The chair of the Games and Amusements Board (GAB) had to do the reporting himself from Baku, Azerbaijan, after his agency, under the Office of the President, was honored as Commission of the Year by the World Boxing Council (WBC). Chair Abraham Mitra sent a report to philboxing.com, whose founder and chief editor, Dong Secuya, immediately posted it for popular consumption.
The event was the 55th WBC Convention last October. The GAB was specifically cited for instituting free medical check-up to boxers who apply for license renewal. It’s a must for poor boxers to undergo brain scan, an expensive procedure, before being cleared for competition.
At the closing of the convention, other world boxing commissions represented in the WBC convention were encouraged to try and follow the Philippine example.
Also last October, veteran pool internationalist Lee Vann Corteza scored a sensational win by beating the fabulous Thorsten Hohmann of Germany in a world pool title challenge in New York.
The event was the BottleDeck.net 77th World 14.1 Championship, a much-coveted trophy that has been won only by an elite cast of international pool stars that included the legendary Efren “Bata” Reyes.
There has been no word on what happened to Corteza after that big win, unlike with Carlo Biado who shot up to instant stardom following his triumph in the World 9-ball Championship in Dubai.
Anyway, Corteza’s world triumph cannot compare with what Biado had achieved in joining the likes of Django Bustamante, Bata Reyes, Ronnie Alcano as World Pool League winners.
This is not to insinuate any slip or oversight in the forthcoming Philippine Sportswriters Awards Night. Their selection has been done both competently and professionally.
But the achievement of GAB Chair Mitra and Corteza’s big triumph, we find fit to at least mention in this humble corner because they too made a difference.
We hereby thank philboxing.com for chronicling the twin triumphs (of Corteza and Mitra) which initially failed to make it to popular print media.