This thing that they did to us is something we can't just ignore. This is truly disrespect towards us Filipinos. We can't let this go unpunished." -- Chino Trinidad
Freedom of speech is something that is preached and held paramount in this glorious country of ours that is the US of A.
Top Rank chief Bob Arum knows that. Several esteemed members of US media who contacted me during this controvery know that.
In response to the statements published by Sports Examiner Paula Duffy wherein she quoted Floyd Mayweather's publicist Kelly Swanson categorically denying claims by members of the media and fans and as first reported in my article titled "Philippine media BANNED from interviewing Floyd Mayweather last Thursday that she blocked them from interviewing Floyd Mayweather Jr., highly respected veteran Filipino sports broadcaster and journalist Chino Trinidad together with other fans and witnesses to the alleged incident responded emphatically and further elaborated on the actions taken against them.
In an interview I did with Trinidad after being informed of Swanson's denial, the earnest broadcaster said, "She can not deny that. She can not deny that," and added, "So they're making liars out of me and Joseph Pimentel. Maybe I can provide her with some video to show and get her saying very clearly to my face, we Filipinos can not interview Floyd Mayweather Jr. and she's denying it right now. I'm willing to go to court here in the US to prove a point. I think right now she's denying it right now because she's getting all the flack for mishandling and treating Filipinos in such a bastardly manner."
Trinidad's story was also corroborated by people that have reached out to me who were in the said press conference and in an article published by Oliver Suarez of Sporthype.com, the LA based scribe quoted Jeff De Guzman who is also a fixture in boxing events in the area and was around Trinidad and Pimentel saying,
"My sister who was trying to get an autograph by Mayweather and my sister was one of the first ones to enter and he was ignoring her. Then the Mayweather people was asking her, "Are you Filipino?"
Suarez also wrote,
According to Jeff De Guzman, he asked Kelly Swanson for the reason why Filipinos were refused to allow to interview Mayweather and she responded by saying that they was only following Mayweather's instruction.
However when, Mr. De Guzman asked Monica Sears, who is the public relations coordinator for Golden Boy Promotions, to get some answer on why the Filipino media were banned from speaking to Floyd, the latter said she was unaware of any such instructions.
If Swanson's statements was a part of 'damage control', a term used in the PR industry, she might have to address the several eye-witnesses that have spoken about the incident which has even prompted some astute US media people to reach out to me and voice their disgust over the matter, similar to Top Rank head Bob Arum expressed to me his embarrassment and sent his apologies to the Filipino people with the way they were treated in the press con.
Now was this an act of discrimination or racism? Depends on who you talk to. But to say it's definitely not discrimination is an arrogant statement. As a respected African-American journalist told me during this ordeal, perception of people matter. A white person can say 'Oh black people are being over sensitive about racism' but if a group of people are given valid reasons to have these in their heads, who are those who have no idea what it is to walk in the shoes fof Arfican Americans, or Filipinos for that matter feel this prejudice to dismiss what they feel? Unfortunately, some people based in America might have forgotten or lost touch with their true roots as well like that blogger Simeon Vergara for him to announce his self-assured and insensitive opinions. What can you expect from a doodler who wrote that Nonio Donaire Jr. is a charry picker without doing research on why big named fighters avoide one of the best Pinoy fighter around?
I'm not saying Swanson acted in such manner either, but if the stories I've heard, read and quoted are true, it needs to be addressed and not go unnoticed. Arum even went as far as saying that any entity that promotes such actions should be banned from the sport. But if they are indeed instructions from Mayweather as De Guzman said, it only further adds to the list of insults Mayweather has done to the Filipino people.
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Dennis "D Source" Guillermo is a freelance writer and a lifelong boxing fan. He has written for various sports publications on boxing and basketball. You can read his daily column on Examiner.com.
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