Fil-Am matchmaker ‘Pacquiambo’ must meet Pinoy Idol
By Michael Marley – I vividly remember how wonderful, how stimulating it was to be a Cassius Clay fanatic. I won’t repeat my long story of the Cassius Clay International Fan Club and how I wrote letters to his Louisville home for two years before I finally met my idol.
I was nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs on that cold Boston day when Clay/Ali invited me to sit in the Statler Hilton Hotel lobby and wait to meet and greet him.
What if, I thought, my idol had feet of clay? What if, his outrageous personality was just shtick and move, just an act for the public? What if he was a genuine jerk or treated me rudely?
All that hero worshipping, all that idolatry for nothing…I thought of taking a hike into Park Square and jumping on the trolley to go home. Maybe it would be better to idealize my idol. That thought ran through my 12-year-old head…
I didn’t, he was really “The Greatest” and I go to training camps, to many of his fights and even his wedding to Veronica (mother of Laila) Porsche….I still idolize my idol, really.
This is how Joe Quiambo, proud Filipino-American and rising matchmaking star, thinks about the moment when he shakes hands with Manny Pacquiao.
Quiambo, 34, is not some starry-eyed teenager but he admits he will go gaga when he finally meets the Pinoy Idol.
Quiambo is a former New York Golden Glove champion at a rough and ready 106 pounds, dripping wet.
Chances are that Lou DiBella’s matchmaker will get the big introduction in a couple of weeks when Megamanny comes to the Big Apple for the June 12 Boxing Writers Dinner along with Coach Freddie Roach and promoter Bob Arum. The following night they will all be at ringside in Madison Square Garden as Arum puts on his Joshua Clottey-Miguel Cotto title fight show.
I don’t want to say that Quiambo, whose mother (Consuela) and father (Romeo) were born in the Philippines and whose wife (the former Heavenly Pilar) is also Fil-Am, is an enthusiastic Pacnut.
Let’s just say there’s good reason friends, family and some in the boxing industry call him “Pacquiambo” these days.
Funny thing is that Quiambo, who gets high marks from the demanding DiBella and others, has almost circled his true idol.
“I’ve met Bobby Pacquiao and trainer Buboy Fernandez,” Quiambo told me. “I met the priest, Fr. Marlon Beof, who lives in the New York area, My mother knows him from religious activities.
“I am afraid to meet Manny, really,” Quiambo said. “I just want to say, ‘Hello, My Brother.’ I want to speak to him in our language. I want to tell him what a great fighter he is and how excites and entertains the people.”
When Bobby Pac fought at Madison Square Garden a couple of years ago, Quiambo was within shouting distance of Pacman. He had access to Bobby’s dressing room but he hesitated at barging his way in there.
“I just didn’t go in there,” Quiambo said. “I looked up to other Filipino fighters…Jesus Salud, Rolando Pascua and others…but only Manny is Manny.”
What, I asked, causes the electric current between Pacman and his Pinoy people?
“I think a lot of it is how he was born into extreme poverty. It’s like over here. In this country, you can live in the projects but you get food stamps, you get welfare. I was in Manila once and I saw two little boys, about ages three and five, digging through garbage looking for food at 3 a.m. It was January, 2007, and I was on my honeymoon.”
Quiambo explained that New York has no concentration of Pinoys in one neighborhood. It’s not like Daly City next to San Francisco.
“We’re in and around New York, though,” the Jamaica, Queens, native said. “In Woodside and in Elmhurst (Queens) and there many Filpinos in Jersey City.”
He met his wife through a Pinoy social hookup.
“You know how so many young Pinoys are dj’s?” Quiambo said. “That’s how I first met my wife.”
Qiambo went 15-9 as an amateur and was in some ring wars. But he had no illusions of a pro career, opting instead for hitting the books at LaGuardia Community College and then Hunter College.
“I was a good puncher once I got going,” Quiambo said. “But I was too small to be a pro over here.”
He fell into an internship at DiBella Entertainment and worked under David Itskowich, the young bright light now working for Golden Boy. Quietly but studiously, Quiambo watched how DBE matchmaker Mike Marchionte put good fights together.
“He is,” DiBella said, “the most influential Filipino in American boxing.”
That was a DiBella punch line. Then the promoter got serious.
“I gave him a shot,” DiBella said. “He is a Pinoy who worships Pacquiao but he’s become one of the best young matchmakers around. He is more than able to handle a tough job. He knows fights, he knows fighters and he can relate to all the boxers. It’s a terribly tough job but Joe is good at it.”
The matchmaker has always been in Pacman’s corner spiritually but he admits to being shocked by the De La Hoya fight outcome.
“I thought this was going to be an execution,” Quiambo said. “I thought Oscar would kick his butt. I didn’t go because I didn’t want to see my brother get executed. I thought Oscar was too big, that he’d hurt Manny with body shots.”
As far as the Hatton massacre, Quiambo had no such doubt or apprehension.
“Mayweather Sr. tried to make Ricky a boxer but it was too late. Ricky was effective mauling, using physical strength. But Mayweather wanted him to box. I knew Manny would tear him up.”
Pacman, say hello to Pacquiambo. Give this guy a handshake and a photo opp.
This is one matchmaker who is really in your corner.
Michael is a former sports columnist at the New York Post. He was a criminal defense attorney and worked for sports legends Howard Cosell and Don King. Marley also operates BoxingConfidential.com. Email him your thoughts. He makes it a practice to always recommend Pacland and Philboxing
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