Quijano: A short, sweet stint for Sonny

APPARENTLY, Sonny Boy Jaro’s time on the high-wattage fight reel is up. Last weekend, he lost his WBC flyweight belt to Japanese challenger Toshiyuki Iragashi via split decision.

The verdict was somewhat controversial, but it’s one of those instances where the styles-make-fights aphorism holds true.

The pugnacious Jaro landed the harder, stronger punches but Iragashi (16-1, 10KOs) extruded mobility, hand speed and a busier work rate.

The fight reminded me of how Gerry Peñalosa lost his super flyweight belt to another Japanese fighter, Masamori Tokoyama back in 2001 when the latter backpedalled all night, not allowing the counter-punching master to get within range to escape with a razor thin margin of 2 points on all cards.

Jaro is a pressure fighter with dynamite in his fists and needs to get within close punching range to be effective. Iragashi came in with a good game-plan and was able to partially neutralize Jaro’s offense.

To recall, just few months ago, Jaro (34-11, 24KOs) shocked the boxing world when he knocked out Thai legend Pongsaklek Wonjongkam in six rounds.

Prior to that, he was on the verge of becoming a journeyman but managed to salvage a four-fight knockout streak to deserve that shot against Wonjongkam.

After he annexed the belt, Jaro had been offered several options among a coterie of deserving rivals, one of which was a compelling match-up with another Pinoy fighter, Milan Melindo.

He however, opted to face the mandatory challenger, and lost the title. It’s a pity, but I guess we have to wait until Brian Viloria gets it on with Milan before we can witness a seminal pinoy champ vs. pinoy champ showdown.

YES, BLAME IT ON DANNY GARCIA. Apparently, Vicious Victor Ortiz and Amir Khan have a lot in common.

First, they both recently lost their titles despite being huge favorites. Second, those losses came via the abbreviated route and in those fights, their chins (or lack thereof) became a huge issue.

Third, a guy named Danny Garcia is to blame.

In Ortiz’s case, he canned trainer Danny Garcia after Joselito Lopez broke his jaw and made him quit in the ninth round. It has been alleged that Ortiz wanted the fight stopped earlier after he broke his jaw, but Garcia urged him to continue on, as he was winning the fight.

Apparently displeased with how Danny Garcia conducted himself in the fight, Ortiz is now shopping around for a new trainer.

In the meantime, after his chin failed to withstand the bombardment administered by another Danny Garcia, Khan is apparently displeased with how he has been handled by Roach and wants a defensive coach to come in and work with him.

Excuse me guys, I don’t want to belabor the obvious, but no amount of coaching from the best trainers in the world can lace your jaws with cement.

Also, is it your coach’s fault you forgot to duck?

FEEDBACK. Thanks to Last rounder Ernest from the Caraga Region who sent us an e-mail on his thoughts regarding my last column on Nonito Donaire (Playing the Power Game).

Here’s Ernest: “I was a bit dismayed with how Nonito fought and told my friends there that he depended too much on his power and gone were his intelligence he showed during his previous bouts. A number didn’t agree with me and instead concluded that Nonito waned. I was not aware of Nonito’s statements after the fight though. Then came your column. Look at you, you gave prose and excitement to the guy’s post-fight statement! Kudos amigo! I was just finished pasting your column and e-mailed it to my buddies in Caraga.”

Thanks Ernest. Let’s hope Nonito reads this column so he can hear more from his loyal fans. Cheers!

VERBATIM. “I’m a Freddie Roach fighter but things can change. I need a trainer who can give me 100 per cent.”—Amir Khan (www.thesun.co.uk)

LAST ROUND. It’s on a dear friend, the newly appointed Clerk of Court, OCC-MTCC Mandaue City, Liezel Gedorio, who celebrates her birthday this week. Cheers!

(jingo_quijano@yahoo.com)