Sunday, March 23, 2008 Quijano: Earh shakes under Manny's left hook By Jingo Quijano Last Round
I HAVE it on good authority that planet Earth spun temporarily out of its orbit last Sunday, around 10:45 a.m. more or less, Philippine time. More specifically, right around the two-minute mark of the third round during the Pacquiao-Marquez rematch, when a Pacquiao left hook landed squarely on the right side of the Marquez’s jaw.
The latter fell down and was visibly shaken, but that was nothing compared to the jolt mother Earth felt with the collective weight of about tens of millions of Pacman fans inhabiting the planet (on the average probably weighing about 150 pounds) jumping out of their seats and landing simultaneously.
As if the damage wasn’t enough, all of them could be heard squelching out something unearthly and incoherent like “Eeyooweeyahh!.
ON NACHO. Cebuano by birth but Californian-by-trade Al Rosell shot me a very nice e-mail last week on how he appreciates the Last Round for “not missing the point” of having a sports column.
He goes on to state though that my dead-even assessment of Freddie Roach and Nacho Beristain’s coaching capabilities might be off the mark. Here’s Al:
“Nacho Beristain—is not just a trainer he is THE TRAINER—in Mexico. He is an El Paso resident—but is Mexican thru and thru. Freddie Roach is the fave right now but he still has a lot of champs to make before he can hold a candle to Nacho—who is a inductee to the Boxing hall of Fame—and has made tens of Mexican world champs from Daniel Zaragoza, Finito Lopez to the present Marquez bros. The only US trainer north of the border who can approximate Nacho’s boxing resume is Angelo Dundee. Emmanuel Steward or porky Lou Duva don’t even come close.”
Thanks for pointing that out, Al. Rest assured, this column will always remain faithful to its mantra of being a boxing fan’s column for the boxing fan.
MOVING ON. Now that Pacquiao-Marquez 2 is in the books, and all the effluvia it generated has been sorted out, let’s move on and take a peek at what upcoming fights we can look forward to.
Two potential Pacman opponents at lightweight, Joel Casamayor and Michael Katsidis duke it out today in a very intriguing match-up. Style-wise, both these guys have about as much in common as night and day.
Cuban Casamayor is a slick, skilled southpaw who has decent power in both hands. But his best days may be behind him as he looked old and worn out in eking out a very controversial split decision against Armando Sta. Cruz in his last bout.
Katsidis is no stranger to us Pinoys. He outclassed Cesar Amonsot in a memorable war. Afterwards, he proudly carried the Philippine flag during the World Cup of Boxing as his tribute to our boxers. He’s a banger and with no reverse in his gear box.
On the local front, look out for Gerry Peñalosa who is set to defend his WBO Bantamweight crown against Ratanachai Sor Vorapin on April 6 at the Araneta Coliseum. Seeing action on the undercards will be Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautista against Genaro Camargo and AJ Banal in a very important IBF junior bantamweight eliminator against unbeaten Caril Herrera. It’s about time for AJ Banal to step up and show his stuff against better opposition.
YUKKA’S WOES. In case you haven’t heard, Yukka “Nice Guy” Gejon lost another heartbreaking split decision in Japan the other week, this time to unheralded Yuji Kanimetsu. Consequently, this soft-spoken and well-mannered kid who was once on the crest of boxing stardom is now on a three-fight losing streak.
Yukka, who is now managed by Mayor Dan Lim, informed the Last Round that he pounded the living bejeezus out of Kanimetsu (11-1, 6KOs) and couldn’t fathom out why he lost.
Well Yukka, I don’t know how you can stand to fight all the time in Japan. The chances of beating a Japanese prospect in Japan by decision are slimmer than your waistline.
LAST ROUND. It’s on a dear friend from my UP Diliman days, Joy Denoga who celebrates her birthday this week. Cheers!
