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Philippines, 16 Sep 2025 |
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I?ll clarify? By Epifanio M. Almeda PhilBoxing.com Thu, 06 Dec 2007  Kitkit, my 6-year old nephew-in-law who has lived with my family for a little over a year now watched with me the replay of the Banal-Soto and Bautista-Meza fights on TV last Tuesday, 4 December 2007, evening. He was excited to review the bouts with me as he proudly declared that he saw me on TV at the time the fights were first shown during the actual fight day. When Cebu?s pride Vina Morales sang the Philippine national anthem, I egged Kitkit to sing along since, being in grade 1, he sings the same every morning in school before the start of classes. Kitkit obliged and I was gifted with a reason to laugh for my heart?s well being by the wide quality disparity between his voice and that of Vina. When Kitkit saw the Philippine flag focused, he interrupted his singing along by pointing to me the flag and saying, ?ayon ang bayang magiliw? (There is the national anthem). I was further amused by his confusion and I clarified with him that the ?bayang magiliw? is the song Vina and him were singing and that what he was pointing to me was the Philippine flag. Like Kitkit, there are some of us who need to be clarified of some boxing trivia. I?ll mention just two so you could last the distance with me in this discussion. ?I know that he would box me? A friend commented on Manny Pacquiao?s statement about how Marco Antonio Barrera fought him in their second fight. My said friend took issue of Manny?s statement, ?I know that he (MAB) would box me?. ?E, di ba mag bobox naman talaga sila? (Aren?t they supposed to box each other?). Like Kitkit, my friend?s little confusion needed some clarification. So I clarified how fighters are classified as boxers, sluggers, punchers or a combination of the classifications according to their fight styles. When Manny said ?he would box me?, he was not being superfluous. Manny simply meant that Barrera would not engage with him in a slugfest to avoid a knockout loss. Close fight but score cards show wide margins Some fans who watch a very close fight which lasts the distance are puzzled when the judges? score cards say anything but close. This shows that the presently adopted ten-point must scoring system needs some improvement. A boxing judge is mandated to follow the ten-point must system of scoring. This means that, in his judgment, the winner of a particular round should be given a score of 10 and the loser, 9 or 8 or 7 or 6. The score of 8 is given to a fighter who has been knocked down once or who has been clearly dominated by his opponent although he managed to remain standing until the end of the round. The scores of 7 and 6 are for a fighter who has been knocked down more than once. There is no score below 6. The judge is to score each round as if it is the whole duration of the fight. When he is scoring a particular round, he should not be influenced by each fighter?s performance in the previous round or rounds. He should not entertain in his mind what could be each fighter?s performance in the next round. The problem lies in the 10-9 score since this is the score for two different situations. A judge would score 10-9 in favor of the fighter who showed a slight advantage in a round. He is also to score 10-9 when a fighter shows a clear advantage in a round but just short of dominance to earn a 10-8 score. When in a close, say, 10-round fight a fighter consistently scores a slight advantage over his opponent in every round, this fighter?s total score of 100 to his opponent?s 90 would not show the closeness of the fight. The point is, if we did not see the fight, we should not judge the closeness of a fight or the lack of it by the judges? score cards. Cebuano speaking Kitkit has since improved his tagalog to the delight of his grade 1 tagalog speaking teacher. The latter had quiet a problem communicating with Kitkit at the start of the school year who talked to her in Cebuano and did not understand what she would say to him. Things are now getting clearer in the teacher and pupil interactions. Kitkit laughed in appreciation to my clarification that the national anthem is different from the national flag. His laughter was in appreciation for gaining additional understanding. My friend who took issue with Manny Pacquiao?s comment seemed not as receptive to my clarification. I don?t know how each of you who have ?lasted the distance? of this article would view my clarification on a close fight which is not reflected in the judges? score cards. Either way, it was worth the try. Top photo: Philippine diva Vina Morales in a stunning getup during the Payback boxing event at the Araneta Coliseum on Dec. 2. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Epifanio M. Almeda.  |
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