LOS ANGELES, California ? As the strong earthquake was rocking Southern California at around 11:42 in the morning on July 29, Filipino promoter and manager Aljoe Jaro went to the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood to say goodbye to Hall of Famer coach Freddie Roach and thank him for helping mold the physique of North American Boxing Federation (NABF) super bantamweight champion Bernabe Concepcion.
?I went to the Wild Card Gym to say goodbye to Freddie Roach and to thank him for helping place Abe (Bernabe Concepcion) to where he is today,? said Jaro, who owns the most popular boxing gym in Binangonan, Rizal in the Philippines.
Jaro said the prized coach gave him a t-shirt of the Wild Card, in return.
While they were talking, Jaro said a strong tremor struck, sending all those having workouts in the gym to pandemonium.
After two minutes, things went back into normal and the boxers resumed their training as well as their conversation, Jaro said.
The earthquake that lasted for 40 seconds was at magnitude 5.8 and was felt in as far as in San Diego and Las Vegas, Nevada.
Jaro was scheduled to fly to Manila in the evening of the same day. His ward Concepcion, who toppled Adam Carrera in three rounds at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 26, was not in the passenger?s list of a Philippine Airlines (PAL) flight to Manila via Guam scheduled to leave at 10 o?clock in the evening.
?Concepcion will stay here for a while as he will be back in the gym after one week in preparation for his next fight tentatively scheduled on September 27 in San Diego (California),? revealed Jaro , who co-manages Concepcion?s business affairs along with World Boxing Council (WBC) lightweight champion Manny Pacquiao and Canadian-American impresario Michael Koncz.
Part of his plans, Jaro said, is to bring two more rated boxers under his stable in the United States. He is eyeing newly-crowned Oriental Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) light flyweight king Sonny Boy Jaro who might see action before the year ends, if plans do jot miscarry.
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