FROM the feedback that I?ve been getting about Rey ?Boom-Boom? Bautista?s latest debacle, it seems like some fans are suggesting that his team re-position its focus and allow him to toil more in our local shores to get more rounds in, and sharpen his skills before venturing into foreign shores.
There?s also the clamor for a different trainer for the fighters. This brings to mind an adage in basketball that ?players win games, coaches lose them.?
Personally, I think a good corner makes for 25 percent of the winning formula at fight time. The remaining 75 percent still resides in the fighter. A corner man can only instruct and do so much during the one-minute rest period.
But for the three minutes inside the ring, the fighter stands alone. If he cannot grasp and apply the strategy inculcated in him during the months of training camp and doesn?t know what to do inside the ring, then God help him.
Three minutes of hell can be an eternity. Unlike in basketball where the coach can call for a timeout to stifle the other team?s momentum, in boxing it?s either you fight for the full three minutes or you don?t.
EXPERIMENT. My, how fast time flies. In about a week?s time the fight that?s on everyone?s lips will be upon us. Just a few observations on how training camp has gone for both fighters:
I have some concerns regarding the plyometrics system initially utilized by Manny?s camp. The problem with the Pacquiao camp warblers is that we hardly hear anything negative about his training routines save for a bad sparring day.
Initially, when the plyometrics system was implemented, all we could hear were glowing accounts of how this was supposedly increasing his strength without sacrificing speed despite the increase in poundage.
All of a sudden, we hear its being pulled out as it reportedly did not fit his regimen and was singled out as the cause of his sub-par performance during some sparring sessions. So which is which guys?
We don?t know how much damage the wrong system has brought upon Manny?s conditioning this late.
I?m also worried about the sparring. Sure, there?s no substitute for it when you are preparing for the fight of your life. But this is the first time Manny has sparred with guys this big consistently and on a regular basis.
Most definitely it has taken its toll on his newly formed welterweight body. And in a fight of this magnitude, he needs to be as fresh as he can be on fight night. An over-trained and hurting Manny could be an easy target for a naturally bigger man like De la Hoya.
On Oscar?s end, we hear that he has been weighing in the mid- 140?s which is quite astonishing. If this is true, then this could really have affected his training because he is training weak and not strong.
By focusing too much on the making the weight easily come fight night and dropping down in weight this early, he might not be reporting to training camp at his optimum level.
He has not been below 150 pounds in more than six years. This affects his endurance, speed, timing, and strength. I think it would have been wiser to keep his weight at the low 150s and do the usual drain and starve a few days before the weigh-in, then rehydrate to the mid 150?s on fight night.
Obviously, weight will be a major factor in determining the outcome of this bout. Since neither of these guys are welterweights, the one who can come in the most comfortable at this weight will win this bout. That is why I?m labeling it an experiment.
MUAY THAI. So you think your shin is harder than your head? Check out the Muay Thai classes offered by CJRS MMA and Fitness Center featuring professional MMA and Muay Thai fighter Sabah Fadai from Canada. Text/Call 09173275986 for more info.
LAST ROUND. It?s on a good friend, Atty. Hector Varonda, the BIR?s legal mogul, who celebrates his birthday this month.
Cheers!
