Tuesday, October 23, 2007 Quijano: Double whammy By Jingo Quijano Last Round
FROM what I culled from various Internet sources, Federico Catubay gave a good account of himself before falling to Vic Darchinyan via 12th round TKO.
Despite being knocked down thrice, Catubay took the fight to the “Raging Bull” who was also reportedly rocked several times, but the latter managed to secure the win with his superior firepower and sharper punching.
It was a double whammy for Pinoy fight fans last weekend as another one of our heroes, Fil-American Brandon Vera fell short, literally against giant Tim Sylvia.
Standing at only 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds to Sylvia’s 6-foot-8 and 265-lb. frame, Vera was clearly outsized and outmuscled.
Sam Sheridan, a journalist who ventured into the world of actual fighting and mixed-martial arts had this to say about Sylvia, whom he had a chance to spar, in his book “A Fighter’s Heart”:
“His hands were like sledgehammers, and if he had landed some hard body shots, I would probably have died. I hovered between trying to hit him and not wanting to piss him off. He trapped me in a corner and my tiny life flashed before my eyes as I scrambled. He once threw a turning back kick at me, and I leapt aside and it hit the wall like a wrecking ball. I gave him a dirty look and almost stopped sparring: Are you trying to kill me? Afterward, someone told me I was the same height’s Andrei Arlovski, Tim’s next fight opponent.”
The size disadvantage between Vera and Sylvia was quite apparent throughout the bout. Vera should consider more carefully what many people have been advising him to do—compete at light heavyweight.
He would probably be more competitive against the likes of Quentin Jackson and Chuck Lidell. .
DOWN UNDER. An e-mail from old childhood friend led me to a trip down memory lane. Dexter Belarma (Dexter.Belarma@railcorp.nsw.gov.au), who is now based in New South Wales, Australia, e-mailed me to inform this writer that the Last Round has its share of readers down under.
Dexter liked my piece on the “Raging Bull”, but confided to me that Darchinyan isn’t very popular in Australia. He said that distinction still belongs to Danny Green and Anthony Mundine.
Dexter also asked me what my opinion was on the upcoming Mikkel Kessler-Joe Calzaghe super fight slated on Nov. 3 at the Millenium Stadium at Cardiff, Wales.
Kessler-Calzaghe is a dream match up for European fight fans as both guys are undefeated with huge fan bases in their respective homelands. UK’s Calzaghe is best remembered for being the one to hand then unbeaten Jeff Lacy his first loss, in dominant fashion. He’s a southpaw with terrific hand speed and serious power in both hands.
Denmark’s Kessler who bills himself the “Viking Warrior” is a young hungry fighter eager to grab the spotlight. He feels that his time has come and it probably has. He has very good all-around boxing skills complemented by a dynamite right hand. If you were impressed with Librado Andrade who fought in the undercard of Pacquiao-Barrera, well you should know that Kessler outboxed him easily over 12 lopsided rounds.
The Last Round thinks that Kessler will live up to his warrior Viking ancestry and maraud Calzaghe inside 10 rounds.
JAB OF THE DAY. “Obviously he’s a good fighter, but he’s more of a brawler than a real technical fighter. I don’t think he punches hard, he just punches a lot. He’s a very awkward fighter and wins by ruining others’ styles. But he can’t ruin my style”—WBA/WBC super-middleweight champ Mikkel Kessler on Calzaghe’s styleTHE LAST ROUND. It’s on my badminton buddies, Jonathan Yu, Haydee Wang, and companeros Atty. Ging Paras and Kenneth Yap. Cheers!
