Tuesday, November 28, 2006 Homer Sayson Second overtime
CHICAGO — At first glance, 23-year-old Jimrex Jaca had no business sharing the ring with old lion Juan Manuel Marquez the other day. The Sibulan, Negros Oriental native looked like an algebra student who was prematurely thrust into advanced caculus.
But first glances are oftentimes fleeting, and the impressions they make aren’t always lasting. That’s exactly the case with the Jaca versus Marquez brawl in far-flung Hidalgo, Texas. As expected, Marquez, the seasoned 33-year- old ex-champ, claimed the victory with a sensational 9th round KO. But just as impressively, Jaca acquitted himself well. The pre-fight stats indicated that Jaca was outclassed. His record of 27-2-1 (12 KOs) was dwarfed by Marquez’s stellar slate of 45-3-1 with 35 KOs.
Marquez is the top-ranked featherweight, while Jaca is just No. 30 in the WBC list, No. 34 in the IBO and No. 14 in the WBA rankings.
But none of those alphabet soups measure a pugilist’s heart, the pure courage and guts of a prize fighter. Qualities that Jaca manifested under the shimmering lights of Dodge Arena.
Sure, Jaca lost. Decisively, yes. But in defeat, Jimrex proved deserving of a shot at the WBO’s interim featherweight crown. Jaca gave more than Marquez can handle, stinging the Mexican with stiff jabs and throwing well-placed combinations.
Against a very crafty Marquez, Jaca’s defense proved up to the challenge. Given his inexperience of fighthing under the main event’s spotlight, it’s a small wonder that Jaca lasted nine rounds.
I don’t know if there are moral victories in boxing, but I do know that this sport provides a lot of second chances. Jaca descended the ring with another loss in his record, but he left Texas $50,000 richer, and infinitely better for the experience. In a talk with Philboxing.com’s Salven Lagumbay, who was at ringside with Philboxing.com founder Dong Secuya, Oscar dela Hoya said he and HBO were extremely pleased with Jaca’s outing. So pleased that dela Hoya is eyeing Jaca to be in the undercard of his May 5 date with Floyd Mayweather.
”We will continue to help and guide him,” Dela Hoya said of the 5-foot-7 Pinoy featherweight.
A cut below one eye and a welt in the other reflects a bad night in the ring for Jaca, but with Dela Hoya 100 percent behind him, Jimwell can’t be feeling that bad.
VILORIA VS. NIÑO. The highly anticipated rematch versus Brian Viloria and Omar was officially declared a draw, but the debate rages on. Who really won that WBC lightflyweight showdown? ”I can’t understand why Viloria lost the fight despite knocking down Niño twice. Brian did not completely dominate the 12-round slugfest, but he sure did more than enough to win,” said Michael Mangubat, a Consolacion-raised physical therapist now based in New York.
But another reader, Jorge Ligason (joldcool77@yahoo.com), disagrees: “Most of us who saw the fight thought Niño won regardless of nationality. It is a sad reality but we are not blind and biased enough to favor Viloria.”
Traffic at Tropicana Ave. on the way to Thomas and Mack Center made me miss the first seven rounds of the Viloria-Niño duel. But by most accounts, the fight was a nip and tuck affair, one that could well go either way.
That being said, I find it hard to imagine how Niño could overcome two knockdowns, which in a 10-point must scoring system means that he lost two rounds via 10-8. But then again, we are not judges, and sadly, our opinions don’t matter in the official outcome.
P.S. I met a lot of people in the course of my Grand Finale coverage. Allow me to say hi to Jun Acolentava of El Monte in LA, whose dad Eddie Sr, is the biggest Pacman fan. Hello also to Nonoy Pena of Las Vegas, a pal of my cousin Winnie. Greetings to Clifford Kyle Polancos and to Sgt. Edgar Flores (ed_gar_flores@yahoo.com) who dropped me a nice note. Sgt. Flores is the head of UP’s CMT while I was there briefly. Thank you, sir!
