Of course I'd sign the same "contract". I'd be a fool not to. Cacoy was a known judo and grappling champion. His grappling was complementary and secondary to his stick and knife skills (i.e. it was not a coverup to compensate for the lack of stick skills). You should also remember that one can't grapple as easily with a protector or facemask. Once you get hit in the eye, cheekbone or nosebridge that's it for you. So you have to be really good with the stick because if you're thinking "I'd eventually grapple" the guy could hit you on the face or eye and there's nothing to absorb the shot. That's why these real matches never really last long. Most of them are just 3-4 hits of matches not longer than 20-30 seconds.
What I heard from the people that were there -- i.e. actual witnesses, first hand account, not hearsay, not told by this or that, not told by the combatants Cacoy or Atillo who of course could tint their versions of the story -- was that the first match was witnessed by a lot of people. This was a big event in Cebu.
The first fight happened on September 18, 1983 in the PC (Philippine Constabulary)/INP (Integrated National Police) Recom 7 Clubhouse. This is at Camp President Osmena on Osmena Blvd. Being in a public place the spectators were just gathered around the two combatants. They both started in the middle. Atillo was backing up as Cacoy was advancing. Apparently he was waiting for Cacoy to hit first. He backed up so much and into a spectator - who at that point "encouraged" him to fight by pushing him into Cacoy. Cacoy saw that this guy was rushing forward and thought he was going to bum rush him and grapple headfirst. Seeing this all rules were off and he headlocked Atillo. I guess if ones head was down he could have just hit him at the back of the skull or choked him to death or broken his neck.
Although, these were considered death matches there was still honor in them. You just don't finish someone off once you've made the hit. You give them a chance to gracefully back out.
Because of the "controversy" I heard Cacoy agreed to another fight - this time at a much larger venue. This was going to happen at the Cebu Colliseu,on September 22, 1983 - four days after the first fight. It was well publicized and 8,000 people showed up. Before the match there was a medical checkup (the bout was more "formal" this time being a bigger and more popular event). The physician, Dr. Tojong, declared Atillo unfit to fight (medically speaking) with 175/100 bp and pulse of 128 bpm.
Personally, I didn't see the point of a medical checkup, bp or pulse since they were fighting without protection and with the intent of killing each other.
I don't even know why this is still and issue. These are two old masters that should bury their hatchets. Atillo had all the time in the world to re-challenge Cacoy. They both knew where each one lived. They could contact each other. It's sad that this is brought up now that the man (Cacoy) is 84 years old - not that he can't still kick ***. Why wait all these years?
I heard Cacoy now lives in the United States in northern California (San Jose area) and Atillo lives in the Riverside area near Los Angeles.
This issue is actually between these two masters and we should not get involved. It's not our business.
