The last time I went to a live boxing match, I was with my father.  I couldn’t remember how old I was then.  I just knew that we were watching one of our neighbors in the ring try to take his opponents head off.  The following day, I tried to give it a go with the same neighbor’s son.  Thinking that since he had a bad leg, it would affect his other limbs as well.  It did not.  I ended up having a black eye, and some folks had to separate us as we rolled round and round on a muddy street.  Guess who initiated the wrestling match.

Last Sunday, after bringing the SO to the airport, I quickly changed my clothes and rushed to the Araneta Coliseum to watch Gerry Penalosa and the rest of the gang take on the invading boxers.  The event was named such– Invasion.  There were a lot of boxers from other parts of the planet who came to the Philippines to ply their wares.  If you think about it, it wasn’t such a bad deal for them.  The guy from Uruguay for example, despite losing his cherry (it was his first loss) to AJ Banal was paid $30K.  Not bad for the beating he got.

It’s easy to watch a boxing match on TV and just think of it as another sport.  Seeing it live provides a whole new dimension to this pugilistic sport.  Sometimes, in the opening bell, you could almost smell the fear that the thought of an impending pain gives to these ring gladiators.  But then once they taste their first leather, all these things fly out of the ring.  All you see is pure tenacity and agression for these boxers.  It’s not hard to see why.  Apart from the fact that this is their bread and butter, getting bested by another human being in the most manly of ways is how do I put this… humiliating.
I cannot help but think of the great Hercules when he was about to do battle with another who was then full of wit and clearly with a much developed intellect.  The guy wanted to engage Hercules on a war of words, but the hero would have none of it.  He said something to the effect that the guy could win the war on words but he will definitely win the fight.  And he did.  At the end of the day, winning a debate can be satisfying, but much more so is the picture of your raised hand while your opponent lies moaning on the ground bloodied from the battle where you emerged victorious.

One of the ‘invaders’ that showed the most heart during Sunday’s event was the kid from Korea.  He was clearly very young having fought only 7 boxing matches, winning them all but 1.  He also KO’d three of his opponents en route to winning.  Unfortunately for him, he was up against Ciso “Kid Terrible” Morales, a vicious fighter if ever there was one.  Ciso was only more experienced than the Korean by around 5 bouts, but he was brutal and a very good boxer.  The Korean did his best and showed a lot of heart until the referee mercifully ended the match.  Ciso had a lump under his right eye, but the Korean was bleeding in a lot of places.  The Korean would come out aggressive in the middle rounds but Ciso would come out with his scythe-like jabs and just as easily the cuts, that the Korean’s corner tried to patch up in between rounds, would open up.  It was terrible to see blood gushing out from the young Koreans cuts and you could clearly see all these blood covering his face.

Although I was alone in watching the fight, I couldn’t help but shout to the referee that he ask the ring physician to check out the cut.  He really should have.  It’s the normal thing to do in a boxing match when a fighter is bleeding profusely.  But he did more than that.  He stopped the fight.  And I could only sigh in relief.

I don’t know if I would want to go to another live boxing event again.  Somehow, watching a fight on TV dulls the sensation of seeing a fighter being pummelled to submission.  The feed and the distance seems to provide some sort of a cushion for our humane instincts, fooling us into thinking that we are only watching a show.  But watching a fight live makes you more in touch with your humanity, and truly, compassion, however buried it may be by all the callousness that you’ve experienced in life, rises up to the surface and makes you afraid for your fellow man.

Here’s one for the books. Last Saturday night our very own Z “The Dream” Gorres fought against Vic “The Raging Bull” Darchinyan of Australia in an IBF (International Boxing Federation) eliminator in Cebu. I was actually looking forward to the fight so much so that against all delicadeza and decorum I shamelessly imposed myself upon a friend. He was enjoying a quiet evening with his kid when I called and asked if it’s alright if I can watch the fight at their house as he has a cable connection and all. What are friends for if you can’t abuse them right?

Anyway, instead of an explosive bout, we were treated to a comedy of errors, one that would have anyone who has a good appreciation of the absurd, rolling on the floor laughing.

