A fighter’s father till the end

The year was 1991. An eerie silence swallowed the entire dugout of the Araneta Coliseum shortly after Luisito Espinosa yielded his World Boxing Association bantamweight title to Venezuelan Israel Contreras. It was a helluva fight, with Espinosa knocking down Contreras early on before running out of steam and losing by fifth-round knockout before a shocked hometown crowd.

A number of sportswriters, including this backpack-trotting deadline-beater, gathered at the dugout to check on Espinosa’s condition. While everyone was zeroing in on the fighter, I approached Louie’s manager Hermie Rivera who had isolated himself in a corner. “That’s it, folks,” quipped a visibly forlorn Hermie. “I’m sorry we let you down.” Rivera’s face then turned pale and as he started having difficulty breathing, he asked the crew for bottled water. Rivera was clearly fighting back tears and the dim scenario only lightened up when basketball superstar Robert Jaworski entered the dugout and consoled everyone with inspiring words.