Why they won’t fight here for now

WE CAN wish all we want but unless some dramatic changes happen in our hotel and leisure infrastructure, our major Filipino boxing heroes won’t be fighting anytime soon on local shores.

Manny Pacquiao redefined Philippine participation in big-time professional boxing when he conquered Las Vegas.  And now, Nonito Donaire Jr. is following in his footsteps, carving his niche in his own way.

Donaire will fight South African Simpiwe Vetyeka for the WBA featherweight crown on May 31 at Cotai Arena of The Venetian in Macau.

At a press conference this week, Donaire expressed confidence that he would achieve a new height in his boxing career after going through several “doubts and crossroads.”

The loss to Cuban super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux in April last year made him reflect seriously on his career. But a repeat win over Vic Darchinyan and the reunion with his father have obviously perked up his spirits and he is ready to wage battle anew.

Filipinos are wondering why the Philippines is no longer hosting such major events. There have been a smattering of international title fights but none in the mold that Top Rank or Golden Boy like to promote.

Filipinos still have a yearning to see their heroes fight on home turf because Macau or Las Vegas seem so far, far away.

Money talks loudly in professional sports and there is a lot to be earned if the fights are done in leisure capitals. These places offer hotel, gambling, golf and entertainment packages aside from tickets to the fights.

The press kit for Donaire’s fight reveals packages for those who will stay at The Venetian and other aligned hotels include one night stay plus two fight tickets. Price ranges are from as high as 5,800 Hong Kong Dollars (or about P34,000) to 3,240 (roughly P18,000).

Filipinos troop regularly to Hong Kong and Macau, flying as well on the reasonably priced flights of Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific and Air Asia. The Donaire fight could be part of that next vacation.

The promoters will not be able to cover their expenses and register a reasonable profit if they do not have a strong hotel partner. What’s more, The Venetian offers the 15,000-seat Cotai Arena where Pacquiao trounced Brandon Rios, and there are still a lot more seats to offer outside of the hotel packages.

It helps if the fight venue is in a partner hotel because you can centralize the media center, accommodations and venues for the weigh-in and other side events.

A neutral venue is also appealing to all parties. No matter what is done to neutralize them, hometown decisions are still a staple in boxing.

Opponents of Filipino boxers don’t want to walk into the country only to lose their titles via a bum decision, even if the judges are from other neutral countries.  And by the same token, Filipinos hate it but often have no choice, but to visit other countries and suffer horrible decisions just to make a decent buck.

So the next best thing is to catch the fights on TV since most networks like ABS-CBN that own the fight rights show matches on free TV. There are commercials to contend with but without them there would also be no fight to watch.

Let’s just cheer that another Filipino is making waves in the international sports scene. Donaire is one special fighter.

One American sportswriter beside me in  one of the Pacquiao fights called Donaire “the real deal.”