DO YOU HEAR THE DRUMS FERNANDO? Who is Fernando Montiel? Some of our local boxing fans confess to being quite unfamiliar with this WBO Bantamweight champ set to invade our shores and wage war with our very own “Z” Gorres on Feb. 24.
Well, for starters, Fernando Montiel is a smooth boxing Mexican with a handsome record of 31-2 (24 KOs). He’s not really much of a puncher and his two career losses came against two top notch fighters- Johnny Gonzales via split decision and Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson via unanimous decision. This boyish looking fighter from Los Mochis, Mexico possesses deceptive hand speed and is a very intelligent fighter. Stay tuned, as the Last Round and Sun Star Cebu will be covering this once-in-a-lifetime extravaganza. And speaking of the fight, the tickets are reportedly hotter than your next-door neighbor’s younger sister.
Michael Aldeguer told me that sales are quite brisk, so better get them early my last rounders, while they’re still available.
WINNING RECORD. Tally another one on our ledger as The Last Round correctly predicted Mosley’s unanimous decision win over southpaw Luis Collazo. Sugar Shane has revived his career and is poised to crash the pound for pound rankings.
Personally, I think he has the style to beat Floyd Mayweather Jr., but the nice guy that he is , he is graciously allowing bosom buddy and business partner Oscar dela Hoya to get the first crack at the “Pretty Boy”. Line them up, Mayweather must be thinking. I’ve got news for you Floyd Jr. This early, I like what Oscar has done- getting Freddie Roach to train him and avoiding the potentially distracting situation of having Floyd Sr. in his corner.
The pressure is actually on Floyd Jr. He is widely considered to be the best pound for pound fighter, but he has never attained the superstardom he so craves. Beating Oscar will probably get him that and so he cannot afford to lose. Oscar on the other hand, win or lose, is already a ring legend, a Hall of Famer, a multimillionaire on the cusp of boxing immortality, this time wearing a promoter’s hat. This guy has nothing to lose in this fight.
REAL OPPONENT. Pacman reportedly wants his fight with Lolit, er… Jorge Solis cancelled so he can devote more time to his campaign. This was reported by Ronnie Nathaliesz entitled in his article “Pacquiao fight off” which was recently posted on www.philboxing.com.
Well, if that’s true, I’ll be darned. That’s the most sensible thing I’ve heard from Manny lately. That’s a whole of a lot better than asking for the fight to be moved earlier. I do not want to belabor the obvious but Manny apparently doesn’t think much of Mr. Solis.
If this fight pushes through at a much earlier date, then his mind is obviously not in it, but on a different foe in a different arena. Every time Manny hits the heavy bag, his mind will be on what his heavyweight political opponent is doing. Every time he spars, he is thinking that at that very moment he is losing ground as his opponent is doing the rounds, and that he should be out there shaking hands, not trading blows. Every time he does roadwork, he will think about his decision to run for public office.
Manny, if your mind is not in it, then I’d rather you not do it at all. Boxing history is replete with sad upset stories and we don’t want you to be part of the statistics. If nobody can dissuade you from taking the political road to perdition, then so be it. But cancel the fight. It would be too much on our poor hearts to see you suffer not one, but two disasters.
KUDOS. Cheers to our Cebu City Council (most notably to Councilor Jack Jakosalem who authored the resolution) for exempting the “Moment of Truth” boxing spectacle from the 30% amusement tax. Boxing needs all the support it can get and this is a step in the right direction. By the way, isn’t that an oxymoron? Amusement tax- How can you be amused when you’re being taxed? Just asking…
LAST ROUND. The last round goes out to the girl who made me realize that winning all of life’s battles and accolades isn’t worth crap if you got nobody at home to share it with- none other than my wife and my best friend—Hon. Judge Charina Navarro-Quijano—who is celebrating her birthday today. Cheers!
