Saturday, March 17, 2007 Quijano: Why Gerry will win By Jingo Quijano Last Round
EXPERTS who think that Gerry will be easy fodder for the hard punching Daniel Ponce de Leon are in for a nasty surprise. I just love underdogs and the 10-1 odds have me salivating over the possible upset of epic proportions that is bound to happen.
This last rounder stared long and hard at his frothy, frosty beer mug (which actually doubles as a crystal ball) and saw Gerry become world champion again.
1. Styles make fights. It’s a time-honored adage in boxing and it will hold true for this fight. Ponce de Leon is a puncher and hence, he is made-to-order for Gerry, a counter-puncher, and among the best in the business. With his cool and relaxed demeanor in the ring, he has been compared to James Toney, the acknowledged master at this craft.
Ponce de Leon tends to be a bit wild with his punches and so he will wade in throwing bombs and leave himself wide open for Gerry’s punishing counters.
Of course, there’s always the possibility that de Leon will connect with the big one and knock Gerry out but think of this for a moment. Gerry has never been knocked out before and so if you take that away, there’s nothing left for Ponce de Leon. Style-wise, Gerry is the superior fighter and class always shows. Remember how a 36-year-old Hopkins counter-punched unbeaten punching phenom Felix Trinidad all night long to become the undisputed middleweight champion in 2001? Or how about 34-year-old Joe Calzaghe schooling Jeff Lacy, then a young, undefeated and feared hulk at super-middleweight?
The fight template is there and all Gerry has to do is apply it.
2. Southpaw riddle. Granted, both of them are lefties. But Gerry is very comfortable fighting his own kind. On the other hand, De Leon’s only loss was inflicted by Celestino Caballero, a tall rangy lefty. He also struggled with Thai southpaw Sod Looknongyangtuy in their first fight winning only by decision, before landing the big one in their second fight, knocking the latter out in the first round.
Maybe he figured him out the second time around or maybe he just got lucky. Whatever. At least the first fight showed that he had trouble figuring out the southpaw stance. Gerry on the other hand, is comfortable with both southpaws and orthodox fighters.
The ones who give him trouble though are the tall rangy boxers who move around too much as there is nothing for him to counter. That’s why he lost twice to both In Joo Choo and Masamori Tokuyama.
They chose to box Gerry and move out quickly, forcing Gerry to turn puncher and chase them all over the ring— a role he is not comfortable playing. With Ponce de Leon, Gerry will be able to plant his feet, relax and wait for the oncoming artillery. If he is able to figure out Ponce de Leon after a couple of rounds and gets comfortable, he will take over and pile up the points.
3. Experience is still the best teacher. When Daniel Ponce de Leon started his professional boxing career in 2001, Gerry already had won and lost a world title. At that time, Gerry was already bent on making a comeback, a second run for lost glory. Gerry has been there, done that. Granted, he wants to become world champion again.
But the pressure will be on the power punching Mexican, who is defending his WBO super bantamweight crown. Gerry will take him to deep waters and drown him.
4. Intangibles. The Ponce de Leon camp is underestimating Gerry, declaring the latter to be too small for the hard-hitting champion. Maybe, maybe not.
But anyone who believes the bigger and stronger fighter always wins are probably the same people who believe in James Yap’s hope-less confession (pun intended). Plus, with 34 knockouts in 51 wins, Gerry is hardly a feather-fisted fighter.
He is a dangerous and seasoned former world champion, packing dynamite power in both hands. He will win and now you know why.
The Last Round. Today’s last round goes out to Atty. Climaco Camiso Jr., our senior associate at the Zosa and Quijano Law Office.
Blessed and surrounded by the love of his adoring wife Maricor and their four brilliant children, Atty. Camiso recently celebrated his birthday and shared with us his mouth-watering version of “kalderetang kambing.” Yummy!
