TODAY is supposed to be the ?Last Hurrah? of AJ Banal, the Bohol-born boxer from the famous ALA stable of Cebu?s Tony and Michael Aldeguer.
When he fights Abraham ?Cholo? Gomes of Mexico in the Grand Ballroom of Solaire Resort and Casino near Roxas Blvd. in Manila?s Entertainment City by the bay, Banal will also be facing demons of his own that might prove too dangerous to handle if he misfires shots again.
But even if I still have so much faith in him, Banal?s own fate is in his own hands. Obvious?
Me being his kababayan, I really pray and hope it won?t be a ?Last Hurrah? to mean it would be his last fight.
I believe Banal can still do it, win this one to catapult him back to where he once was ? a top-ranking challenger in the world 124-pound division.
But to prove he can still sock it to ?em, tonight?s the night.
Dubbed ?Bazooka? because of his powerful punches early on in his career, I think Banal needs to do a lot of punching against Gomes in defying tremendous odds ? and make me a Banal believer again.
I felt for him. Still do.
I rooted for him. Still do.
He had only two defeats but both were so bad enough to erode, almost completely, my faith in him like soil being swallowed silly by a river swollen by typhoon Ondoy-spawned floods.
Because of those debacles, from ?Bazooka,? I had rechristened him ?Baloney,? albeit with a heavy heart.
In his last fight alone, Banal absorbed a ninth-round knockout loss at the hands of Thailand?s Pungluang Sor Singyu for the WBO bantamweight crown in October.
He still had those fists that night that had blasted 20 knockouts in piling up a 28-1-1 card, thus his ?Bazooka? label intact.
But then, in that October bout, Banal had repeatedly played a mindless match, always electing to stick to a plan that simply wasn?t working, and a style that wouldn?t click but was hopelessly clung on to in maddening blindness.
Before that, I flew to Cebu for a championship bout ? only to see him blow a won-fight by losing all air in his windpipe going into the homestretch.
Win today and that should do it, AJ. No ?Last Hurrah,? please?
