Saturday, March 10, 2007 Quijano: Last Round goes to Mindanao By Jingo Qujano Last Round
WITH the De la Hoya-Mayweather megafight still a few months away, fight fans have been curious on what bouts they should look forward to in the coming weeks.
Tomorrow, Wladimir Klitschko, that soft chinned Ukranian giant, will defend his IBF/WBO heavyweight crown against Ray Austin. This does not figure to be much of a fight. The “Rain Man” is a capable heavyweight with a decent record of 24-3 (16 KOs).
But at 36 years of age, his best years are clearly behind him. Still, the nasty rumor that a soft gentle breeze is enough to send Wladimir scurrying down on his knees will ensure that Austin will do his damn best to make a fight out of it. But unless “Dr. Steel Hammer” gets careless and is nailed by a lucky punch, his superior boxing skills will pull him through to a unanimous decision win.
Next up is the intriguing Marco Antonio Barrera-Juan Manuel Marquez fight penciled on March 17 at the Mandalay Bay Resort at Las Vegas, Nevada. To recall, Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) had to put together this fight after Manny Pacquiao signed with Bob Arum’s Top Rank, leaving Barrera with a fight date but no dance partner.
Will Marquez make for a better substitute and give us a good fight? Don’t bet the house on it guys. These days Barrera loves toe-to-toe exchanges just about as much as he values his friendship with Erik Morales. His unwillingness to engage will make for a boring fight as Marquez is a counter-puncher more than anything else. With 68 wars on his odometer, and arch-rival Erik Morales nearing retirement, Barrera has lost the fire and the hunger needed to win tough, grueling bouts. As one of the partners of Oscar de la Hoya in GBP, Barrera is financially set and his legacy is intact. The hungrier Marquez will definitely want it more. Marquez by decision.
On the same day, Evander “Real Deal” Holyfield continues the road to travesty by matching up against Vinny Maddalone, a vicious puncher who wings haymakers with murderous intentions. I actually hope nobody watches this fight so that the Real Deal will finally realize he’s already a Done Deal.
An interesting event ( I did not use the word fight) this weekend that is worth mentioning for its novelty, would be Erich “Butterbean” Esch against Joe Siciliano. The former weighted a whopping 417.5 lbs while the latter shamelessly contributed his 313.5 lbs of blubber, making this the heaviest boxing bout in history. You think its funny don’t you? Wait till you hear the punchline delivered by Siciliano: “.. I’m going to give it my all. I’ve been working on conditioning, because conditioning is going to have a lot to do with the outcome of this fight. But I’m not dropping any weight . . . actually I’m gaining, because Butterbean is so strong!
SAY YOUR PRAYERS. Jack Hall, a chaplain for ALA boxing wrote me a very nice email on the propriety of saying a prayer before televised boxing matches.
A few minutes before their fights during the Moment of Truth event, Z Gorres and Boom Boom Bautista were blessed and prayed over by Jack Hall and Fr. Ramon Ofredo. According to Jack, ABS-CBN gave only about three seconds coverage on the spiritual exercise and is wondering why such is the case.
Well sir, I’m all for it and I believe it would make for a good practice, subject of course to equal opportunity for other religious beliefs to exercise their preferences. Indeed, if we can sing our national anthems, there’s no reason why we cannot afford equal coverage to saying our blessings and prayers before a fight. But I’m not really in a position to explain the stingy TV coverage, but maybe one of the suits from the network giant can? You can respond to this column directly and may God have mercy on your souls.
LAST ROUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER. Last Wednesday, the Last Round was featured in Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro and one of those who emailed his thoughts was Dodong Espanto from Burgos, Surigao del Norte. A former councilor and vice mayor, Dodong espouses the belief that politicians do not make for good boxers. Or is it the other way around? Thanks Dong for your thoughts and I hope to visit your beautiful town soon.
THE LAST ROUND. Today’s last round goes out to the hardworking and good-looking Municipal Councilors of Dapa, Surigao del Norte who are in town to attend the PCL end term assembly. Welcome to Cebu guys and keep up the good work. Cheers!
