Over the past few days, I’ve been asked at least a couple of times if I would “bother” to watch the Manny Pacquiao-Jorge Solis fight.
“What kind of a silly question is that?” I ask. “Of course I’ll watch it”.
“Well, you’ve been saying that it’s going to be a lopsided match in Pacquiao’s favor, so we thought you might not bother to watch it.”
I will admit to having said that Solis has only two chances in the fight: Slim and none. The slim chance would be if Pacquiao himself loses the fight due to lack of preparation or as his trainer Justine Fortune snorts, “if he trips on his way to the ring, gets tied up between the ropes (when trying to enter the ring) or he steps on a banana peel”, as reported by our very own Nick Giongco from San Antonio, Texas.
Of course the “none” part is self-explanatory. Still, this would not prevent me from watching the fight. After all, I’ve been wrong before.
Veteran boxing man Hermie Rivera, in a long distance conversation from San Antonio, also acknowledged that he has seen stranger things in the ring. ‘Walang magaling pag nakatagpo ng isang knockout punch” (no one is invincible in the face of a knockout punch), he sagely avers.
That said, Hermie waxed effusive (and on a good day, he can be more descriptive than his longtime hero, Howard Cossell) as he described Pacquiao’s excellent physical condition. He says there is almost no way Solis can buck the odds, Sunday punch forbid.
So yes, I will watch the fight, if indeed it will be a fight. Just to see how it’s going to turn out. Fortune doesn’t see it going further than 6 rounds. I think he is being cautious. Or comical.
I mean sure, Solis probably trained like never before and he will surely give it his best shot. But the way reports have been coming in about Manny’s own preparations, the Mexican’s handlers better have several towels ready to be thrown in.
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What I am more excited about at this point is the Oscar de la Hoya-Floyd Mayweather fight on May 5. Although this is one match no self-respecting boxing fan will miss, I am even more thrilled because two fights in the undercard will feature Filipinos.
Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautista is fighting Sergio Manuel Medina of Argentina in a championship eliminator for the right to face super bantamweight titleholder Daniel Ponce de Leon, who a month ago decisioned Gerry Penalosa; Bautista’s stablemate AJ Banal is up against Jose Alberto Rosas of Mexico.
This is the chance Bautista has been aching for and it was no less than De la Hoya himself who hand-picked the Boholano native as one of the main undercard features. De la Hoya has not held back on his admiration for BoomBoom. And think what you want, but that’s saying a lot!
On the other hand, Banal, whom we have been raving about since we first saw him more than a year ago, is fighting for the first time abroad, and is facing an acid test against Rosas, who touts a dangerous 25-2 (22KO’s) record.
True, Rosas’ two defeats happened in his last two fights, but he has fought some quality boxers including Omar Nino Romero, conqueror of Brian Viloria, whom he knocked out in 9 rounds.
I immediately contacted Banal’s patron Tony Aldeguer upon learning of this, and although he let out a chuckle at my apprehensions, he did acknowledge that this is going to be the biggest fight of Banal’s young boxing career.
He however expressed confidence in the training that Banal and Bautista have undergone both under ALA chief trainer Edito Villamor and Freddie Roach himself, whom they followed to Puerto Rico.
But first things first; Pacquiao has his easier fight in two months against Solis. Then I will root for Bautista and Banal. Then it’s Pacquiao vs. Darlene.
I’m not sure if I want to watch that.
