PNS — THE FIRST MVP Cup International Boxing Friendship Games feature the bouts of 39 promising boxers from six countries in Asia including the host country, Philippines, will be shown on TV 5 today, Saturday, with the eliminations and semi-finals from 1:30pm to 5:00 p.m. Tomorrow, Sunday, 5Max Movies will not be shown to give way for the final bout at 9:30 to 11:30 p.m. The MVP Boxing Cup is the first international amateur boxing tournament to be held in the country in over a decade after the Mayor’s Cup, a popular boxing match in the ‘80s and ‘90s that was once the breeding ground of top amateur boxers, was discontinued in 1997.
Gold medals are up for grabs in seven weight categories in the men’s division and five in the women’s. Each gold medal winner awaits US$1,000 courtesy of Amateur Boxing Association of the Philippines (ABAP) chairman and telecommunications mogul Manny V. Pangilinan. Chairman MVP is the principal supporter of the revival of this international tournament and has also agreed to name the boxing cup after him.