GUESS who’s back in the Philippines.
It’s former two-time world boxing champion Luisito Espinosa.
LUISITO ESPINOSA
Espinosa, who is now works as a gym instructor in China, is in the country for a month-long vacation.
He dropped by the National Press Club on Thursday morning to grace the Usapang Sports forum organized weekly by the Tabloids Organization in Philippine Sports (TOPS) along with Games and Amusements Board (GAB) chairman Baham Mitra, promoter Brico Santig and another former world champion Erbito Salavarria.
Espinosa, aptly nicknamed “Lindol”, rose to fame in the late 1980s when he captured the World Boxing Association (WBA) bantamweight crown in 1989 and the World Boxing Council (WBC) featherweight belt in 1995.
He last fought in 2005 and spent most of his retirement days in San Francisco, California before working in Hong Kong and, eventually, in China.
Until today, Espinosa’s name is still mentioned in the boxing circle but the topic is not about his exploits as a world boxing champion but an incident during a title fight in Koronadal, South Cotabato in 1997.
The 52-year-old Espinosa is owed the amount of $130,349 as cash purse for defending his WBC crown against Carlos Rios in 1997.
“Mahirap din ang trabaho ko sa China, sana makuha ko na yung premyo ko para makapag-enjoy naman ako sa sarili ko,” Espinosa said.
That fight was promoted by the late Rod Nazario, Lito Mondejar and former South Cotabato Governor Hilario de Pedro III.
Espinosa has not forgotten this episode in his boxing career which he said has affected his training and performance inside the ring. He is still confident that justice will be served.
Chairman Mitra, meanwhile, said GAB will help Espinosa claim his fight purse. He has instructed the GAB legal department to look into the case and see how the country’s regulatory body for professional sports can help the former world champion.
“I wanted to look at the contract if it is between the promoter and champ Louie or if it is between champ Louie and the provincial government. It’s an agreement e, may kontrata yan. Baka puwede pang habulin. We just want to meet with their lawyers,” Mitra said.
Yesterday afternoon at the GAB office, Mitra turned over to Espinosa the monthly financial assistance offered by the Singwangcha Foundation of Thailand to former Filipino world champions.
Mitra and Thai philanthropist Naris Singwangcha signed the memorandum of agreement for the P3,000 monthly allowance in January 2018.
Salavarria, a former WBC and WBA flyweight champion, also received his share last Wednesday.
The 73-year-old Salavarria now owns a boxing gym in Manila.
“Actually, I wanted Erbito Salavarria to be a model and example to all Filipino boxers dahil nakapag-ipon siya, nakapagtayo ng gym at naibabahagi ang kanyang kaalaman sa mga batang boxers,”
said Mitra, who also said that Salavarria received a $10,000 (P500,000) cash grant from WBC last week.
Mitra, meanwhile, has assured that Espinosa’s case will not happen again under his watch.
“Sa GAB, lagi naman kami nakahandang tumulong sa kapakanan ng ating mga boksingero,” said Mitra. “During President Duterte’s time, wala naman lumaban na hindi naibigay yung premyo. Isa yan sa trabaho namin sa GAB. It is a requirement now for the promoters to produce their ITR para malaman kung may capability sila na magbayad.”
Espinosa bagged the WBA bantamweight title by knocking out Kaokor Galaxy of Thailand in the first round in 1989. He captured the WBC featherweight crown by outpointing Manuel Medina of Mexico in Tokyo in 1995 and defended the title nine times until 1999.