Santig demands respect from OPBF

By LITO DELOS REYES

DAVAO CITY – Promoter-manager Brico Santig demanded respect for his Orient and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) champion Jayr “The Dreamer” Raquinel and that he should not be totally removed from the rankings.

Raquinel (12W-1L-1D, 9KOs) was totally removed from the rankings for July of OPBF.

“We demand respect for our OPBF champion, and for other champions in this organization,” said Santig in his letter to OPBF Chairman Frank Hadley.

Santig added: “I just to want to clarify from your good office, particularly the OPBF Rating Committee, that the decision for Raquinel should only be put on the top five and not totally removed from the ranking – just like all the other world boxing bodies usually do – WBC, WBO, WBA, IBO, IBF and regional ratings like WBC, WBO, GAB and others.”

“Or like in Manny Pacquiao’s case, he could be a ‘Champion in Recess’ and will be next in line to fight any title holder this year, but not totally removed from the rankings.”

Santig said that “Raquinel was not able to make his title defense for the last two years and we understand it is overdue for defense.”

“However, due to this pandemic, our Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) did not allow the promotion of contact sports within the Philippines during those said years,” he said.

Santig said he tried to apply for a promotion last year after his last show in January in Thailand and February in Manila with four title matches, two WBA Asia and WBC International, and ABF title.

“However, the strict protocols of the Philippines did not allow us to make another promotion wherein I was supposed to organize a defense title for Jayr Raquinel,” said Santig.

He said that “this kind of system should give due respect also to the boxer, who performs and shows excellent performance in his boxing career and fought for the title for that matter.”

“To become an OPBF champion is very hard to achieve, especially for Raquinel, who defended his belt with top Japanese boxers and won three times, in a record for the OPBF, all wins via knockout,” said Santig.

Raquinel is ranked number 7 in the WBC Flyweight Rankings.

The OPBF ranking committee is composed of Frank Hadley, Arnie Najera, Jerrold Tomeldan, and Shigeru Masuda.

Santig demands respect for his OPBF champion, and for other champions in this organization and hopes this will enlighten about this matter