Ciso Morales cannot complain he did not get the chance to throw a single good punch before suffering a nightmare knockout in Las Vegas last Sunday.
Maybe he had a punch, as professed by his unblemished 14-0 record.
But what Morales, 22, should be made to realize is the blemish he had caused the image of the Filipino fighter before the world.
A couple of uneven blows to the right side of his navel and Morales fell in fragments.
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He was gasping and writhing, a rush-rush kid who jumped off and was swept by a highway bus.
He did not know what hit him.
The mindless boy also did know where he was going.
He was trying to throw jabs, Fernando Montiel said of his victim.
After two minutes of the bout, Montiel unleashed a couple of punches.
To Montiel’s surprise, Morales disintegrated.
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No, Morales never had time to explain what happened.
His handlers would predictably explain it was an accident.
It would, however, be flattering (to the Morales camp) to agree that it was an accident waiting to happen.
Why?
Well, did the handlers of Morales honestly feel the sad sack had the right to be inside a Las Vegas ring?
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No need to ask Montiel.
The grizzled Mexican world champ knew too well what stuff legit Filipino warriors are made of.
The twin blows may have indeed landed a little harder.
But from their looks, and the manner they were thrown, those shots that crushed Morales appeared to be nothing more than test punches.
You know, the sort seasoned warriors use to size up foes.
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For starters, Morales certainly knew Montiel to be a card-carrying liver eater.
The terrible Mexican had in fact made full display of this vicious side during his conquest of Z Gorres in Cebu.
In short, the unexpected first-round fall of Morales was anything but an accident.
It was more a result of a tragic miscalculation.
The sudden fall also appeared to have been caused by a failure of nerves, more than anything else.
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Morales, reported contributing international boxing correspondent Anthony Andales, suffered stomach cramps and threw up after having eaten ice cream on fight day.
“Morales had wanted to pull out,” Andales reported from Arkansas, where he works as full-time aeronautics engineer.
Andales has refused to buy the shallow alibi.
The truth, he said, was that Morales was already teetering toward a breakdown.
“He was uneasy and his voice was squeaky, he sounded and looked nervous when I interviewed him three days before the fight,” Andales bared.
So, if Morales had been subjected to a severe heart test, would he have succeeded in sending RP boxing down on all fours?
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(SEMINARY PLAY: Starting today, the Mary Help of All Christians College Seminary and the Lay Foundation Center in Barangay Bonuan Gueset, Dagupan, will stage at 6 p.m.the all-seminarian play on the life of St. Jean Marie Baptiste Vieanney, patron saint of all priests. Rev. Fr. Mario Sanchez, in charge, said the presentation is part of the celebration for the year of the priests (2009-2010). Written by Danille Chad Pecson and directed by Fr. Jonathan Songcuan, the play runs until Feb, 21 at the Federico Limon Hall of the seminary.)
