Jack 'Assassin' Asis, light-welterweight boxing champion of Australia. Photo: LUKE FUDA of the MACARTHUR ADVERTISER

Two Australian-based Filipino fighters take on Thai opponents in Toowoomba, Queensland, on Saturday, March 3, according to their trainer Todd Makelim this week.

Jack ‘The Assassin’ Asis, a natural featherweight who became Australian light-welterweight champion in August 2011, faces a Thai slugger with 22 wins (20 by knockout) simply called King Kong, in a six-round tune-up before heading to the USA for bigger stakes.

Light-welterweight Cesar Amonsoc, fresh from a campaign in Las Vegas, will be matched against a second Thai for another six-rounder.

”I have some offers to take Jack to the United States this year,” Makelim said. ”Promoters up there have expressed interest in him, and that’s what he needs. Local fighters here are shying away from him.”

The latest addition of Makelim’s boxing stable at Campbelltown in Sydney’s southwest is rugged lightweight Joel de la Cruz, who scored an impressive unanimous decision over 10 rounds to take the IBO Asia-Pacific championship from Australia’s Ryan Langam on the Gold Coast.

”Joel put Ryan on the canvas three times,” Makelim said. ”Ryan had come to the fight with an impressive record of 15 wins and only two losses.

”The local crowd up in Queensland was actually cheering for Joel toward the end of the match. What a performance for a new arrival.”

Jimmy Pimentel (with head gear) and Father Dave last Sunday, November 20 // Photo: Bailey Pimentel

The boxing marathon (‘boxathon’) last Sunday, November 20 at the Holy Trinity Boxing Gym in Dulwich Hill, an innerwest suburb in Sydney, however, is an exception.

There was money for sure in the ‘boxathon’ but it was an event to raise $2,000 for the gym to help street kids and young people who get into trouble.

The boxing extravaganza was ‘hosted’ by Anglican priest Father Dave Smith, a professional boxer, and welfare worker of the church across the gym.

Father Dave committed to box 60 continuous rounds against all comers, with a one-minute rest between rounds.

Donors came to either box a round or two against Father Dave or to simply put their money down for the gym.

Filipino Press Group of Sydney convenor Jimmy Pimentel, 77, an amateur boxing champion in his college days and a supporter of local Filipino boxers, was one of those who traded blows with Father Dave for one three-minute round – and for a cause.

Asked how he would describe his match with Father Dave, Jimmy said: “Although Father Dave is a long-time friend, our one rounder was not a dance routine at all.”

“Father Dave was on his 30th round when I stepped in the ring. It was not a soft round at all. We had pretty good shots to the head and the body. Father Dave found my mid-section more often than not, but I knew he didn’t go full throttle with me otherwise I would have hit the canvass many times. He also knew that I would have difficulty completing the three-minute round, so he asked me during a clinch if I wanted to cut the round short: ‘You wanna stop now?’, he whispered. But I said to him: ‘I’ve got a bit more left. Let’s finish this.’ When the bell rang, my tongue was hanging out like mad and I quickly took my headgear off so I could breathe better.”

Jimmy’s son, Mike, a big fan of Father Dave, also climbed onto the ring for two rounds – exchanging good shots to the body and head with gusto.

Mike Pimentel with Fr Dave (in green shirt) in two rounds //Photo: Bailey Pimentel [click to zoom in]

Will Jimmy step in the ring again with Father Dave or with other boxers?

“For the money, yes,” Jimmy said with a smile, adding: “I boxed for money and earned $30 for our boxing gym. That makes me a pro, doesn’t it? Just kidding. And the money went to a good cause: keeping afloat a boxing gym for street kids.”

Ganoy (left) about to drop body shots on Sakaorat. Photo: Louie Rockfingrz Abigail

The fireworks were ready and when the opening bell sounded for round one, the fuse was lit!

World class lightweight, Filipino powerhouse Ranee ‘KO Kid’ Ganoy returned to the ring last Friday night in Melbourne on an exciting Ellis Boxing show dubbed ‘Western Showcase II’.

And the ‘KO Kid’ was back with a bang in a big way.

In a special attraction bout scheduled for 8rds, Ganoy did not show any plan of taking the fight the distance.

He KO’d the internationally credentialed Sapapetch Sor Sakaorat of Thailand, himself a winner of 23 bouts, in round one by way of a brutal body attack which the referee stopped at the 2.51 mark.

Before the fight, Ganoy declared his intentions – to drop his opponent with body shots. That’s exactly what he did, brutalising his opponent with a stinging combination of body shots which Sakaorat simply had no answer to defending.

Ganoy now re-writes his boxing story with 31 victories, 28 of which finished exactly like last Friday night’s, early!

Previously quoted as wanting high class bouts with the likes of Michael Katsidis and Lenny Zappavigna, Ganoy after the bout again made public his desire to meet Katsidis and Zappavigna.

“I want big bouts and Mike (Altamura) and Graham (Shaw) know this. I’ll fight anyone and I’m excited at where we are headed. I’ve told Mike, get me Michael Katsidis, get me Lenny Zappavigna, I want them both and I want Australian boxing fans to see some top fights. I promise my supporters this, I will knock them both out!”, Ganoy said.

