Tuesday, August 07, 2007 Quijano: Outlasted but not outfought By Jingo Quijano Last Round
MY mother Elena hails from that sleepy northern town divinely bestowed with shimmering white sandy beaches. As a kid, I spent countless summers in San Remegio, surrounded by a multitude of cousins, my skin turning darker as each day passed, blending seamlessly with its rustic hues.
I never met my grandfather Francisco Mayol, who was reportedly a stern taskmaster. He passed away before I was born, which was a shame, as he would have had his hands full disciplining a mischievous little tyke like me.
My mother tells me that all Mayols trace their ancestry to Mandaue City and every time I meet a Mayol, we exchange the usual pleasantries and queries on lineage and kinship.
Last Rounder Roel Mayol, who is now based in Batangas City, recently e-mailed me about my family roots. My uncles residing in the US of A laughingly relay anecdotes of how it is always mispronounced as “Meiyawl”.
Yes, Mayol genomes run half of the blood that courses through my veins and that is why that one-two combination thrown with deadly precision by Ulises Solis, which landed heavily on Rodel’s exposed chin, was doubly agonizing for me to bear.
The cold ones that I had stocked in the fridge (twelve of them in fact) beckoned but they remained unopened. Their sweet frothy pleas of release from their bottled confines would be unanswered. For now.
Instead, I erased that image of Rodel’s silly grin after the knockout, heaved a sigh of disappointment, and proceeded to score the Morales-Diaz fight. Shortly after, I took a restful sober nap. Slumber does wonders for dejected souls.
TIRED RODEL. As I painfully watched the replay later that night, I had to tip my hat off to Solis. True Mexican warriors are known for their impressive bodywork and he proudly lived up to that tradition.
The shots to the liver that he threw took a lot out of Rodel. It sapped him of the zip in his fists and he was noticeably tired after the fifth round.
And when you tire, the first thing to go is your defense. It won’t be obvious at first but if you look closer, you will notice the jab become lazy, the head movements scarcer by the minute, the arms feel heavier and the reflexes a tad slower.
Problem is, when you are competing at the championship level, even a tad slow can be too wide a window for a dangerous champion like Solis.
WEIGHTY ISSUE. No, guys, I do not think the weight had anything to do with it. Rodel will turn 26 this week and his lithe frame is still gaining weight just as Mother Nature intended.
The jump from 105 to 108 suited him. He was just as strong as Solis in there. He hurt him and wobbled him with wicked hooks and uppercuts.
But Solis was just more durable. Let’s give him the credit he deserves. He is a capable ring tactician with only blemish on his record. Even when he was hurt, he came back. A lesser champion would have succumbed to Rodel’s bombs, but he found a way to outlast Rodel in there. That’s that.
EL TERRIBLE. I don’t know about you but I thought the decision was El Terrible. I had Morales up by three points in that fight. He scored a knockdown, and fought a very intelligent fight.
Sure, Diaz had his moments, but most of the time he was flailing wildly and was effectively countered by Morales’ straight right hands. The punch stats will bear out that Morales even landed more punches than Diaz (169 to 161).
Curiously, when the verdict was announced Erik nodded his head in agreement. A few years ago, he would have reacted quite differently.
Maybe this is indeed the end of the road for Morales. When the will to fight and the spunk leaves you, there’s not much left to go on. Psychologically, he’s done as a fighter.
THE LAST ROUND. It is on lovely couple Adim and Che-che Young whose charming daughter Vashti Careen recently celebrated her birthday. Cheers!
