THREE nights ago, inside the Hoops Dome of Lapu-Lapu City, there transpired a circus.
The clown was a Canadian. Shirtless, bald-headed, and wearing the attire that all clowns wear (gold tennis shorts with yellow socks and yellow Nike hi-cuts), he was the comedian. Opposite him was a serious, all-business-like A.J. Banal.
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Tyson Cave, now nicknamed ?The Caveman,? acted, well, like a caveman. He bent low, hunched forward, gritted his teeth, hopping side to side.
Hailing from Halifax, Canada, the 29-year-old promised to entertain the crowd and to dispatch of Banal. He achieved the former; he failed miserably in the latter.
Sport is entertainment. It?s fun; it?s a show. We watch sports to evoke our emotions, to get titillated; possibly, angered.
The Prince of Hali, as Tyson was formerly called prior to his new ?Caveman? moniker, was entertaining.
Together with Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza and Councilor Harry Radaza, I sat at the front row. We were right behind the corner of the ALA Gym boxers. The Hoops Dome (with tickets priced as low as P100) was nearly 100 percent full.
Cave taunted Banal. He laughed at him; cried when a low blow was delivered. Once, when the comic fell to the ground and had his eyes locked on Banal?s ALA Gym coaches, he spewed invectives.
In Round One, Tyson lifted AJ and catapulted him to the ground. In Round Two, he did the same. Was this wrestling? The UFC?
His tactic?from the day he arrived Monday last week?was obvious: to outrage, to mock, to distract, to puzzle Banal so that the 22-year-old from Ermita couldn?t enact his Mactan game plan.
Both fighters weighed in at 117.75 lbs., but it was Cave whose ego was overweight.
Only 20 minutes left prior to his bout, he was still walking about, high-fiving the Hoops Dome crowd.
Tyson?s a prankster, not a boxer.
Inside the ring, he shuffled his feet, showing off his footwork, as if to dance Footloose.
His body splashed with tattoos all over, he leaned forward fronting Banal, with no defenses to cover his face, always tormenting and provoking.
Once, he got punched near the buttocks by AJ. He complained to the referee. Then, he did the most absurd act I?ve seen a supposedly world-class boxer do: he turned his butt facing AJ, slapped it as if to say, ?Spank me here, baby!? Crazy.
