Two interesting sports contests will take place within 18 hours of each other: the first, on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 12, at the Mall of Asia Arena and the second, on Sunday morning (in Manila), Oct. 13, at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
Saturday is the UAAP men’s basketball championship game, between the De La Salle University Green Archers and the University of Sto. Tomas Growling Tigers. Hundreds of miles away, across the Pacific, is the boxing bout between American Timothy Bradley Jr who will defend his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title against Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez. Both were the only fighters to have defeated Pacquiao in contrasting fashions in the last year.
The Green Archers and the Growling Tigers end season 76, one of the most hotly contested and longest seasons having started weeks earlier than the traditional July opening to give way to the 11-day FIBA Asia basketball competitions.
The series is tied at one game apiece. UST nipped the Green Archers, 73-72, in the opener. The Green Archers, in a display of inside dominance, stopped the Growling Tigers, 77-70, in the second game.
The winning formula for both teams remains to be what worked for each of them in the first two games.
For UST, the consistency of its frontline, headed by Kevin Ferrer (who must learn how to control his emotions), Jeric Teng and Clark Bautista, broke the backs of the Green Archers. The Tigers however have to do much more in the paint since Karim Abdul simply will not have the staying power to deal with both Arnold Van Opstal and Norbert Torres, both of whom are enjoying their finest seasons. Aljon Mariano, another vital cog in the Tigers talented starting five, has his hands full with Jason Perkins and will have to do much better than he has been in his last three or four games.
For DLSU, expect coach Juno Sauler to attack the basket through low post plays of Van Opstal, Torres and Perkins. If the Tigers play zone and sag to double up on the three, either a slashing Jeron Teng will receive a pass or Almond Vosotros, LA Revilla or Tomas Torres will have the whole day to shoot from beyond the arc.
Aside from doing the expected, expect Sauler to do the unexpected. While Sauler effectively used a seven-man rotation in game two, he will try to keep the other side guessing in what amounts to a mind game between him and UST’s Pido Jarencio. Sauler carries out his strategies rather subtly and seemingly meaningless substitutions have a definite purpose. Aside from being very perceptive, Sauler has the luxury of a deep bench that will get even deeper next season with a number of prized recruits waiting in the wings.
Over in Las Vegas, Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez (55-6-1, 40) wants to create history by being the only Mexican fighter to be champion in five divisions. Marquez has won world titles in four divisions, like Eric Morales and Jorge Arce (both of whom tasted painful knockouts at the hands of Pacquiao and Nonito Donaire, respectively): he has captured seven titles in the featherweight, junior lightweight, lightweight and junior welterweight divisions.
Marquez’s obsession to win a fifth crown thus making him the only Mexican boxer to have done so and get the respect accorded to other Mexican greats (Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera and Julio Cesar Chavez) were the main reasons why he opted to fight WBO welterweight title holder Timothy Bradley Jr and not Pacquiao for the fifth time. The 40-year old Marquez is now on a legacy mode and having redeemed himself spectacularly against Pacquiao is part of his plan to cement his name in Mexican boxing lore. Money was not part of the equation since he could’ve gotten more fighting Pacquiao rather than Bradley who still has the stigma of a controversial win over Pacquiao.
Bradley, for his part, wanted Marquez since he passionately believes he belongs in the same category as Pacquiao, Marquez and even Floyd Mayweather Jr if and when he beats Marquez. Like Marquez who wants to prove something to his Mexican brethren, Bradley believes that he hasn’t gotten the respect of the boxing community, especially if one considers the two knockdowns he suffered at the hands of virtual unknown Ruslan Provodnikov of Siberia. Bradley recovered to win by unanimous decision and retain his title.
The Bradley-Marquez encounter has the potential of becoming an unentertaining tactical fight if Bradley approaches the fight with too much caution and Marquez sticks to his famed counterpunching tactics. If Marquez wins, he etches his name in Mexican boxing records and will most likely retire. If Bradley, wins, he will have other fights ahead of him even if people will say he beat a 40-year old warrior who still has to recover from the effects of his fight with Pacquiao.