PERHAPS a salve for the bad taste left in our mouths by Pongluang Song Siryu?s stunning KO defeat of AJ Banal a couple of weeks ago was some measure of payback courtesy of Rey Migreno. He knocked out Thai legend Pongsaklek Wonjongkam at the Central Pavilion in Nakhon Rachasima, Thailand last Nov. 1.
The unheralded Migreno–who had more losses than wins on his rather unremarkable ledger (18W with 16KOs, 20L)–was pegged to be no more than another easy opponent for Wonjongkam who was still smarting from a shocking KO loss to another Pinoy, Sonny Boy Jaro, in March of this year.
After all, the two had met twice before. The first was in 2007, which Pongsaklek won via unanimous decision, and again in 2010, wherein the Thai demolished Migreno in just 1:37 of the very first round.
Nothing could go wrong, right?
Taking a page and borrowing inspiration perhaps from the performance of compatriot Jaro in his title-clinching effort against Pongsaklek, Migreno showed no intimidation and irreverently matched his two-time conqueror blow-for-blow and applied searing pressure from the start.
In the closing seconds of the third round, he caught the Thai with a left hook-right straight combo that knocked the latter down.
He got up but was met with a brutal barrage along the ropes that had the ref calling for a stoppage.
An interesting sidebar is that one of Migreno?s losses earlier this year was to Sor Singyu himself via unanimous decision in eight rounds and he also lost to Jaro in 2011 via knockout.
SHOPWORN. Pongsaklek?s unexpected and rather rapid fall from grace brings to mind my recent article on shot fighters.
The Thai warrior is 34–still not too old for most fighters if you consider that Manny Pacquiao is of the same age, and Juan Manuel Marquez is pushing 40 next year.
But like I said, it?s always different for everybody. Clearly, Pongsaklek, who has 92 fights to his credit, with 87 wins and 5 losses, is an old, shopworn 34.
Consider that after he lost to Jaro, he was fed with a diet of no-hopers one after the other in quick succession, obviously an attempt for him to regain his confidence.
But two of those fighters had records of 13 wins, 11 losses and 15 wins, nine losses. What?s stupefying was that the other two were making their pro debuts.
Really? A certified ring legend matched up against debuting pro boxers? That?s got be criminal in some jurisdictions. But apparently, it?s perfectly palatable and legal in Thailand.
Whatever the case, those four farcical fights were not enough to get him back on track.
His team also made another tactical error in choosing Migreno again. Though the latter was clearly considered a patsy, he nonetheless possessed prodigious punching power as can be gleaned from the fact that 16 of his 18 wins came via the short route.
Matching a power-puncher against a shopworn fighter losing his legs, and punch resistance is a no-no. No matter how unskilled an opponent might be, the power component will always be there and this is precisely what happened.
Plus, the familiarity factor should also be taken into account as Migreno was already accustomed to Pongsaklek?s style and came in with a good game-plan.
Pongsaklek, who has been named the WBC?s ?Fighter of the Decade,? should call it a career. He has nothing left to prove and will always be remembered as one of the best Thai fighters to lace on a pair of gloves and probably the most dominant flyweight champ ever with his vise-like grip on the belt for more than one decade.
Some of his more memorable victories came against Malcolm Tunacao, Edgar Sosa, Hussein Hussein and Koki Kameda.
LAST ROUND. It?s on SHS-B ?89 batch-mate and NTT guitarist, the indefatigable Marcelino Co who recently celebrated his birthday. Cheers!
