Saturday, August 18, 2007 Quijano: World Cup hangover By Jingo Quijano Last Round
AT THE press conference for the victorious World Cup boxing team, held at the Cebu Marriot Hotel a few nights ago, several facts came to light:
1.The game plan was for Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista to box Ponce de leon for the first few rounds, try to frustrate him, and then shift to attack mode in the middle rounds;
2.As his constant sparring partner during training, Gerry Peñalosa shared with Boom Boom plenty of tips on how to be effective against de Leon;
3.Moments before Bautista entered the ring, Gerry held his shoulders and once again reminded him not to stand in front of de leon and to move to his left side;
4.Boom Boom admits to having strayed from the game plan and acknowledges it as a lesson well-learned;
5.Oscar de la Hoya is coming to Cebu;
6.Had there been a last minute injury to any one of our team members, Michael Katsidis was ready to renounce his Australian citizenship and fight for Filipino pride. He would have been known as Michael “Learns to Rock” Katsidis;
7.Veteran reporter Junrey Nadela has a well-modulated voice and could give Michael Buffer a run for his money; 8.The affair was “snubbed” by Cebu City officials;
9.Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes knows his boxing;
10.My friend Michael Aldeguer is a dead ringer for a young Christopher de leon;
11.I can’t say no to steak even if I already had two dinners;
12.Sports reporters and writers drink beer like a sponge;
Actually, no. 12 was established post-press conference at a different venue, but I just thought you should know.
FUTURE CHALLENGERS. At the press conference, I had a very nice discussion with international promoter Sammy Gelloani on which country other than Mexico might be able to put up a strong challenge for the Cup.
I came up with some possibilities and Sammy, the “Don King of Cebu” said it would also depend on whether or not the champions continue to hold on their belts by the time the next Cup materializes. I could not get the fascinating scenarios out of mind so I’m sharing it here with you.
Venezuela vs. the Philippines would be explosive. Imagine Edwin Valero against Manny Pacquiao for the WBA superfeatherweight and Alexander Muñoz defending his WBA super flyweight crown against Z Gorres. Now that would be something.
Think also Japan which has more possibilities. We could have WBA minimumweight champion Yutaka Niida against Donnie “Ahas” Nietes and WBA flyweight Takefumi Sakata unify against IBF champion Nonito “The Filipino Flash” Donaire. WBO champ Gerry Peñalosa against WBC champ Hozumi Hasegawa. Eagle Kyowa in a rematch with Rodel Mayol for the WBC mini-flyweight belt.
Whoever we may be up against, the advantage we have will be our depth. On any given weight class, we have world class fighters ready to bring glory and honor to our country with capable substitutes ready to step in at any given moment.
Just like in basketball we can go two-man or three-man deep for every position. And beware of our so-called second stringers. They play like starters too. Just ask Michael Domingo.
THE LAST ROUND. It’s on my pretty niece Katrina Dominique “Nikki” Mangubat who turned six yesterday. Happy birthday and cheers!
