Cebu-based boxing trainer Brix Flores, bronze medalist in the 1986 Seoul Asian Games, feels the Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines (Abap) should hold regular tournaments for kids as a way to boost grassroots development.
“It is the only way we can discover talent,” Flores told Daily Tribune.
Flores runs a small gym — the Pacing Flores Boxing Academy — in Mandaue City and everyday young boys show up to work out and train.
“I have more amateurs than professional fighters training right now,” Flores, who competed at bantamweight in Seoul, said.
Recently, the ABAP leadership reached out to several Cebu gyms as a way to kick off its programs for the young.
Flores and another former standout in the amateurs and pros — Editor “Ala” Villamor — also took part in the seminars that the ABAP conducted.
Flores feels all the training will go down the drain if the young punchers are not given the chance to show their wares.
“The key to finding talent is through competitions. These kids have been asking me about the tournaments they can take part in.”
Sometimes, Flores stages mini-tournaments in his gym just to make the boxers busy and focused in their training.
But holding top-level events involving the other fighters from other regions is crucial, Flores said.
In the meantime, the Flores Gym continues to buzz with activity, confident that one of these days an advisory will be sent out to get the boys ready for action.