When looking good can be bad

One of the toughest parts of being a world-rated boxer is that when he scores lopsided wins on home soil, he’s labeled as overrated and was matched against a “patsy.” Looking back at recent events, Donnie Nietes won by a first round knock-out over Armando Vazquez last week in Pinoy Pride 5. AJ Banal needed only two rounds to KO Tanzanian Fancis Miyeyusho at Pinoy Pride 4, while Milan Melindo spent less than three minutes on the ring when he defeated Rosenda Vega also in Pinoy Pride 4. While the wins looked impressive, the cynics out there thought otherwise.

I guess it’s a good time to dissect these things once again. Were their foes really patsies? Were those visitors just simply propped up to make the local boxers look good? Or were the local boxers simply too overwhelming and that good?

Let’s check out some benchmarks or look at other similar scenarios and see if this helps. This brings me back to the models set by Manny Pacquiao and Nonito Donaire Jr. When Pacquiao demolishes his opponents, are his opponents labeled as patsies? Definitely not. Well ok, I know that this example may be a bit too far off when compared against the trio of Nietes, Banal and Melindo, but the point here is that world class boxers and the best of the best have this peculiar way of looking so good on the ring, and making their opponents look really bad to the point that they’re labeled as patsies. Pacquiao is on a level of his own when he makes his foes look like beginners. All we have to do is look at his fights against Oscar de la Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Eric Morales and Miguel Cotto. Donaire finds himself in a similar situation. His demolition of Fernando Montiel and Volodymyr Sydorenko in his last fights showcased how far ahead he is from his closest opponents at the bantamweight level. Remember Moruti Mthalane? He lost to Donaire by TKO in a world title fight (flyweight) but has come back to win the world flyweight championship, defeating Julio Cesar Miranda. Certainly, Donaire can’t be faulted for fighting “patsies.”

Going back to Nietes, Banal and Melindo, only time will tell if and when they’re ready for the bigger fights of Vegas, but one thing has to be accepted. We still have to see them dominate at the topmost level of boxing. If they can dominate other top-rated foes, then we can group them up there with the Pacman and Donaire. One other boxing practice that has to be accepted is that boxers being groomed for the big time are never given foes who have more than a 50-50 chance of winning. Moreover, such top caliber boxers from other countries like Mexico usually don’t want to risk coming over to the Philippines knowing that their lofty ratings and status could be destroyed.

In Nietes’ case, facing the likes of Ivan Calderon and Giovanni Segura and beating them by KO would be sending a statement to the boxing world as he moves up to the light flyweight division. But to get there, he’ll settle for “practice” for now and score KO wins over others, preferably Mexicans. Banal ironically finds himself in a somewhat of a “start all over” scenario. After his first loss to Rafael Concepcion, he coasted to strong wins until bumping into former world champion Luis Alberto Perez to whom he nearly lost, saved by the ill-timed punch of Perez. Of the three, Melindo has probably had the toughest line-up of opponents since 2008, having faced world-rated boxers like Carlos Melo and former world champs Muhammad Rachman and Carlos Tamara. And more importantly, he managed to beat them convincingly. This may not have been by KO, but with his latest training upgrades, you never know.

This is where the game of match-making becomes a science and a craft. I’m pretty sure ALA Promotions would like to bring in opponents who’ll last more than a round or two, but this is a bit out of their control. Getting really good fighters will cost a lot and may mean a possible loss here on home soil. Neither do they want to bring boxers who are totally outclassed even before stepping on the ring. Our boxers need tune-up fights against boxers who can last an entire bout and who can give our boxers a competitive fight since this is one of the best ways to learn and improve one’s craft. The challenge for matchmakers here is to find this kind of boxers at the best possible price.

At the end of the day, our boxers will best be gauged when they face off against equally talented boxers of their level. Building them up through tune-up fights is necessary but their foes will have to do more than take a vacation here in Cebu.

Yes, our boxers are good, but could also end up looking bad.

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Time-out: Bruce Esmas added Cebuanos worth watching in the Manila collegiate basketball leagues this schoolyear: Frank Dysam (USPF) of Letran and Jerick Canada (Don Bosco) of Adamson and JayR Bulangis (USPF) of JRU. >>> You can reach me at [email protected].