ESPINOSA SUFFERS HIS WORST DEFEAT EVER!
Last Friday in Stockton, California in the Civic Auditorium, former two-time world champion and Filipino hero, Luisito Espinosa was knocked out in just 3 rounds by fringe contender Crisobal Cruz. From the opening round, spectators in the Auditorium knew it would be a short night for ?King? Louie, when he was dropped hard and almost out. He somehow beat the count, only to receive two standing 8 counts in round 2. Things went from bad to worst when he was dropped again, this time for good as he couldn?t beat the count and suffered the embarrassing KO loss.
SHOULD?VE ENDED IN ROUND ONE
The moment Luisito was dropped in round one and couldn?t find his corner, the fight should have ended. The 37-year-old, some say possibly older, was only fighting to feed his family and was in no position to win the fight. He took two additional rounds of unnecessary, heavy-handed punishment.
BOXING LICENCE MUST BE REMOVED
Prior to the bashing in Stockton, Luisito handled him respectably since comeback from his loss to Augie Sanchez. Beating the fighter who were obviously lesser skilled than even an old Espinosa. He only lost to Zahir Raheem and Carlos Navarro, young contenders looking for title shots. However, Cruz was in the same mold as Ever Beleno, Ramon Aragon, Marco Perez, he was able to beat Espinosa up worst than Raheem and Navarro did combined! Espinosa is still a proud fighter and will not retire; therefore it?s up to the boxing commissions around the country to deny him a license to fight.
THE REALITY OF THE SITUATION
Reading the results on the Internet was very painful because the reality of Louie?s situation. His former manager, Boots Aniel, wanted Espinosa to retire after the Guty Espadas fight. Even Espinosa himself, telling his wife, Mariecherrie after the Espadas, wanted to retire. However, his family needed the money and Louie boxing was the only source of income. And he continued to fight for another 5 years, taking beatings for chump change. He will still be broke after this fight and now his health is at risk.
NOT EVERYONE CAN BE LIKE BERNARD HOPKINS
Watching Hopkins live at the Staples Center this past Saturday, it was clear that the work ethic and discipline throughout Hopkins? career is the reason why he, even at 40, dominated Howard Eastman. Training is the key to Hopkins? longevity and Espinosa never had that late in his career. Back in 2000, Espinosa and his team arrived at the area where was going to fight Guty Espadas three hours before the fight.
INSIDE CAMP LOUIE AS A TEENAGER!
At 15, I did not know much about boxing, especially training, and assumed for the first hour and a half he was concentrating and getting mentally prepared for the fight. In reality, it is very possible that Louie was asleep. It took another hour just to get the hand wrapped correctly. By the time Louie got his gloves on, Top Rank officials were calling him to enter the ring. Espinosa tried to get warmed up as fast as possible but it was too late. Imagine just waking up in the morning and having to go into a fight. That is what Espinosa did the night of his biggest fight, and the first round was evidence because he was dropped by a lazy right by Espadas, the rest was history.
AN UNCLEAR FUTURE
What will Espinosa do now? Where will he earn money for his family? Since boxing cannot be in Epsinosa?s life from now on, where will he go? Going back to the Philippines isn?t an option now, because the economy isn?t good and he?ll be worst off. He still hasn?t been paid the $150,000 purse for fighting Carlos Rios in the Philippines back in 1997. Don?t look for that to happen as the Philippine Peso has continued to fall and making that debt larger and larger. Let this be a lesson to all boxers, especially Manny Pacquiao, who used to idolize Espinosa, of how a boxer can be on top of the world and fall so hard and fast as Espinosa did.
BAUTISTA IMPRESSES
Rey ?Boom-Boom? Bautista won his fight against Vuyisile Bebe in the Philippines, dropping him in route to an easy decision. Philippine Boxing experts are praising this young gun and are expecting big things from ?Boom-Boom? in the future.
PACQUIAO-MORALES PREVIEW PART II SOON
In my first installment part I, the Top Rank curse was covered and how Manny Pacquiao hasn?t won on a Top Rank show yet! In part II, we?ll cover the intangibles of the fight beyond the ring.
