and country, he has not forgotten the promises made to him by congressmen way back in 1996.

Inspired to box by his older brother, 1992 Barcelona Olympic silver medalist and now national team coach Roel, Onyok was happy to get a free education in their native Bago City, and travel to Metro Manila, against his mother’s wishes. He was the third of the brood after Nolito and Roel to leave the nest, and opted not to finish his studies. He reasoned that boxing took so much out of him that he would not be able to devote time or energy to school, anyway.

Making a name for himself in local competitions, he was recruited to fight for the country. Fighting southpaw like his Kuya Roel, he inescapably climbed until he qualified for Atlanta, the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympic Games. Unfortunately, the experimental use of automated scoring, and politics scuttled his chances in the gold medal match against Bulgarian Daniel Bojilov, the lone remaining countryman of the FIBA head at the time. Though Onyok dominated the fight, Bojilov mysteriously kept scoring. The fight was immortalized by Ron De Los Reyes’ classic “It’s a robbery in Atlanta!” call.

“I felt so bad after the fight,” Onyok told this writer. “We trained so hard. We were away from our families for six months. We were tired, homesick, lonely, hungry from keeping weight. I was just one step away from my dream.”

Though some generous sponsors still gave him the rewards promised to the gold medalist, several politicians – particularly in the House of Representatives – took advantage of the situation, posing with Onyok holding giant cardboard checks and conveniently never handing him the small, real paper thing with their actual signatures.

“They said they would give me P 2.5 million, but it never came,” Onyok recalls. “I asked about it, but they later said it was just a verbal promise.”

This writer tracked all of the bold but empty politicians’ promises back then. We totaled all the gigantic sums on the equally large checks. The total: no less than P 17 million. He has not seen a single cent to this day, though the issue has surfaced again on social media as of late.

Velasco never turned pro, dreading the training and problems maintaining weight. With four children, he didn’t think coaching would be able to sustain their needs, either. He was serendipitously pulled into showbusiness by Sen. Lito Lapid, an unfamiliar territory. That led to a second career, along with the odd celebrity basketball game. But he still wishes his sacrifice long ago was honored by the politicians who rode his bandwagon for their own gain.  

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ONE Strawweight World Champion Joshua Pacio will be the focus of this week’s “Masters of the Game,” airing on IBC 13 and DWAN 1206 AM today at 5:15 pm.