Prodigal Sonsona's comeback trail is re-proving grounds

It's hard for boxing promoter Sammy Gello-ani to stifle his excitement over the return of his prodigal son—former World Boxing Organization (WBO) super flyweight champion "Marvelous" Marvin Sonsona. Gello-ani, the Cebu-based boxing promoter who also boasts of recently-crowned International Boxing Federation (IBF) interim light flyweight champ Johnriel Casimero, said Sonsona is still on the comeback trail five months after ending a 20-month long ring absense with a unanimous decision victory over Mexican trialhorse Carlos Jacobo. He is hoping that the 21-year-old prodigy that he guided to a world title at a young of 19 is back for good—finally leaving behind all the distractions, the late nights out of doing 'who knows what' and the broken promises. "I think he's right now on the right direction, but he needs to be proven more," said Gello-ani at a press conference at Makati City's Greenbelt 2 on Wednesday afternoon. "I need more time. I will not be making this easy for Marvin already by giving him a big fight. I have to make sure that everything is on schedule and he has to prove it to me." Sonsona (15-1-1, 12 knockouts) of General Santos City will face the second test of his comeback on Saturday, when he meets Carlos Fulgencia (19-5-1, 12 KOs) of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic at the Hoops Dome in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu, Philippines in the 122-pound division. Fulgencia, is riding a four-fight win streak, but has been knocked out in all five of his defeats. Sonsona, who two years ago suffered a demoralizing fourth-round KO loss to Wilfredo Vazquez Jr., has faced superior opponents. He defeated Puerto Rican Jose "Carita" Lopez in 2009 to gain the belt, only to lose it on the scales less than three months later in a draw with Alejandro Hernandez of Mexico. Sonsona is saying the right things, sounding remorseful for rebelling against Gello-ani and international matchmaker Sampson Lewkowicz. Sonsona admits that he gave into the trappings of success after making a total of US$75,000 (P3,192750) in his first two title bouts. "I was too young, too immature. I treated boxing as if I'm only playing," said Sonsona. "I was not too serious about it. If I had listened to my parents before, I can say that I would have been world champion until now. I was so popular before, then suddenly my popularity went down. Based on that experience, right now I'm more mature and I know how serious boxing is." Sonsona says that while much of his income was squandered, but some went to assets like eight hectares of land in General Santos City, which he left to his father to farm durian, bananas and coconuts with. He also bought himself a car, as well as motorcycles for his brothers. "Admittedly I was a little bit stunned by the amount of money," said Sonsona. "I wasn't able to maximize and manage the money fully." "The biggest reason that I came back after two years of thinking and soul searching is that I realized that I have no other career that I can succeed in; only boxing. If I don't box, then I'll just be a bum and and go out with my friends. My family is not wealthy, we are a poor and I need to help them. There is no other way for me to help my family, except for boxing." Sonsona has been training dutifully with Celso Epanto away from his hometown distractions in Gello-ani's newest compound in Mindanao's Misamis Occidental province. Still a growing young man, Sonsona says that he was 150 pounds just a month ago as he slims down to 122lbs.   A May 13 bout in the Philippines has already been scheduled, though Gello-ani wants to assess Sonsona's performance before choosing a next opponent for his southpaw fighter. According to Gello-ani, the plan after May 13 is to relocate Sonsona to Oxnard, California to train with Gabriel Sarmiento, the Spaniard who has led fellow southpaw Sergio Martinez to middleweight stardom. As far as Gello-ani is concerned, the farther away Sonsona is from GenSan, the better. "When he went home after his family's house was partially burned last December, with the environment in GenSan, I was worried he would be back with friends, they would be coming to the house and bring him somewhere," said Gello-ani. "I thought that things are getting in the wrong direction again. In fact I told him that he has to come back immediately to Cebu, but there was another happening in the family when his grandmother died. He was very close to her, so I allowed him to stay there for a few more weeks." "With that I was scared again, 'Oh, he might turn his back again and get carried away with some friends and some people there.' The environment is not suitable for him. I warned him, 'If you're not coming back, that's the end of everything. I will not help you anymore and that's it. Good bye.' And the next day I heard from him, 'Sir, you send me tickets and I will fly to Cebu."' For now, things are looking up for Sonsona. Gello-ani has seen Sonsona excel when he's doing the right things. It's what happens when Sonsona isn't that keeps Gello-ani up at night. — with Atty. Danrex Tapdasan/JVP, GMA News Ryan Songalia is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and contributes to GMA News and the Filipino Reporter newspaper in New York City. He is also a member of The Ring ratings panel. He can be reached at ryan@ryansongalia.com. An archive of his work can be found at www.ryansongalia.com. Follow him on Twitter: @RyanSongalia.