‘Gwapo’ Pagcaliwangan clicks with Somodio at Wild Card

MANILA, Philippines – When one gym door closed, Marc Pagcaliwangan found another gym suitable to prepare for his first fight in nearly two years. 

Already in California, the Filipino-Canadian was welcomed into the Wild Card Gym to train with Marvin Somodio, as well as Ernie Zavala. He spent about a month with them preparing for his 4-round bout with Emmanuel Villamar, whom he’ll fight this Saturday, March 18 at the Powerade Centre in Brampton, Ontario, Canada.

“Marvin and I clicked right away. It was great being in a gym filled with Filipinos and working with all of them,” said the 26-year-old Pagcaliwangan (9-0-1, 7 knockouts), a junior featherweight from London, Ontario, Canada known by the nickname “Gwapo.” 

Pagcaliwangan, whose parents have roots in Zamboanga City and Batangas, had first taken time off to deal with an injured knuckle on his right hand, and later as he looked for new management. He has since signed with managers Bill Halkias and Germain Gillies, and with New York-based promoter Star Boxing. 

Nearly every top Filipino boxer since the turn of the millennium has passed through Wild Card, starting with Manny Pacquiao and on to Brian Viloria, Donnie Nietes, Gerry Penalosa and more.

While there, Pagcaliwangan trained alongside former title challenger Michael Farenas (a Filipino who is also handled by the same people now) and sparred with Pinoy prospect Romero Duno and Filipino-American Bruno Escalante, plus Japan’s Shingo Wake, who had challenged unsuccessfully for a world title last year. (READ: The Filipino-Canadian boxer who trained with Pacquiao and Donaire)

He doesn’t know much about Villamar, a 23-year-old with an 8-1 (1 KO) record whose only loss came in his only trip to Canada in December, a decision to Francois Pratte Bernard. 

“I haven’t seen anything from him. But I’m ready for whatever he brings to the table. I’ve worked really hard for this. I’ve had tough sparring partners and great training with Marvin at Wild Card,” said Pagcaliwangan.

Somodio, who earned Freddie Roach’s trust while assisting in Pacquiao’s camps in the Philippines before relocating to Los Angeles to be Roach’s hand-picked protégé, was impressed with what he saw from the unbeaten prospect. 

“Marc is a good fighter that has natural talent, power and he works hard,” said Somodio. “[He] just needs more experience and to know how to use or position himself in the ring.”

Halkias wants to get busy, and fast. He wants to see Pagcaliwangan fight a few more times over the next few months to “gauge where his mind and body are,” with the big picture target for 2017 being a showcase fight on Showtime’s ShoBox: The New Generation. Halkias likes what he sees from Pagcaliwangan’s early work with Somodio.

“He loves Marvin. He says that Marvin helps a lot with technique and points out all of his mistakes,” says Halkias. “Freddie Roach also keeps a close eye on Marc. Getting advice from trainers like Freddie and Marvin makes a huge positive impact on a fighter.”

Somodio won’t be able to make it to the fight, however, so Pagcaliwangan’s local assistants Sean Fulgencio, Socrates Celestial and Glen Erjas will be helping out in the corner. 

But with his team now in place, Pagcaliwangan hopes Saturday night is the start of making up for lost time.

“Marvin told me we will win a world title together,” said Pagcaliwangan. 

“As long as his attitude in training doesn’t change,” Somodio adds.

The show will be promoted by Lee Baxter Promotions, with junior lightweight Logan McGuinness (25-0-1, 12 KOs) headlining against Horacio Cabral (17-1, 8 KOs). The weigh-in will take place at the Powerade Centre on Friday at 5 pm, with doors opening at 6:30 pm on Saturday. – Rappler.com

Ryan Songalia is the sports editor of Rappler, a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and a contributor to The Ring magazine. He can be reached at ryan.songalia@rappler.com. Follow him on Twitter @RyanSongalia.