WHY do they grieve?

Why do they  nearly cry their hearts out as they watch him lay  motionless in  the family home in  Lambunao, Iloilo?        

Why do  they feel a deep sense of loss as they talk about what might have been?

Why do they come to watch again and  again  the replays of his  most recent  --  and  fateful -- fight against  compatriot Mark Joseph  Costa at  the  Recom gym in Caloocan  City last week?        
Why do they want to see a 21-year-old, 5-5 bundle of energy battled back from two early knock downs to salvage a majority draw only to collapse at the end of  the  four-round encounter?

Why do they do it? Why do friends  and even plain kibitzers commisserate with this cruel twist of  fate on one of the country’s fast-rising boxing idols?

Why?

Because boxing champion  Karlo Maquinto is a real champion.

And  because Maquinto who has never lost a fight since turning  pro  eight matches ago, finally lost one  -- his battle for  dear life -- last Feb. 4  not in the boxing ring  in Caloocan but in the hospital bed of  Far Eastern University-NRMF Hospital in Fairview.

Only 21, Maquinto lost the biggest fight of his life when he  sustained  head injuries during a fight and immediately fell into a coma.

The flyweight champion, who boasts of  an 8-0-1  record, including six wins by knockout, was diagnosed with brain swelling, with a  blood clot also detected at the right side of his brain.

Doctors said  he died  due to acute subdural hematoma.

His family and friends now ask, “How could Maquinto, so young, so strong and so talented with a very  bright future ahead, be a victim of this sudden death syndrome  in  the wonderful world of sports.

Last year, road racing champion  Maico Buncio also perished during a freak accident during a super bike competition at the Clark  International Speedway.

Only 22 but already billed as the  country’s fastest man on twowheels, Buncio  lost control of his Suzuki GSX-R 600 while negotiating a  sharp curve.

He was thrown off  his vehicle, landed on an unfinished barrier in the race track and  crashed on a protruding steel bar, which punctured his kidney and liver.

Both Maquinto, 21, and Buncio, 22, died at the prime of their careers.

The sports arena is a terrible place to die, Age 20s is a terrible time to die.

Death, as they say, is the most unwelcome spectator in sports

How dare  it  claim  our youngest, our strongest  our  future in sports?

How dare it claimed  Buncio last year, and  now Maquinto this year, who were at the height of their physical glory?

Buncio’s father, Yoyong, raised him to be a motorcycle champion. It  is widely-believed that  Maico  learned to ride motorcycles even before bicycles at the tender age of three. His death 19 years later  clearly spoiled  a dream.

But death will always be a part of sports.

In fact, there are many sad stories that ended in death too soon  in  local sports, especially  in the  brutal  world  of  prizefighting.

In 1967, two-time Macau Grand Prix champion Dodjie Laurel lost control of his Lotus 41  at the Yacht Club Bend and slammed hard into the sea-front wall, killing him instantly from the  impact while his car burst into flames.

Car racing champion Jovy Marcelo lost his life at age 26 while  driving during practice for the Indianapolis 500  in May 15, 1992,  Marcelo’s car  reportedly snapped around at warmup speed and impacted on the right side entering turn 1 at 172 mph.

In boxing, flyweight Andy Balaba of  General Santos City died at the age of 28  after a match in Korea where he lost via a 10th -round  knockout to Hi Shup Sin of Korea in 1982.

In  2002,  super bantamweight Manny Zayas also went into a  coma and died after a slam-bang, referee-stopped  battle  with champion Alex Escaner in Paniqui, Tarlac. Although  he survived  three devastating blows by Escaner and  beat the  mandatory count, Zayas  complained  of dizziness and died five days later.

Then, in 2007,  former WBC youth flyweight champion Lito Sisnorio  was knocked out in the fourth round by former WBC flyweight  king Chatchai Sasakul  of Thailand  and died the following day at  the Piyamin Hospital in Bangkok.

The nagging questions now are, “Could  these champion-athletes have lived  longer had they gave up on these highly-competitive, some say risky, sports?”

Did   Maquinto  know he  can’t withstand  the  rigors of  the sport” If   he  did, would  he  readily admit he  doesn’t belong to the boxing ring and  forget his dream of one day  becoming   a  world  champion like his  idol  Manny Pacquiao?

But how do you tell that to a kid whose life, whose  dream of a good life  has been  built solely on sports, whatever the risk?

Poet  A.E.  Housman  summed it up  correctly when he wrote in his   “To an Athlete Dying Young”: “I  must  have my  dreams  If  I must live.”        

*   *   *

Congratulations to UNTV and  the   Breakthrough and Milestones Productions International (BMPI)   for their  highly-successful Media  Day at  One Esplanade in Pasay City ( near Mall of Asia) recently.

Hosted by Mr. Public Service himself,  Daniel Razon, the  five-hour long gathering was well attended  by  the sports and entertainment   media which supported UNTV’s “Kahit Isang Araw Lang” campaign.

A well-known radio/TV commentator known for his morning magazine-public service show  “Good Morning, Kuya”, Razon was all over the spacious event hall to meet and greet  his friends from the media.

The long night of fun ended with most guests bringing home  attractive raffle prizes personally given by Razon himself.

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