McTavish scored it for Gerry

It took New Zealand referee Bruce McTavish about 31/2 hours by train to reach Yokohama from Kobe last Sunday. The trip should’ve taken some 20 minutes less except McTavish misread his train ticket–he thought the date on the stub, marked 9-23, was his departure time which turned out to be 9:04 a.m. When he showed up at the entrance booth, the train had gone.

McTavish didn’t panic. He calmly asked a train attendant how to get back on track. After studying the railway route, McTavish hopped on a train that took him to a station where he connected to another coach bound for Kobe.

The night before, McTavish worked the Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation (OPBF) bantamweight title fight between Filipino champion Jess Maca and challenger Ryuichi Minoriyama in Takasago City, a 45-minute car ride from Kobe. Maca scored a split 12-round decision over Minoriyama to retain his crown. McTavish, the scoring referee, saw it 116-112. Filipino judge Vic Rodriguez had it 118-110, also for Maca. Japanese judge Ichiro Uehara scored it 117-116 for Minoriyama, as expected.

McTavish could’ve gone back home to Angeles City–where he lives with Filipina wife Carmen Tayag and their two daughters–the day after Maca’s fight. But he decided to go to Yokohama to be at ringside for World Boxing Council (WBC) superflyweight champion Masamori Tokuyama’s defense against Gerry Peñalosa last Monday.

McTavish, who has lived here for over 30 years and is probably more Filipino than the average Filipino, dreamed of watching Peñalosa regain the title.

At the Yokohama Arena, McTavish sat beside Japanese matchmaker Joe Koizumi. He kept a mental note of how each round went and in the end, picked a winner. McTavish said Koizumi’s scorecard and his were identical–seven rounds for Peñalosa and five for Tokuyama.

"There were a lot of close rounds that could’ve gone either way," said McTavish. Since the trend in world championship boxing is to frown on scoring even rounds, McTavish said he gave most of the close rounds to Peñalosa because he was the aggressor. McTavish noted that Tokuyama may have thrown more leather but he missed much more than he landed.

As for British referee Larry O’Connell’s work, McTavish described it "a terrible case of officiating." He counted 11 warnings on Tokuyama for headbutting but O’Connell never dared to deduct a single point on the Tokyo-born third generation Korean. O’Connell warned Peñalosa twice for low blows. And there were other warnings on Tokuyama for pushing.

"With so many warnings, I expected O’Connell to do something about what was going on," said McTavish. "Just one deduction on Tokuyama would’ve changed the complexion of the fight–it would’ve been a psychological boost for Gerry. Since O’Connell never deducted a point, Tokuyama kept on butting–that’s natural for a fighter like him who’ll butt it if he thinks he can get away with it. That demoralized Gerry."

McTavish pointed out that British judge John Keane, who scored it 116-113 for Tokuyama, gave seven rounds to the champion and four to Peñalosa and saw one round even. The two other judges, Chuck Williams and Chuck Hassett, had it 115-113, both for Tokuyama or a 7-5 count in rounds.

Meanwhile, boxing promoter Johnny Elorde said Peñalosa should continue fighting despite the loss to Tokuyama.

"Why should he retire?" asked Elorde. "Malakas pa siya. Marami pa siyang kikitain sa boksing."

Peñalosa, 29, didn’t lose badly to Tokuyama and will likely hold on to a top three spot in the WBC ratings. He’s far from finished.

Elorde said when he watched Peñalosa train for Tokuyama in the gym, he noticed he sparred with virtual novices like Alex Escaner and Marcial Alquizar. "Hindi siya nakipagbugbugan–parang light sparring lang ang ginawa niya," observed Elorde.

Since Peñalosa had fought only once in 10 months before facing Tokuyama, Elorde said he should’ve gone all out in sparring with heavy hitters. That only fight lasted 93 seconds–he knocked out Keiji Yamaguchi last May–so it was hardly a workout.

Elorde said he agreed with International Boxing Federation (IBF) superbantamweight titlist Manny Pacquiao’s comment in a TV interview that Peñalosa fought more defensively than offensively.

It was like Peñalosa respected Tokuyama’s right straight so much that he hardly brought down his guard, continued Elorde.

Pacquiao, incidentally, thought Peñalosa was robbed of a victory.

Elorde wondered why Peñalosa, despite promising to crowd Tokuyama from the start, didn’t pressure the champion and often waited–flat-footed–to counter. Peñalosa seemed tight and tense, like he was afraid to get hit, said Elorde.

Another thing that Elorde pointed out was the failure of Peñalosa’s cornermen to make adjustments in his strategy during the course of the bout. Peñalosa fought Tokuyama like he fought In Joo Cho–he was predictable, he didn’t do anything different, he couldn’t throw combinations consistently. For a challenger fighting on foreign soil, Peñalosa had to be extraordinarily dominant to win the nod of the judges–last Monday, he was a mere mortal against Tokuyama.

Perhaps, Freddie Roach–who guided Pacquiao to the IBF title in Las Vegas last June–should have been brought in from Los Angeles to work Peñalosa’s corner, mused Elorde.

Peñalosa’s manager Rudy Salud said he will retire from the fight game. He did everything possible for Peñalosa to gain not one but two cracks to regain the WBC title and in the process, earned a chestful of dollars for the San Carlos City southpaw. Now, Salud is turning over Peñalosa’s reins to someone who can carry on, someone like Koizumi.

While it’s sad to see Salud wave goodbye, we must respect his decision. He did more than what was expected of a manager. Salud took in Peñalosa like one of his own–he made him part of his family, something that will never change.

Peñalosa should rethink his decision about retiring. He should take a long rest then get back into serious training. He shouldn’t give up his quest to recapture the world title–if only for Salud. His mission isn’t over.