Ganoy’s manager Mike Altamura however was guarded in his statement: “I can’t say too much tonight, but over the coming weeks we’ll announce Ranee’s next bout which is on a big world-title card being announced shortly. After this bout, we’ll be right in the mix for a shot at a world-title opportunity of our own.” // Reporting by MJA Boxing / Nathan Butler. Photo by Louie Rockfingrz Abigail

The KO Kid Ganoy rattling off a string of incredible victories... Photo: MJA Boxing

Altamura said that the Ganoy-Sakaorat eight rounder will be the featured event in an Ellis Boxing promotion.

This is Ganoy’s first bout for 2011.

“This is the perfect return for Ranee and the 8rd’s of action will do him the world of good to shake off any ring-rust, more importantly however, slide him in nicely fitness and timing wise for what could be a big couple of opportunities following,” said Altamura.

Ganoy, on a collision course path for the IBF World Title, has scored six consecutive KO victories through 2009 and 2010 whilst fine tuning his style and ring sharpness to complement the already noted KO power.

Previously, the powerfully built Ganoy had rattled off a string of incredible upsets, including an eight-round destruction of former International Boxing Federation Super-Featherweight world champion Robbie Peden.

“I couldn’t be happier with where Ranee’s at and his training has been superb,” declared Ganoy’s trainer Graham Shaw.

“Seriously, this last 6 weeks is the best I’ve seen him train since we came together 18-odd months ago and to see his enthusiasm at the moment is first-rate,” added Shaw, also trainer of IBF Middleweight world champion Daniel Geale.

Ranee Ganoy has 44 professional fights: 31 wins (KO 27), 11 losses (KO 6) and 2 draws. Sapapetch Sor Sakaorat, on the other hand, has 31 professional fights with 23 wins (KO 13) and 8 losses (KO 7).

Ganoy’s 31 wins include a KO over Sapapetch Sor Sakaorat in round 2 in their last meeting July 2008 in Cebu City.

Jack 'Assassin' Asis, the new light-welterweight boxing champion of Australia. Photo: LUKE FUDA of the MACARTHUR ADVERTISER

Filipino import Jack ‘The Assassin’ Asis took just 1min 16sec to capture the Australian light-welterweight boxing title in Townsville, Queensland, on the weekend.

Asis, a natural featherweight, fought two divisions above his weight in a bid to challenge reigning light-welterweight champion Josh King, who had been undefeated before the fight. Imagine the surprise when the power-punching Filipino dusted him off in the opening round.

In an earlier bout this year, Asis kayoed the Australian lightweight champion Brett Smith in the eighth round after dropping him twice in the second round, once in the fifth and twice in the eighth round before the referee stopped the contest. The champion had refused to put his title on the line, though, and was saved from losing his title to Asis.

In both bouts, the Filipino had knocked out his opponents in front of their hometown crowds. Asis’ record stands at 23 wins (12 by KO), 18 loses and four draws

“The downside is that it will be difficult from hereon to find Australian opponents for Jack,” lamented trainer Todd Makelim, a former Australian flyweight, super-flyweight and bantamweight champion who runs a stable of boxers at his Out West Fight Club gym in Campbelltown.

“He’s struck fear among fighters in his weight division.”

Indeed, Jack ‘The Assassin’ Asis hails from the same General Santos city in Mindanao where the world’s best pound-for-pound boxing champion Manny ‘PacMan’ Pacquiao comes from.

Manny Pacquiao defended successfully his World Boxing Organization’s welterweight title after 12 rounds in a unanimous decision against Shane Mosley in Las Vegas yesterday.

Mosley was in full retreat from the opening round against Pacquiao.

In round three, Mosley was floored but Pacquiao could not finish him because of leg cramps.

From there on, it was a cat-and-mouse chase, Mosley backpedaling and scrambling to avoid getting knocked out.

Pacquiao was counted in round ten after a pushing “knock down” by Mosley, a decision for which the referee reportedly apologised.

Pacquiao has remained undefeated in six years. He has beaten an array of quality fighters and veteran greats from Oscar De La Hoya to Juan Manual Marquez and Miguel Cotto.

Yesterday’s fight was Pacquiao’s second time to defend the title. His first defence was in March last year against Ghanaian Joshua Clottey also in a 12-round unanimous decision.

His next fight is scheduled in early November this year with no known opponent yet.

Prior to the fight, televiewers were given a treat of videoclips of boxing’s legends including Manny Pacquiao.

Knock-out artist Ranee Ganoy in 2006 //TFA Photofile

Explosive-punching lightweight, Ranee “KO Kid” Ganoy (31-11-2, 27 KOs), inked an exclusive managerial agreement with rising Australian boxing manager, Mike Altamura, yesterday.

The Australian-based Filipino has scored six consecutive inside-the-distance victories since a world title elimination setback in 2008.

Previously, he rattled off a string of incredible upsets, including an eight-round destruction of former IBF 130lb champion Robbie Peden.

