With Jerwin Ancajas leading the charge, TV5 President and CEO Chot Reyes hopes to draw Filipino boxing fans back to an old habit with Sunday boxing.
After the successful airing of the title defense of Ancajas against Israel Gonzales last February, ESPN5 will once again present Filipino fight fans a packed Sunday of boxing involving other fighters from the Survival Camp with the ESPN5 Live Boxing presents Survival Instinct: Matira Matibay event happening on May 13 at the SM Skydome in Quezon City.
"Jerwin is very humble even if he has accomplished a lot and is a world champion. He never allowed any of the limitations and negativity get in his way," Reyes said of the International Boxing Federation (IBF) world super flyweight champion.
"In the overall scheme of things that we want to do at ESPN5, we want his story to inspire more boxers to work hard and hone their skills and we want them to know that we will be here to give them a platform to launch their careers."
Even if the fight card will mostly have Ancajas' teammates, Reyes clarified that this doesn't mean other camps will not get the opportunity to have their fights aired on ESPN5.
"We're not picking fighters from one camp only. We're not picking only certain types of fighters. We're open to anyone who puts in the work and wants an opportunity to make a name for themselves," he explained. "We'll do our due diligence in knowing more about their training camps and who their managers are, their background, and if they're really serious about their careers."
The fight card will have 2012 London Olympian Mark Barriga, who will be headlining for the first time in his career. Barriga will go up against Colombian boxer Gabriel Mendoza.
The undercard features veteran fighters who are out to get another shot at greatness in former world champion Marvin Sonsona and former world title challengers AJ Banal and Genesis Servania. Sonsona will take on Arief Blader of Indonesia, while Banal and Servania will fight Indonesia's Master Suro and Jason Butar Butar, respectively.
However, none of this would have been possible if not for the recent success of Ancajas and the Filipino fans' revived interest in boxing.
"For me, I'm just happy that what I've accomplished has helped give my teammates an opportunity," Ancajas said during the fight card's press conference on Tuesday. "I have complete trust in Mark because we've trained together since we were kids in Panabo and I'm thankful that he's training with me and has also allowed us to co-manage his career. I'm also thankful to AJ and Marvin because they trusted me and coach Joven (Jimenez) that we could help them reinvigorate their careers at the Survival Camp."
"I'm just happy that what I've accomplished has helped give my teammates an opportunity." Jerwin Ancajas
"We have a good mix of fighters but the common denominator is that they all have potential. Another fighter we want to look at is Aston Palicte also close to getting a world title shot," Reyes added. "We're trying to inject more life into that old Filipino habit of Sunday boxing. Sundays are really about sports in the Filipino household. Boxing at lunchtime or early afternoon and then PBA after that."
Reyes bared that the boxing habit will be available not just on Sundays as TV5's tie-up with ESPN has granted them access to an impressive archive of classic boxing matches.
"We started with Thrilla in Manila (on April 17) to give the younger fans an opportunity to see how boxing legends fought before," Reyes added. "At first I was worried if the older fights would look good on TV but ESPN did a great job of restoring the classics."