Sports Eye
Proof of Filipino excellence
By Jesus A. Garcia Jr.
I GUESS many failed to watch live the bally-hoed Pinoy Pride 33 on TV due to Typhoon Lando’s wrath that devastated several places of northern Luzon. In a way, I was a typhoon victim myself. My old mango tree fell on my car garage damaging it partly. The power failure prevented us from watching on TV the world boxing match that featured WBO (World Boxing Organization) light-flyweight title bout between defending champion Donnie “Ahas” Nietes and Mexican slugger Juan “Pinky” Alejo held last Sunday.
Boxing is my number two favorite sport, next to cycling, and since both protagonists were my half country mates, I knew I had to watch but nature was unkind that day. I don’t know much about Alejo but I’m familiar with Nietes having watched his two world title defenses personally in Cebu City – his 108 pounds belt against Moises Fuentes and Carlos Velarde both held at Waterfront Hotel and Casino. And last October 18, the Negros Occidental-born Nietes effectively retained his belt anew by pummeling Alejo to win by unanimous decision to the delight of the pro-Filipino crowd. His three compatriots featherweight Mark “Magnifico” Magsayo, the Pagara brothers Jason and Albert were also performed creditably by stopping all their foes in the undercards.
From what I was told by Punch colleague Al S. Mendoza last Sunday, the young and undefeated Magsayo, 20, needed only two minutes to knock out Mexican Yardly Suarez registering his s10th stoppage after 12 fights. I saw one of Magsayo’s fights in Cebu City on November 15, 2014 with my barangay mate Antonio G. Jimenez and I believe this Tacloban City-born hombre is a world champion prospect. He got the speed, the power and fury. But he can be reckless sometimes. Magsayo, 20, is still young without enough international experience and can stand more improvements.
Likewise I also saw super lightweight Jason ”El Niño” Pagara, 23, fight also in Cebu City on May 25, 2013. The Cagayan de Oro City-born Pagara, toting a record of 36 wins 23 of them by kayos and with two failures, is a bull-strong fighter but not so clever unlike his brother Albert “The Prince” who is crafty, fast and elusive. Yes, Jason scored an amazing second round knockout win to world unranked Nicaraguan Santos “El Toro” Benavides, But the youthful undefeated junior featherweight pug Albert, 21, who has 25-0 record with 18 knockouts I believe has a better chance to wrest a world champion tiara than his brother Jason. Albert retained his WBO and IBF (International Boxing Federation) super bantamweight diadem last Sunday by knocking out in the sixth round William Gonzales also from Nicaragua.
After that brawl in Carson City which was the first of the four to fight in American soil, Nietes unabashedly and quickly challenged number one pound-for-pound king WBC (World Boxing Council) flyweight titlist Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzales from Nicaragua, the conqueror of former world flyweight champion Fil-Am Brian “Hawaiian Punch” Viloria. If Nietes wants to fight this Nicaraguan icon, he should climb the ring at 112 pounds. But latest report says Gonzales will go up to super flyweight (116 lbs) and the chance of the two to fight against each other is, therefore, nil. But who knows, it could still be done depending on whether the promoters think the project is marketable. Let’s wait and see.
Yes, the four fights at Carson City clearly showed the proof of the Filipino excellence in this kind of brutal sport.
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QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Wives, submit to your own husbands as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not bitter toward them. Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged. COLOSSIANS 3: 18-21
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