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Thursday, September 23, 2004
Oyson: Another ‘patsy’ came to town
By Manuel N. Oyson Jr.
Counter punch
THE term “patsy” has a nasty connotation. It is defined by Webster as a “person upon whom the blame for something falls; easily deceived, coerced, persuaded.” The term is commonly used in one-on-one athletic events, like boxing promotions, when one’s opponent seems to be inside the ring at the wrong time. Or a boxer who takes a dive. Or it is “fixed.”
We had occasion to write about such a patsy in this corner two years ago. A visiting Russian boxer, who sported the name Kakhar Sabitov, supposedly the Russian super-flyweight champion, lasted only 2:26 minutes of the fourth round against Malcolm Tuñacao at the Waterfront Hotel-Lahug. Even GAB chairman Eduardo Villanueva who was at ringside, wondered aloud if Sabitov was the champion he was flaunted to be.
DOUBTS. Most of the fans waned to know if the visitor was really the vaunted boxer he was branded to be. He did not even have his own trainer with him who talked to him in-between rounds in gestures and sign language. Even this corner had its own doubts about Sabitov. Just imagine as super-flyweight champion of the former great Russian empire, he had only a measly six wins in nine bouts before facing Tuñacao on June 25, 2002.
I thought I had seen the last sorry spectacle of the boxing public being hoodwinked. I was mistaken. Though I was not able to watch the comeback fight of former WBC super-flyweight champion Gerry Peñalosa and visiting Samingkao Chautipol at the Mandaue City Sports Complex last Sunday, from the stories of the sportswriters who covered the non-title fight (Sun.Star Cebu, The Freeman, Superbalita, Cebu Daily News), it was a mismatch.
MURO-MURO. The Thai ringster lasted only less than two rounds of the scheduled 10-round match. In this particular round, Samingkao went down four times, one from a “phantom” punch that did not even land. This drew chuckles from the packed crowd, sensing that they have been had. They were witnessing another “muro-muro.” There was a patsy in their midst. They were fooled. It was a big letdown, a shameful, lackluster performance by the Thailander.
MUCH ADO. There was no need for Peñalosa on the eve of the fight to declare that it was a match the fans would watch out for because he wanted to prove his critics wrong. It was too much ado about nothing. His opponent was an easy prey that he hardly worked a sweat. Before the fight, the promoter, Aljoe Jaro, warned that Chautipol is not an easy opponent. “Gerry should not take his rival lightly because the Thai is a tough fighter,” Jaro declared. (Asa ka, tough?)
Besides Jaro, the names of Senators Jinggoy Estrada and Lito Lapid and Ilocos Sur Gov. Chavit Singson former PBA player Bonel Balingit and Cebu-based promoter Ryan Rivera, were also mentioned as behind the promotion.
One thing is certain. Promoters may fool some of the people some of the time but they cannot fool all of the people all of the time.
MAIL. In connection with the shabby treatment received by RP athletes who played in Vietnam in 2003 which came out in this column the other day, here’s a text message from a sender who does not want to be identified: “Tinuod kaayo na. I slept on the floor, too, in an apartment reserved for the parents. Guess who got the rooms and the beds? There was one Cebu City official for every two athletes that went to Cleveland. Nine city officials, 18 athletes. The fare for each is P83,000 at the average.
Namurwisyo pa sila ug nanghingi og allowance ug pagkaon sa mga Fil-Ams didto. Unya dihang dunay report sa child abuse sa usa ka athlete, hunaw dayon sa kamot. Pastilan.”
(e-mail: mno@sunstar.com.ph)
(September 23, 2004 issue)
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