Making a world title fight 2

The headline for today will have to be copied from that of three weeks ago as a minor bump on the road surfaced on AJ “Bazooka” Banal’s path to a world championship. If my forecast is right, AJ Banal won the WBA super flyweight championship last night by knock-out in the middle rounds just as we were going into press for today’s issue.

If Rafa Concepcion didn’t change his style from that which we saw from a previous fight, then Banal will tear him up real bad. Concepcion is called “El Torito” or little bull since he fights like a bull, always going forward and not afraid to get hit. He uses his power to get the job done and is not known to be a technical type of a boxer with finesse and classy moves. This type of boxer is a perfect match for Banal’s combination of excellent boxing skills, power and ring maturity.

Concepcion comes at you with his punches coming from wild angles via hooks and overhand rights. His jab looks more like a token punch with the goal of setting up his bombs. This will leave him open up the middle where Banal is expected to take his shots. You can expect Banal to be cautious of Concepcion’s power, but he’ll also look for the opportunity to counter his foe’s wild shots. I see Banal going down the barrel with the basics of a jab-straight attack especially when Concepcion brings his arms wide to throw his hooks. This will then open up more chances for Banal to throw more combinations including a counter left straight and right uppercut when Concepcion throws a right overhand or hook.

The crucial element that sticks out in Concepcion ’s record is that he has lost twice in the past and has been down on the canvas before. Although he has since avenged these two losses, I don’t think he has faced a boxer with the calibre of Banal. After all, how much experience can he get in only 13 fights? Unless of course he’s the second coming of his countryman-hero Roberto Duran.

While that’s the good news, the minor bump on the road that we’ll all have to deal with for now is the WBA’s decision that last night’s fight was for the interim super flyweight championship. Interim or not, everything is pointing to the direction that this is already the regular championship of the world underneath the WBA’s super champion Christian Mijares. It will all be a mere formality as Banal waits for the winner of the top two ranked Japanese boxers who square off for the regular WBA super flyweight championship on September 15.

Yes, Banal can already be considered a world champ, but it will be even sweeter and more definite once he overcomes either Nobou Nashiro or Kohei Kono. The latest word is that if Banal won last night, the powerful Akihiko Honda, who promotes the two Japanese, has already committed to pit the winner of the September 15 fight against Banal in the United States. The WBA has declared that this fight must take place before December 15, 2008.

While we’ll never be able to completely understand the logic behind how these boxing bodies operate and implement their rules, we don’t have a choice but to deal with it. I was surprised to hear about the “interim” tag that was added to the title since I had the impression that this was already the real thing, only to find out that the WBA was saying something else. Oh well, I guess it’s just another important pre-requisite for a Banal championship that we’ll never fully grasp.

From another perspective, this will be good for Banal in the sense that he’s already being given a shot at the world title via the interim title fight. Further down the road but more of a long-term plan is a shot at the super champion. We’ll all be confused from now until December 15, when the WBA will have a super champion (Mijares), a regular champion (Nashiro or Kono on September 15), and Banal’s interim championship. But I guess that’s not too bad, is it? The good news is that Banal has an official belt recognized by the WBA. This puts him in great positioning behind the Japanese with a sure ticket to Vegas for a world title fight before the year is over.

Who said that it was going to be an easy ride to the top?

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Time-out: Dear Mayor Avel Gungob of Consolacion, may I suggest that we take a pro-active approach at the terrible road situation in the Pitogo area? Instead of blaming the DPWH and the national government, let’s take the initiative to “just do it” and repair the roads. Your people will love you for this. >>> You can reach me at [email protected].