IDIOT BOX REDEFINED

Former world heavyweight boxing champ Muhammad Ali (a.k.a. Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr.) must be painfully asking himself if the fame and fortune he had reaped in the many years as a prized boxer are worth the condition he is in now.

Ali is a broken man afflicted with strong uncontrollable body tremors, blurred speech and lack of coordination of body functions. He has what is known as Parkinson's Disease.

A medical report had said that, as shown in a cat scan, powerful blows to Ali's head from powerful boxers like Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes and George Foreman had caused neurons in his brain to "drop out." A radiologist said that the same condition afflicts more than 50 percent of boxers with over 20 bouts.

Ali's sad case gives support to critics of the sport of boxing who have urged that it be scrapped especially among the youth since it is barbaric, degrading to human dignity and encourages violence. A good example here is Chavit Singson, a widely-known supporter and patron of Manny Pacquiao, the former beating up his girlfriend black and blue. But this was a mis-match.

I recall the case of another black heavyweight champion Joe Louis who attained fame and fortune like Ali did, but died a poor man in a flea-infested flop-house after he was fired from his post as a bouncer in some honky-tonk joint. These poor boxers, mostly blacks and latinos, are exploited by mostly white promoters and agents who luxuriate in posh retirement in Miami and Mexico while their wards end up punch-drunk in charity homes. Better we keep a tight watch on Freddie Roach. He could be living up to his surname.

In our country, boxing is big business. It even sends a mob of our congressmen to fight venues like Las Vegas, all expenses paid for by Filipino taxpayers. Time for re-examination of our values.

(Image from http://www.moviemake-out.com/)

THE 'ILOCANIZED' BENGAL TIGER IN HIM

Chavit Singson is alive and well as he is - like a cat, or more specifically like his giant feline, a Bengal Tiger deemed to have nine lives. He has cheated death many times, the not so recent of which was when he escaped with non-life threatening injuries from a helicopter crash while campaigning in the Mountain Province. Before that, he defied death when he courageously plucked out a pin-less, live grenade from the trembling hands of a hostage-taker in a gripping drama right in the heart of Manila just a spit away from Fred Lim's City Hall. Before that, he survived an aneurysm attack. Still further back, he had bucked ambuscades, sustaining wounds in different parts of his body. The former governor-turned-deputy-national-security-adviser walked out unscathed some years back from would-be assassins masquerading as checkpoint personnel in the dead of night. As Manong Chavit approached the purported checkpoint-botched ambush, cat-like instincts told him here was danger waiting for him. He was to expose jueteng anomalies the very next day. Killers could be out to get him to prevent him from blowing his rusty whistle. As if on cue, Chavit stopped his convoy and sounded out authorities of a road accident. The timely arrival of the police and several town mayors from his Republic of Ilocos Sur aborted what could have been a bloody encounter between Chavit's boys and heavily-armed "checkpoint" men that night. Chavit went on to say his jueteng piece in the Senate against President Joseph Estrada who was kicked out of Malacanang - and is contemplating a grand comeback. Well, Chavit is alive and kicking, eight years now since being instrumental in instigating Erap's banishment from the Palace by the Pasig, and was the man who would usher Gloria Arroyo to an insatiable greed for power. Many say that this was his biggest disservice to the Filipino nation, and I agree. And oh, did I mention he had a heart bypass?

(Image from http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2104/2085481931_e0882242a7.jpg/)