First there was the referee. In the first round, he called a highly visible slip a knockdown favoring the Australian. When the slomo was played at the end of the round, it was painfully clear that there was no punch involved. Of course, as we are wont to do, plastic bottles rained on the boxing ring. Gah, we Pinoys are so passionate. The referee, a rather old guy from New Zealand must have quaked in his boots as he proceeded to rule at least three knockdowns after that miscall, as slips– this time favoring the Pinoy.

What can I say, we are a persuasive race, and the Kiwi must have been thinking he needed to make reparations.

At the end of the match everyone was blaming the referee. Poor guy. One popular boxing promoter was even demanding that he be banned from officiating boxing matches for life. Harsh.

Then there’s Darchinyan. The way he struts around the ring challenges Charles Darwin’s theory that we all descended from apes, either that, or this guy is of another species, one that descended from crabs. We couldn’t help but laugh everytime he bobs and weaves. Oh lord, my expat boss had more grace than that guy when he dances. Seriously.

And the icing on the cake was the judges of course. To make an appearance of a fair fight– heavens forbid that we Pinoys should be seen as biased and cheats who would do anything for a hometown decision—the promoters had three judges composed of one Australian, one Pinoy, and one Thai.

Towards the end of the match, a lot of the plastic-bottle throwing spectators (the throwing incident never abated by the way) were starting to move towards the exit, resigned to the fact that their homeboy lost. But then like a scene from some surreal movie, a weird thing happened; While it was painfully clear to everyone that it was a Darchinyan victory, the judges begged to differ. The ring announcer declared it a draw.

And here’s the killer, the Filipino judge scored it in favor of the Australian fighter, the Thai judge scored it in favor of the Filipino fighter, and the Australian, well, he scored it a tie. End result— DRAW.

What do you say to that? Holy guacamole, only in the Philippines.

photo from philboxing.com

Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautista won a Unanimous Decision verdict in his fight against his Mexican opponent this morning. It would have been great had he scored a knock-out but a win is a win and we should all be thankful for it. Especially Boom-Boom.

I can still remember a couple of months ago during the Boxing World Cup against Mexico when Daniel Ponce De Leon bum-rushed him and got him right in the first round. That must have been a cold douse of water for the young pug. It was also a reality check for him. I felt that all the media’s praises and adulation had him deluded on his boxing abilities. At least what happened to him occurred at the early stages of his career otherwise he may not be able to recover from it.

The fans were also merciless when Boom-Boom got kayoed. A lot of fanatics labeled him as an exposed, overrated, protected fighter. And he immediately found his bandwagon empty. Those who called him the second-coming of Manny Pacquiao quickly disappeared from the face of the earth as if they wanted to keep themselves as far away as possible from the beaten fighter.

But such is the nature of the sweet science. Something that I’m not entirely sold on, but theres a whiff of truth to it. When it comes to prizefighting, you’re only as good as your last fight. Unless you’re already in the caliber of those boxing greats, those whose stock only rises when they lose.

Welcome back to the winning side Boom-Boom, I hope you don’t have to switch lanes again.

The Filipino Flash, Nonito Donaire successfully defended his IBF/IBO belts against a very tough Mexican, Luis Maldonado. Donaire had Maldonado down in the seventh but was not able to finish the job. He continued his onslaught in the following round throwing vicious rights and flush left uppercuts that Maldonado absorbed brutally. The referee mercifully intervened at 1:16 to stop the punishment that Nonito Donaire was dishing out.

Nonito was awesome. It’s no wonder they call him the Filipino Flash. He throws heavy punches at lightning speed. The kid definitely has skills and for sure a lot of people will be looking forward to his next fight– including myself.

[photo credit: www.boxnews.com.au]*

*in the photo, Nonito KO’d Vic Darchinyan to collect the latter’s IBF/IBO belts. Prior to their fight, Vic has been mouthing off after breaking the jaw of Nonito’s older brother Glen. With a perfectly timed left-hook, Nonito sent Darchinyan crashing to the canvass, where he stayed down.