American ring promoter Sampson Lewkowicz calls Cebu-based PhilBoxing.com “the most widely-read boxing website in the world.”
Such a generous observation from the guy credited with discovering Manny Pacquiao before his fights in America is among the constant accolades heaped on the boxing portal—all symphonic to the ears of publisher and editor Dong Secuya.
Secuya’s creation was originally a short-term homepage for Pacquiao’s underdog fight with Marco Antonio Barrera at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, on Nov. 15, 2003. It remains luminous like its first chosen star 13 years after that propitious world featherweight title encounter.
Of course, Manny’s conquest of the Mexican legend sent the now senator on his way to being a billionaire eight-division ring champion. And from a makeshift site, mannypacquiao.ph became permanent as PhilBoxing.com and has gone on to make a huge impact in cyberpace.
It’s not the top dog as Lewkowicz noted. But Secuya says with authority that his portal is among the three most visited ring dotcoms in the universe—along with Boxrec.com and boxingscene.com—both posted from the United States.
What makes the site so durable and foolproof? “Through the years many had tried to copy Philboxing but they find it difficult because it is custom-coded,” Secuya explains.
You won’t find a “ready to use CMS (content management system) program on the Internet … that can emulate Philboxing,” according to Secuya.
To compete with the formidable competition, Secuya and two assistants normally update the portal every six hours round the clock. More freshening is needed when big fights are on. “During Pacquiao’s heyday, in the week prior to his fight, updates were done almost every hour,” recalled Secuya.
PhilBoxing.com, visited by at least 320,000 readers a month, is unique among boxing portals and publications. Through the years it has seen a steady stream of contributors who don’t get paid, but bask in their work printed on the website.
The portal also links to articles from other sources, giving Secuya his share of brickbats that he merely puts other people’s words in print.
“Linking other related stories in the portal is a win-win situation because I bring more traffic to the original source,” explains Secuya. “Most mainstream boxing authors have their stories sent to be included in the portal,” Secuya boasts.
Among these authors are veterans Ronnie Nathanielsz, Eddie Alinea and fellow Inquirer Sports columnist Recah Trinidad.
Says Trinidad: “PhilBoxing.com is the most reliable source of boxing knowledge, international prizefight calendar and schedule … It is a must read for all who must keep abreast with the ups and downs in the world of boxing … a mine of gems in prizefighting.”
“Great source of boxing info and details,” says Inquirer boxing writer Roy Luarca, who has covered most of Pacquiao’s title fights along with the Bulletin’s Nick Giongco and the Star’s Abac Cordero.
“It has kept the Philippines on the boxing map in this age of online social media,” says Cordero. “Dong Secuya hit the right button here.”
Sen. Pacquiao, the chair of the Senate Committee on Sports said Secuya’s website “is highly credible when it comes to boxing news and other sports related issues. It has a pool of writers … whose wisdom, ability and credibility are beyond reproach.”