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Saturday, September 17, 2005
Sayson: To move up, Morales must scale down
By Homer Sayson
Second Overtime
CHICAGO – Embattled University of the Visayas Baby Lancers coach Delfin Pepito Jr. has been recommended to be banned for the rest of the season by the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. for allegedly trying to physically assault referee Jimmy Ybañez last Sept.8 in Minglanilla.
Pepito is a highly respected coach who’s been around the block for over a decade now. His season’s fate and the legacy of a magnificent coaching career now languishes somewhere around the desk of Cesafi president Joe “Dodong” R. Gullas, who will have the final say on the matter.
But if Pepito is overcome by anxiety, he isn’t showing it.
I called Pepito yesterday at BPI on Magallanes, where he has worked for years. He sounded unfazed by the threat of suspension staring at him in the face.
“We have a hearing this afternoon at 1 p.m. and I have filed for reconsideration. They got it all wrong. It was the referee who punched me and I was the one who got hit. I tried to confront him only as a reaction to the provocation,” Pepito explained.
I think Pepito should be given the benefit of the doubt. However, I’m not dismissing Ybañez’s allegation that he was the one punched by Pepito. The bottom line is that the case is under investigation and I’m sure Gullas will render an impartial decision according to the facts made available before him.
TWO FOES? With the frenzy of last week’s scintillating 3-0 sweep at the Staples Center in LA still hanging in the air, my e-mail inbox is heavy with boxing questions. Here’s some today, along with a few other readers’ views and questions.
1) Tiyoyex Ranara (xeyoyit@yahoo.com): “Your enjoyable columns on Rey Bautista mentioned the foe as Felix Murillo. But when I saw the fight on TV, I noticed that ‘Boom-Boom’s opponent was named Flores. Is Murillo and Flores the same person?”
Rey only had one foe last week – Felix Flores-Murillo, a Colombian now living in Miami. Short but built like a Veco post, Murillo was a vicious puncher, so says Rey, whose left ear wailed in pain after being tagged by a wicked right.
Fortunately, Murillo couldn’t take Rey’s punishment, yielding in three rounds.
2) Joel Talisic (jhowell1813@yahoo.com): Will Pacquiao-Morales II push through? If so, is it at 130 or at 135 pounds?”
With Morales’ unexpected loss, the anticipated rematch has undeniably lost some of its luster and marketability. But promoter Bob Arum insists that the show must go on this Jan. 21, 2005 at a still-to-be-determined Las Vegas venue. After his dismal debut at 135 pounds, Morales will scale back to 130 for the PacMan fight.
3) Neo Anderson (bishop724_2003@yahoo.com): “Erik Morales wants to fight Diego Corrales, but can he beat Diego?”
I don’t think so. The extra pounds at lightweight gave Erik feet of clay as shown in the Rahim fight, where Morales got hit by 161-of-586 punches and 111-of-282 power punches. Erik survived 12 rounds of eating the pillow-soft punches of Rahim, but against the dangerous Corrales, “El Terrible” wouldn’t only lose badly, he’ll be tempting fate.
THE NBA. 4) Owie Lopez Jr. (owiech@yahoo.com): “I was teary-eyed reading your column on how Rey Bautista overcame life’s bitterness. Anyway, I have a question that’s bugging me like a bee: Why did Phil Jackson come back to LA?
Is it for the love of the game? I think it’s for the paycheck.”
I have no doubt about Phil’s love for the game, but I also know that he loves money. So I agree that $10 million a year for three years was one of the main reasons he was lured out of retirement. But I don’t think Phil is being selfish; he’s just a smart guy squeezing the most out of what capitalism had to offer.
FINAL NOTE. Terry Bolo of Pooc, Talisay City: “I was a member of the 1972-76 UV Green Lancers and a teammate of Jun Pepito during our college days in UV.
Presently, I am a US Army Master Sergeant, serving as Senior Operations NCO for a unit based in Chicago. I have been with the US Army for the last 25 years.
I am proud to say that as a leader of my unit, soldiers and officers respect my judgment and action either in battlefield or peacetime duties.
“Having said that, I and Jun are on the same boat. We have to be role models for our team. Any action that we do off the court and on the court is being scrutinized all the time. As a coach, Jun should have controlled his emotions. He should be calm, poised and dignified all the time. In my opinion, the action of Jun attempting to hit the referee merits an outright ban for the rest of the season. I think the decision of Cesafi is just and fair.”
(homsay@hotmail.com)
(September 17, 2005 issue)
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