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Philippines, 23 Nov 2024 |
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Pacquiao-Marquez III Replay, Review Set Nov. 27 PhilBoxing.com Sat, 19 Nov 2011  The replay and review of the third meeting between Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao and Mexico's great counterpuncher Juan Manuel Marquez has been set by GMA Channel 7 on Nov. 27 with two separate time slots being considered for the airtime. Chino Trinidad, sports director of GMA Channel 7, sent me a text message yesterday from Los Angeles, California saying that the TV networks executives are deciding on whether to air the replay and review on GMA All Sports from 11 am to 12 noon or in GAME, a program hosted by Trinidad, 5 to 6 p.m. on GMANews TV. The decision to replay and review the fight was made following my suggestion that the very close Pacquiao-Marquez third fight, while already decided by the three judges as a majority decision victory for the Filipino boxing icon, offers a golden opportunity to educate boxing fans on the finer points of the sport and the largely misunderstood scoring system which has resulted in chaos and controversies in the past. Following the conclusion of the fight in Las Vegas Nov. 12 (Nov. 13 morning in Manila), not a few Filipino sports analysts and columnists claimed that Marquez was "cheated" and that the Mexican boxing legend should have won the fight in spite of the scoring made by judges Robert Hoyle (114-114), Dave Moretti (115-113) and George Trowbridge (116-112) awarding the fight to Pacquiao. The scoring of the judges was backed up by the statistics generated by Compubox, a computer counting machine operated by two people at ringside, which recorded the number of punches thrown and connected. The Compubox showed that Pacquiao threw and landed more punches, more jabs and at least 17 more power blows than the Mexican thus affirming the judges' scoring. The views and comments stating that Marquez was "robbed" divided the Filipino nation and in one of the very rare moments in the storied boxing career of Pacquiao, many doubted his victory. "We owe it to Manny Pacquiao, he who has given the country unprecedented sports honors," I told Chino Trinidad when I proposed the replay and review of the fight in a Face-Off format where a panel of those who believed Marquez won would sit across the table with a panel of boxing people who believe that Pacquiao was the clear winner. International boxing judge and referee Dandrex Tapdasan, a young lawyer who has proven to be a very competent judge, and I have volunteered to sit in the panel which, with the aid of the video materials available, will explain why Pacquiao's victory was well-deserved and that there should be no doubts on the outcome. I have suggested to Chino that GMA Channel 7 should invite fellow sports journalists Ronnie Nathanielsz, a dear friend, and fellow The Manila Times sports columnist Ed Tolentino, a lawyer. In the absence of the duo, I recommended to Chino that two young bloggers, one a Fil-Am, be invited to fill in, namely Reni Valenzuela of www.philboxing.com and Dennis Guillermo of www.examiner.com who were either very scathing or insistent in their claims that Marquez won. Chino emphasized that the exercise is intended to educate Filipino boxing fans on the finer points of judging and scoring in boxing and not to embarrass anybody or any side. Let me stress too that this is an attempt on my part to shame anybody and make the impression that I and Dandrex understand boxing better than the others or that we are more authoritative than other boxing analysts. While I have not had the pleasure of really getting to know Ed Tolentino well, Ronnie Nathanielsz is a good and dear friend. I had disagreements with him in the past, but these were more of intellectual skirmishes rather than personal feuds. I do not know whether GMA 7 has extended the invitation to Ronnie and Ed but the two young bloggers have already begged off with Valenzuela saying that he has commitments to his church on weekends and Guillermo has posted blogs saying that there is no point debating with biased Filipino boxing analysts. This is not a debate. Debates involve oral arguments over propositions and suppositions which are all abstract. This is a review of a factual event seen and perceived differently by people whose appreciation may have been influenced by their biases or the noise and the din. We will establish what is a legal punch and where it is supposed to land. With that guide, we will determine whether the punches that we saw being thrown by either boxer were scored by the judges or the Compubox. At the end of the whole exercise, we will not only clear the air and give justice to the rightful winner but also educate the Filipino boxing fans in the process. This exercise though does not come easy or cheap. Chino told me that GMA Channel 7 has to allocate a few more million pesos just to be allowed to show the fight again whose rights are owned by Solar Sports. That's a lot of money spent simply because some people insist that the judges and the Compubox were wrong. I believe though that it is money well spent because justice, fairness and the truth are priceless and invaluable. Click here for a complete listing of columns by this author. Click here for a complete listing of this author's articles from different news sources. |
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