A CHANCE to bring home $800 (R45,000) may have cost Ayon Naranjo his boxing career.
Naranjo was badly mauled when he lost a lopsided six-round unanimous decision to Venezuelan Jorge Linares on Sunday night and remained under observation in a Yokohama hospital in Japan where he was rushed after he complained of dizziness one hour after the fight.
It was earlier reported that he underwent an emergency brain surgery to ease the swelling in his brain, but this report was corrected and the Filipino boxer was merely placed under further tests.
Naranjo apparently was not properly prepared for the fight in which his prize was a mere $800. He arrived in Japan last Friday with a swollen left hand reportedly a result of a motorcycle accident days before his departure.
He only has had seven fights in his career, lost four of them. Going into the Linares bout, Naranjo had lost three straight fights, all on points. He has fought and lost in Thailand two times.
Then there’s his opponent Linares, an up-and-coming Venezuelan who is being groomed for stardom.
The hard-hitting Linares , 20, had fought 17 times, won all of them, 10 inside the distance.
Against Linares, Naranjo, 23, was practically fed to the lions.
When the boxers were brought for introductions atop the ring for their super featherweight 6-round encounter, the discrepancy in height and weight was so pronounced, one Filipino observer said that you could already sense there was no way for Naranjo to win.
The Filipino weighed 125 3/4 lbs, while Linares checked in at 128.
The scores were identical 60-53 on all three judges.
In a call to the Games and Amusements Board yesterday, it was also revealed that Naranjo carried a passport that bore the name Alfonso Barros Jr. No one from the GAB was certain whether this was his real name or if a different Ayon Naranjo existed.
According to boxing sources, some Filipino boxers carry different names, interchanging them to avoid being blacklisted. A boxer is usually prevented from fighting so soon after several or successive losses.
His manager, Leonil Lazarito, is with Naranjo in Japan. But attempts to get him on the phone for update on his ward’s condition proved futile.
