Sunday, May 04, 2008 Quijano: Of second chances and tune-ups By Jingo Quijano Last Round
THE last time I saw Rodel Mayol fight on television, he paid dearly for putting his hands down.
A one-two combination thrown with deadly precision by IBF Junior flyweight champ Ulisses Solis had him scrambling on all fours and getting counted out.
He was up in that fight, until that defensive miscue, and everyone lamented that fact, since Mayol even had Solis hurt at one point early in the fight.
He languished in limbo for a few months before he vectored his career into a morass by suffering a shocking upset loss to unheralded Adrian Hernandez via fourth round kayo.
Then in it was back to limbo again.
BACK ON TRACK. By the time you read this, “Batang Mandaue” should have already taken care of business with Thai Wisan Sor Suchanya who has a hobbling record of 9-6 with 2 KOs.
Suchanya obviously doesn’t hit that hard and hasn’t been in there with enough people to give Mayol some trouble.
As far as second chances go, Rodel is fortunate to be headlining a card in Cebu Coliseum. SGG Promotions indeed is giving him a second lease on life.
The event is aptly dubbed “Back on Track” and I hope Rodel made the most out of it last night.
SIZE ISSUE. I think too much fuss has been made between the alleged size disparity between Steve Forbes and Oscar dela Hoya.
Well, it isn’t really that much.
A quick perusal of his record will show that Forbes has fought before at 150 pounds during the “Contender” television series and acquitted himself quite well against the hulking Cornelius Bundrage and Grady Brewer.
His last fight (a split decision win against Francisco Bojado) was fought at the welterweight limit, so 150 pounds isn’t that far from his comfort level.
The correct adjective would be that he is too short for Oscar, but not too small.
BUSY GUY. Size won’t be too much of a difference in this fight, but skill definitely will.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Shane Mosely, who both stood inches shorter than dela Hoya, showed that they could beat him by capitalizing on his defensive lapses and outlasting him during the final stages of the fight.
Forbes is a volume puncher who likes to stay busy and wing punches from different angles. He has fast hands and traditionally, Oscar has had trouble against fighters with equal or better hand speed.
The problem for Forbes is that he can’t punch his way out of a paper bag.
With only nine knockouts in 33 wins, his best chance would be to take the fight into the later rounds and hope for that traditional Oscar fade in the championship rounds.
TUNE-UP. If you’ve been following Oscar’s career like I do, you will have noticed that the Golden Boy likes to pick up an easy win every now and then. A tune-up before the big dance.
There was Patrick Charpentier before Julio Cesar Chavez. Oba Carr before Felix Trinidad. Arturo Gatti before he moved up in weight to challenge Javier Castillejo. And Yory Boy Campas sandwiched between Shane Mosely and Fernando Vargas.
There’s really nothing wrong with that. Even Roy Jones Jr. had his Richard Fraziers and Bernard Hopkins, his Morrade Hakkars.
But if Oscar is intent on finishing his career with a bang, Forbes was a poor choice of opponent. It really doesn’t prove anything except to establish a recurring pattern in his career.
THE LAST ROUND. It’s on two lovable and smart kids who recently celebrated their birthdays, Venissse Young and Matthew Lim-Co. Cheers!