“Ranee Ganoy is the hardest hitting fighter, pound-for-pound, in Australia right now, and one of the hardest hitting lightweights in the world,” said Altamura. “He’s a fun, fun fighter to watch, and a bonafide homerun hitter.”

Although a renowned puncher, Ganoy’s boxing technique and skills have significantly improved since hooking up in 2009 with Grange Old School Boxing trainer Graham Shaw in Sydney’s Southwest.

Altamura is adamant that the 31-year-old is just hitting his professional peak.

“He’s been a little inactive, but he’s continued learning and developing and I am confident that within a couple fights, he’ll be ready for any of the lightweight champions.”

Ganoy is the first Filipino to win a boxing title in Australia. In May 2005, he took the World Boxing Federation’s Asia Pacific welterweight championship against an Australian with a stunning knockout victory.

Altamura is Melbourne-based with boxing connections in the U.S., England and Europe.

More about Ganoy

Dido Bohol, kneeling at far left, with a full stable at a boxing gym in the Liverpool central business district - // 2008 photo by J K Pimentel

Australian Federal Police (AFP) raided the Bohol Boxing Stable in Sydney’s southwest on Thursday, October 21, following a Sydney Morning Herald website report on Wednesday, October 20, that a family in NSW was now under investigation for allegedly recruiting Filipino boxers to fight in Australia and ”keeping the men in slave-like conditions in a Sydney garage”.

Police interviewed the stable’s owners over three hours as part of the investigation.

The stable’s spokesman Dido Bohol said the raid was a traumatic experience for his family. ”There were about half a dozen police here, and family members were not allowed to move freely in our own house,” Mr Bohol said. ”They took contracts and other stuff with them.”

According to the Herald’s Canberra reporter Yuko Narushima, the Department of Immigration had confirmed that it was investigating complaints against a stable of boxers in the western suburbs of Sydney.

Liberal senator Eric Abetz had initially raised the allegations at a Senate committee in Canberra and had sought more information on the special sports visas on which the men came to Australia, the report said.

Bohol Boxing Stable's boxers' quarters in the garage of the Bohol family's home in the Green Valley suburb of Liverpool // 2008 photo by J K Pimenel

Mr Bohol’s wife Julie said she felt so shaken that she feared a heart attack would come. ”And it was so embarrassing. The allegations were inaccurate and unfair. We treated the boxers like our own children.”

Mr Bohol said the stable’s management had done everything right for Filipino boxers who wanted to campaign in Australia. ”The stable has been bringing boxers here for 20 years now, and some of them have returned to settle here as fine citizens.”

At press time, no further developments on the investigation were at hand.

The Herald reporter was quoted as saying that the NSW Government’s Combat Sports Authority was aware of the complaints.

The four men bringing the complaints were originally from Cebu in the Philippines, the report said, and had alleged being stripped of their passports on arrival in Australia and forced into domestic servitude washing dishes, cleaning toilets and minding children.

Alan Jay Tuniacao, (right) with his trainer Jeffrey Bohol at the Bohol Boxing Stable gym in Liverpool //Photo: J K Pimentel

Three “fighting Pinoys” figured in a Melbourne boxing card early September, with reigning World Boxing Organisation (WBO) Asia-Pacific super-bantamweight champion Alan Jay Tuniacao, based at Liverpool NSW, scoring an emphatic unanimous decision over Indonesia’s Skak Max over four rounds.

It was a four-round tune-up match for Tuniacao before his coming first defence of the title he had won on Australian soil only months earlier.

But the night’s highlight was Blacktown-based Cesar Amonsod’s capturing the WBO Asia-Pacific lightweight championship with a second-round knockout of Thailand’s Sirichai Ekchumpol in the first of two main events.

Amonsod dropped Ekchumpol late in the first round after roughing him up, but the bell saved the Thai. But the Filipino’s relentless attack proved too much for Ekchumpol in the second. And when Amonsod felled Ekchumpol again, the referee stepped in to the stop the punshment.

Ray Anton Olarte, also based at Liverpool, lost by unanimous decision to Russia’s Dilshod Mahmudov over the six rounds.

In the top main event, Australia’s Sam Soliman kayoed Pradeep Singh in the 11th round.

Meantime, Roberto Lerio of the fighting Lerio brothers, will travel to Townsville in Queensland for a super-bantamweight bout with yet unnamed Australian opponent.

Manny Pacquiao in an interview after the fight

And who will argue.

After all, Pacquiao now holds a string of seven world boxing crowns including the WBO welterweight belt he pounded away from Miguel Cotto yesterday.

Pacquiao’s win should be a source of pride for the Philippines.

And we are very happy too. Now we know that when Pinoy jokers said that Pacquiao would win by a KO, their statement was not based on hope, but on their knowledge of Pacquiao, his prowess, his speed.

Seventy-four per-cent of PinoyJokes.net members voted Pacquiao to win by a KO, and he did.

Although it was a TKO, it was only a matter of seconds that it would be a KO. And it would have been a merciless KO to Cotto had the referee not been quick enough to stop the fight which was only into 55 seconds of the 12th and final round.

Source: A Matter of Sharing