Saturday, January 20, 2007 Quijano: Engine Chi By Jingo Quijano The last round
A FEW columns and last rounds ago, I shared with you the urban legend about the fighter-of-the-year jinx. This early, with Korean In Jin Chi handpicked by Top Rank to be his next opponent in Macau on April rather than a blockbuster mega-fight with Marco Antonio Barrera, Manny Pacquiao is not exactly off to a jinx-busting start.
Some boxing scribes are writing Chi off as a nothing more than a plate of Korean Kim chi, just waiting to be devoured voraciously by the Pacman.
But who really is In Jin Chi? Well, there’s not much to tell really. Not because he’s not much of a fighter—because he really is—but because he is about as difficult to figure out as a pack of instant noodles. You know what you’re going to get and you just know what to do with it.
Most of you might have seen him on TV a few years ago, giving a good account of himself in a unanimous decision loss to Erik Morales. After that fight Morales looked like he had been mugged in an alley by five men with baseball bats.
Chi will not box you. He will rush you and maul you with arms continuously churning and flailing. He is the boxing equivalent of the Energizer bunny. He doesn’t give up and has abundant stamina to back up his onslaughts. He is a resilient engine fueled by unyielding resolve and courage.
But he will be there all night long for Manny’s straight punches. His chin and fighting spirit will be severely tested and I predict a late KO win for our hero. The only way that Manny could lose is if he loses steam and punches himself out or if he suffers an injury (heaven forbid!) thus rendering him defenseless.
After all is said and done, this will be one big boxing spectacle in Macau, which is being hyped up as the Las Vegas of Asia. It figures to be a huge financial success for all the parties involved but I remain unconvinced that this was the best fight out there for Manny.
He can knock out the In Jin Chis of the boxing world and keep his promoters happy, but he still owes it to the fans to fight the best out there. As the fighter of the year, his fans expect nothing less.
MMM.. No, that’s not the sound I’m making while I’m smacking my lips but it certainly is what I’m doing when I think about the flipside of the equation—the very intriguing Barrera-Marquez fight. These two would-be Pacquiao opponents are now penciled to face each other in a toss up fight between two well-schooled and well-oiled boxing machines.
It will be Barrera’s jab against Marquez’ counter rights and the latter’s stinging uppercuts against the former’s vicious left hooks. It will be a compelling and entertaining fight which boxing purists will relish, but make mine Marquez.
That’s what the triple m is for. At least that’s what my mind tells me. He outfought and out-boxed Manny for majority of the rounds, and is younger and hungrier. But deep inside I will be rooting for the Baby Faced Assassin.
A rematch with Pacquiao must happen soon and a loss to Marquez all but dissipates any interest in it.
QUOTED. “I think Marquez fights scared; he’s always worried about getting hit. He’s not confident. He’s always worried about losing. He doesn’t have much confidence in his skills, and that’s why he hasn’t achieved much.”— Erik “El Terrible” Morales in a June 2005 interview with KO magazine correspondent Brent Matteo Alderson.
THE LAST ROUND. This week’s last round goes out from the Yakal group to our very own Suzette Ablan, whose father recently passed away. Zet, we may not be with you while you are grieving and mourning but know always that your sorrow and pain is shared by your friends who are more than willing to take life’s punches with you and for you. God bless!
