MANILA, June 28 -- World heavyweight boxing champion Riddick Bowe has made a $5,000 donation to honor a Filipino fan who was electrocuted while preparing to watch the American's recent title fight, it was announced Wednesday. The WBO champ made the donation in the memory of Rodolfo 'Okong' Yap, who was electrocuted June 18 while attempting to fix his television antenna to receive the telecast of Bowe's title bout in Las Vegas against Cuban Jorge Luis Gonzalez. Yap, 29, of Cotabato City in southern Mindanao province, was trying to adjust his TV antenna for better reception when it brushed against a live overhead power cable and he was electrocuted. Bowe, when told of the death, offered to donate $3,000 to Yap's family and later decided to add another $2,000 donation for the Philippines Olympic boxing team. 'I, too, have been victimized twice by the death of my brother and sister (and) it is a pain that I wish upon no one,' Bowe said in a letter to Yap's family. 'To know that your son lost his life attempting to watch me perform saddens me greatly.' Vintage Sports, which televised the bout in the Philippines, had informed the firm holding the international broadcast rights to the fight, Normandy International of the United States, of the incident. 'I immediately picked up the phone and called Mr. Bowe,' said Normandy president Alexis Denny. 'The heavyweight champion was very moved by the story and having lost a brother and a sister earlier in life, decided to make a financial contribution to the family of Mr. Yap.
' Bowe, who successfully defended his title June 18 with a technical knockout in the sixth round, later added another $2,000 to be donated to Philippines Olympics boxers. The funds were turned over to Vintage Sports in Manila for distribution to the Yap family and the Olympic team.
