MetroVanIndependent.com
June 2015
23
sports
Drugs plaster Filipino-Canadian boxer’s bright future
By Alex Mino
In any given sport, mixing prohibited
substance to go with your performance will
nullify your chances to achieve excellence.
No one can get away from this
brouhaha, not even the most gifted athlete
in the world which was proven in the past.
Geronimo Bie is a promising boxer in
the 80’s and has lots of potential to become
one of the best in this field.
Before Manny Pacquiao made history
in boxing, Bie rode the distinction of being
the first Filipino to represent Canada in
international competitions.
His contemporaries like Olympic boxer
Manny Sobral said there was a huge
resemblance between Pacquiao and Bie,
not only in size, but the way they throw in
punches that comes in bunches.
“Pacquiao and Bie was both
unorthodox in terms of style in the ring,”
he says.
He could have taken boxing by storm
through his dedication during his younger
years.
Geronimo Bie interviewed by Global News.
Born in Zamboanga and grew up in the
suburbs of Vancouver Downtown Eastside,
Bie first trained in Astoria Boxing Club
The 45-year-old pug was one of the
most popular fighters on the Canadian
national team back in the late 1980’s,
early 90’s, and certainly one of the most
talented — the highlight of Bie’s national
Photo Screengrab from Global News Video.
team career a silver medal he won at the
1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland,
New Zealand.
Bie had a spark. He was a rascal and
his teammates loved him for it.
“We called him a shiny button”, said
George Angelomatis, his former coach.
“And as a boxer, he was magic.”
“He was always up to some mischief,”
said Strange, with a laugh.
But the little Filipino-Canadian also had
a dark side, and after he left the national
team, his life spun out of control.
His path to Olympic glory is on its way
when misfortune struck what could have
been an illustrious career for him.
Bie was disqualified in the 1992
Barcelona Olympics after testing positive
with heroin and cocaine.
The foundation he builds for a
successful campaign in this field suddenly
came crushing down and totally devastated
his promising career.
Sobral predicts that if Bie had stayed
clean and stuck with boxing, he probably
would have been an Olympic medalist. At
the very least, he would have been a worldranked contender in his weight category.
“Everyone gravitated to Geronimo. He
was such a likable guy that he was party
central and that led him to try the drugs
that you could get addicted to.”
On a bright side, Bie is one of the eight
nominees this year to be inducted in BC
Amateur Boxing Hall of Fame.
Banned from FIFA confab, will Nyok fly to New York?
"A man travels the world over
in search of what he needs and
returns home to find it."
- George A. Moore
By Alex P. Vidal
NEW YORK CITY -- Sources from the
Philippine Independence Day Council,
Inc. (PIDCI) here informed us recently
that Bacolod City Mayor Monico "Nyok"
Puentevella will be among the Philippine
government officials who will grace the
117th Philippine Independence Day,
which will be celebrated in a grand parade
on June 7, here.
Puentevella's presence should be
necessary since Bacolod's Masskara
Festival has been reportedly invited
to participate in this year's parade of
Philippines festivals.
We will have a press conference
this afternoon (June 2) at the office of
PhilippineConsul General Mario L. de
Leon Jr. where Philippine Ambassador
Rodolfo del Rosario will reportedly arrive
from Washington, D.C. in relation to the big
activity on Sunday.
Three days ago, we learned that
Puentevella was prevented from traveling
to Switzerland to attend the International
Football Federation (FIFA) congress
because of the pending graft case filed
against him when he was a congressman.
ABORTED
We remember Puentevella's aborted
trip to Switzerland when the PIDCI sources
informed us the 68-year-old mayor of the
"City of Smiles" would be arriving here for
the Philippine Independence Day Parade.
If he wasn't able to attend the FIFA
congress in Switzerland as board
member of FIFA's marketing and television
committee which was only days ago, can
he be allowed to attend the Philippine
Independence Day parade in the United
States o