NBI starts probe into Pinoy boxer's death

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has started looking into the death of Filipino boxer Angelito "Lito" Sisnorio Jr, who died after a bout in Thailand last March 30. Radio station dzBB reported Wednesday that Games and Amusements Board (GAB) chair Eric Buhain disclosed this to Sisnorio's family when he personally visited them in Mindanao. It said Buhain disclosed that NBI agents have so far completed only "30 percent" of their investigation after talking to Sisnorio's companions who accompanied the deceased boxer to Thailand. Buhain also said an NBI team was to arrive in Koronadal City in the next few days to dig deeper into the matter. He said he "hopes" the NBI can come up with results before Sisnorio's burial. Sisnorio, former World Boxing Council youth flyweight titleholder, died after a bout in Thailand with former Thai world champion Chatchai Sasakul in Bangkok on March 30. He underwent emergency surgery on March 30 to remove a blood clot from his brain after he fell unconscious on his way to dinner several hours after recovering from his fourth-round knockout loss to the Thai. Sasakul is known among Filipino boxing fans as the Thai fighter who lost his WBC flyweight crown to "people's champ" Manny Pacquiao during an eighth-round knockout in December 1998 in Thailand. Sisnorio briefly ruled as the WBC Youth flyweight champion when he stopped Thailand's Fahpetchnoi Chippatana on May 26 last year. He lost the crown to another Thai fighter five months later. He turned pro in October 2003. - GMANews.TV