Earlier today, after he scored a sensational fifth round victory over Thailand’s defending champion Ruslee Samo, I saw in the face of Ryan Rey Ponteras the pure joy of a boy who has achieved his dream.
As I rushed to the middle of the ring to hug him and raise him following his stunning victory which won him the IBF Pan Pacific Flyweight title, Ryan was crying and laughing at the same time.
“Nobody will believe this,” he told me later in my hotel room as we both reviewed the photos which I took of the fight.
Even Ryan Rey could not believe it.
He has long asked our trainer Bruce Lerio to convince me and my brothers to take him in because he was not getting the attention and support from his manager.
Ponteras said he would train alone, go to his fights alone and fight without a cornerman. On top of that, he has to share one half of his earnings to his manager.
But we were not excited about Ponteras because at the time he expressed his desire to join the Braveheart Boxing Club he had a record of only 8 wins against 9 losses and one draw.
His losses were understandable. Ponteras would fight anybody from 105 lbs. to 122 lbs. for as long as he makes money.
But it was our eldest brother, Col. Pat, who decided that we should give Ponteras a chance.
And boy what Ponteras did with the chance given me is something beyond our imagination.
With this victory now, Ryan Rey Ponteras, the Lastic Man, will now have a chance to fight for the world championship.
Now he dreams of sending his young brothers and a sister to school and building a house for his widowed mother.
This a poor boy’s ultimate joy.
Earlier today, after he scored a sensational fifth round victory over Thailand’s defending champion Ruslee Samo, I saw in the face of Ryan Rey Ponteras the pure joy of a boy who has achieved his dream.
As I rushed to the middle of the ring to hug him and raise him following his stunning victory which won him the IBF Pan Pacific Flyweight title, Ryan was crying and laughing at the same time.
“Nobody will believe this,” he told me later in my hotel room as we both reviewed the photos which I took of the fight.
Even Ryan Rey could not believe it.
He has long asked our trainer Bruce Lerio to convince me and my brothers to take him in because he was not getting the attention and support from his manager.
Ponteras said he would train alone, go to his fights alone and fight without a cornerman. On top of that, he has to share one half of his earnings to his manager.
But we were not excited about Ponteras because at the time he expressed his desire to join the Braveheart Boxing Club he had a record of only 8 wins against 9 losses and one draw.
His losses were understandable. Ponteras would fight anybody from 105 lbs. to 122 lbs. for as long as he makes money.
But it was our eldest brother, Col. Pat, who decided that we should give Ponteras a chance.
And boy what Ponteras did with the chance given me is something beyond our imagination.
With this victory now, Ryan Rey Ponteras, the Lastic Man, will now have a chance to fight for the world championship.
Now he dreams of sending his young brothers and a sister to school and building a house for his widowed mother.
This a poor boy’s ultimate joy.
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