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By Mortz Marcelo Ortigoza


What Filipinos Could Learn on the Floyd Mayweather, Jr.’s Dilemma

PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 16 Apr 2006

The tragedy to befall on Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather Jr. on the last part of the 10th round of his tussle with Zab “Super Zab” Judah can be a learning experience to Filipino corners whose boxers are facing the eyes of defeat because the opponent resorted to foul measures like a low blow or a rabbit punch.

I’m not asking you to focus to learn a lesson or two to the boxer Pretty Boy, but to his trainer and uncle Roger Mayweather.
As everybody knows, it was dear uncle Roger who saved Floyd from the eyes of defeat thus capturing the IBF welterweight championship belt from Bad Boy Zab.

Without Roger, you will still be seeing in your nightmare the smirk on the face of Zab as he waves his belt before your eyes. A revolting experience for you probably. But you don’t suffer this because there was a guy who pulled out an ace thus saving the day for the Pretty Boy, thus it gain everybody’s peace of mind. Except of course the acrimonious Don King, Yoel, and Zab Judah who wanted the match declared a “No Contest” by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC).

In both the NSAC and the Association of Boxing Council (Note: ABC is superior than the NSAC), a fighter who is hit either by an accidental low blow must continue after a reasonable amount of time but no more than five (5) minutes or he/she will lose the fight. Or the referee may order a deduction of points for any illegal blow to the body, and may, at his/her discretion give a rest of up to five (5) minutes for the injured boxer to recover. The referee may ask the ringside physician to examine the boxer before granting the rest period.

Before Roger strutted his stuff, we didn’t know if Referee Richard Steele would summon the ring doctor thus making the 5 minutes mandatory rest period six minutes or more.

But if he didn’t (as the usual practice of referees to wait within the 5 minutes for the boxer’s groin to self heal in that very small span of time) then everybody’s stake will be on the bind.

That mandatory five minutes rest period is too short for recovery especially if it was hit by a wicked left from a dangerous southpaw boxer like Zab. Aside from the agony, it zapped the natural strength of the fighter.

If Roger didn’t enter the apron by consciously or unconsciously buying more time for his ward to rest, would you think an excruciating Floyd Jr., became defenseless and vulnerable to the whims and caprices of his opponent who holds his fate to destruction.

The Roger Mayweather experience is a school of thought for Filipino corners who will one day face this kind of monster. Where shrewdness by a trainer who rushed inside the ring and cause a melee is the only option to buy time and gain the championship belt—being grabbed by a dirty fighter on the opposite corner.

That 200 thousand dollars, (or say its 250 thousand dollars maximum mandated by NSAC), and the six months suspension meted by the boxing top brass of Nevada to Roger are all miniscule compared to the psychological pain every fan (including Roger) and Pretty Boy suffers. A small price to pay of not seeing that smart aleck Zab sporting that IBF belt he retained through “heist”.

To delve further on this crap I was mouthing, would the pain be unbearable if that ZAB Judah is Marco Antonio Barrera, and Floyd Jr. is Manny Pacqauio. We know Barrera is a dirty fighter, while Manny is dyed in a wool religious and fair boxer. What will you do if you’re in the corner seeing the Pacman knelling, or worst lying prostrate because of an illegal low blow unleashed by Baby Faced Assassin so he can retain his WBC super featherweight belt, and the referee gives only five minutes rest period ?

And you know, after that five minutes the tide of war will change. While Barrera is all ready to rip off Manny to smitherens.

But we got problem here boy. Jeez, its impossible for trainer Freddie Roach to pull a choking antic like what Roger had done to Zab. But thank God, we still have the smoking bull in assistant trainer Buboy Fernandez who can do a flying kick like Bruce Lee (But we don't know how high since Buboy is stout). While poor old Freddie settle to dance the cha-cha inside the ring just to delay that five minutes travel to hell.

Different kinds of maneuvering by the corners had saved some boxers from defeat. Remember last year where junior lightweight Jose Luis Castillo devastatingly floored the battered Diego Corrales. Corrales spitted his mouthpiece after his first dropped, while he used his glove to extract his mouth gear after he fell for the second time, everyone saw trainer Joe Goosen procrastinated in washing the mouthpiece. Referee Tony Weeks deducted a point from Corrales for spitting the mouthpiece in the second fall. While he chided the corner on the delay of putting the said piece on Corrales' mouth.

While we can sympathize with Castillo who should have won that fight -- if not from the delay in presenting the still dazed Diego in front of him. But we could not unconsciously bear dirty cheap like Zab doing a “heinous” act by laughing his way out with the championship belt. Aggravated by the guffaws of Yoel who allegedly collaborated to commit the illegal actuation.
Was this what they call as plain and simple highway robbery?



Click here for a complete listing of columns by this author.

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