Monday, March 17, 2008 Rama: The business remains unfinished By Karlon N. Rama Stage Five
I WILL leave the post-fight analysis to Jingo Quijano who definitely knows his stuff. But, violent reactions from readers notwithstanding, yesterday’s fight should have gone Juan Manuel Marquez’s way.
Yes Manny Pacquiao was fast and his shots did have power, even forcing Marquez down on the third.
But the defending World Boxing Council (WBC) super featherweight champion took all Pacquiao could give and dished out enough to stun the Pacman, whose head snapped and whose legs visibly wobbled in the eighth.
Marquez, while not actually dictating the tempo in most of the rounds, wasn’t dominated either. In fact, Pacquiao didn’t appear able to comprehend the Mexican’s fight plan.
If anything, Pacquiao fought like an injured animal simply trying to survive. Compelling to watch, yes, but not very methodical and not very efficient.
He didn’t quite get his range right. As a result, and with Marquez having a five-inch reach advantage, Pacman often got tagged with what must have been very irritating jabs when he tried to initiate contact.
Besides, a one-point win does not a convincing victory make. Call it equity of the incumbent.
Judge Jerry Roth scored the match 115-112 for Marquez ,while Duane Ford scored it 115-112 for Pacquiao. Breaking the draw was Tom Miller, with 114-113 for the Pacman.
Fighthype.com reported that Pacquiao fired a flurry of 619 punches in the 12-round fight, with 157 landing. Marquez, on the other hand, fired a mere 511 but made 172 of these connect.
As far as power punches are concerned, the Pacman launched 305 bruisers but only scored a hit on 114 of them. Marquez, for his part, let off 310 wallops and was able to dump energy in 130.
So, how could Pacman have won?
Maybe I just expected more from who Manila media likes to call the Pambansang Kamao.
With GMA and ABS-CBN’s hard-sell advancers on the Pacman’s training with Freddie Roach (check out the footages of his come-hell-or-high-water jogging sessions), one would have expected Pacman flooring Marquez through sheer will power at the opening bell.
I watched yesterday’s match at the NL Café, right outside the Camp Lapu-Lapu main gate. The owner happens to be a close friend of my father-in-law, who is also a boxing nut.
One of the fight-fan there was Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge and Front Sight Gun Club shooter Macaundas “Mac” Hadjirasul, who had an interesting fight analysis to offer.
The turning point for the match, Judge Mac said, was when Pacquiao suffered a nasty cut right above his right eye courtesy of a left hook on the 7th.
The cut, from which blood oozed, bothered Pacquiao on the subsequent rounds.
Being a southpaw, Pacquiao takes a right lead to engagements. He doesn’t turn his body square towards his targets but turns his body sideways to the right. He sets up his powerful left with right jabs, poking his way to points of vulnerability.
But with his right eye almost shut, as Judge Mac pointed out, targeting became next to impossible.
Had his right eye been well, Judge Mac speculated, the outcome of the fight would have been different. Pacquiao, he said, would have displayed a more convincing form.
A 1911 by Taurus. Speaking of convincing forms, Lawyer Carlos Cavada phoned me last Saturday to report that the Taurus 1911.45 pistol he ordered at a gun store had arrived and that he just picked it up.
I invited him to bring the gun over to the Sun.Star Cebu newsroom where we fieldstripped it shiny-new and still smelling of lubricant. We’d have brought it to the range for testing but he had another appointment.
The gun features a hammer-forged, not metal cast, ordnance-grade steel frame, slide and barrel, as well as precision-machined parts built to extremely tight tolerance. Each gun is hand-fitted and tuned.
The nineteen-eleven had a duotone blue finish and came with Heinie front and rear sights. The sights feature two dots, one up front and one at the rear, which the shooter lines up for an accurate shot.
Atty. Cavada picked a single-stack model so his pistol has a limited 8+1 capacity. Nevertheless, it is a full five-inch model ready-to-shoot out-of-the box. It has checkered grips, a ventilated trigger and weighs 38 ounces when empty.
For comfort, it comes fitted with a series 80-type grip safety and a rounded “Commander” hammer that has been modified with a proprietary Taurus hammer lock.
When kept in storage, the owner can lock the hammer with a special key so that the gun can’t be racked for loading.
