Julian Santos Chua, 18, is a senior at Jefferson High Schol in Lafayette, Indiana, and won the state Golden Gloves championship last March. Since bagging the Golden Gloves crown, the 5-9 Chua has won six in a row, including a bout against the previous year’s Indiana Golden Gloves titlist in a showdown of champions.
“Since the Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) is looking for a hotshot to fight at the London Olympics, maybe Julian is the answer,” said Rivera in an e-mail from his Newark, California, home. “I’ll start an honest-to-goodness drive to have him qualify to put an end, once and for all, to our long search for our first Olympic gold medalist.”
Rivera, who guided Luisito Espinosa and Morris East to world boxing titles as a boxing manager, went to Los Angeles last week to welcome Manny Pacquiao on his first day of training for Joshua Clottey at the Wild Card Gym and broach the idea of working with Chua to Roach.
“Freddie agreed to be of help so things are looking mighty good for our Olympic hope,” said Rivera. “Our graduating senior is slowly moving into the right places for a crack at that elusive Olympic gold.”
Rivera said he was amazed at Pacquiao’s condition in the gym despite the long layoff since demolishing Miguel Cotto late last year.
“What Manny showed in his initial foray was the old, fast punching Pacman like he never took a vacation since stopping Cotto,” continued Rivera. “He had a spirited session with Freddie as they regaled a full-packed house with all kinds of punches at the bags, balls and mitts.”
Rivera said a clip of Chua on youtube reveals his potentials.
“If you check out youtube, I’m sure you’ll agree on what I’m babbling about,” gushed Rivera. “The kid has raw talent that can be honed to perfection by a skilled trainer like Freddie.”
Rivera said he is in close contact with Chua’s mother Dr. Ronette Santos Chua, the president of the Medical Association of Indiana.
“Ronette is the guiding light of Julian’s budding career,” said Rivera. “I’ve suggested for Julian to train with Freddie if he transfers to the University of Southern California or UCLA or Luisito if he chooses to enroll at Stanford or the University of California at Berkeley or Morris if he decides to study at the University of Nevada at Las Vegas . I made three recommendations to Ronette on the ideal set-up for Julian.”
Chua’s history in combat sports started with taekwondo where he earned a black belt at nine years old. He was a junior varsity wrestler until his sophomore year. At 13, be began to discover a preference for boxing.
“I cannot tell you that Julian fights like Manny Pacquiao,” said Ronette. “But who does? There are no boxers in the family but his father is a boxing enthusiast. The family has watched every championship bout on HBO pay-per-view. Coming from the library when he was younger, I recall Julian picking up books about Muhammad Ali. But his idol is definitely Manny.”
Chua began to train seriously in boxing when he turned 17 and hooked up with the Lafayette Boxing Club under Terry Christian and trainer Robbie Abner Tovar. His ultimate goal is to become a professional fighter.
“I have absolutely no clue as to how good or not good my son is,” said Ronette, a graduate of the UP Diliman medical school. “All I know is I have been told by his coach, trainer and many, many spectators that he has a future in boxing. And of course, the boy is asking to train seriously so he can possibly become a pro.”
Rivera said he’s confident Chua will deliver the goods.
“Goals set by those who are persistent as typified by Julian can be achieved for as long as there is proper support,” said Rivera. “Manny (Pacquiao) and I will be there to lend a hand.”
Ronette said her son couldn’t believe that his name has been mentioned to Pacquiao and Roach.
“When I told him about the possibility of training with Freddie, I was able to draw a big grin out of him with a soft whisper of ‘Mom, that’s awesome,’” said Ronette. “Then I gathered his two fists together to mine telling him, ‘I’m here for you.’ Whatever comes out of this, I will be eternally grateful.”
ABAP executive director Ed Picson said there is a dearth of local talent in the middleweight division and if Chua turns out to be as advertised by Rivera, he’ll push for his inclusion in the national pool for the Olympic qualifiers.
“I’ve seen Julian’s clip on youtube,” said Picson. “It’s difficult to determine his skill level from a film clip but the ABAP coaches will surely give him a try. The problem is we lack competition at his weight class. If he’s good enough, we might test him in a competition before deciding whether or not to bring him to the Asian Games in November.”
Source: Joaquin Henson | Philstar.com
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