DURING the press conference leading to his fight with ALA Gym’s Milan Melindo, Anthony Villareal appeared pleased with the comparison between him and former welterweight champ Zab Judah.
I intimated to him that the implication would be that he must be quite chinny too. But he shrugged it off nonchalantly and remarked that you never really know how tough your chin is until you get hit.
A couple of minutes into the fight Anthony must have rediscovered himself as he was down courtesy of a counter-right hand from Milan after a missed left hook. That Milan only owns 5KOs in 20 wins says a lot about Anthony’s mug.
MALIGNAGGI. Flashy and flamboyant with his movements, Villareal to me, looked every inch not like a Zab Judah, but a Paulie Malignaggi, right down to the gaudy trunks.
After the knockdown, I could only recall the smirk in Milan’s face when I interviewed him a few days prior, wherein he boldly predicted a fifth-round stoppage.
However, the defending champ proved to be quite resilient and miraculously recovered to make it a competitive fight right down to the last round.
I thought Milan ran out of gas the last few rounds, and that had to be partially blamed on those blows that hit nothing but thin air. Credit that to Villareal’s defense. On numerous occasions, he made Milan miss and pay for it.
Luckily, Villareal isn’t much of a puncher himself and Milan has cement lining his jaw.
Once again, Milan exhibited his gritty in-your-face approach and never wavered from his game plan. He executed their strategy in a workmanlike fashion and was unperturbed by his opponent’s prancing and preening and constant shifts in stance.
Any given day, I would rather pick a boxer with a methodical, deliberate approach over one with a flashy but ineffective style.
FOLLY. I don’t know who is doing the fiduciary duties in Manny Pacquiao’s camp when it comes to choosing opponents, but I have my reservations on the propriety of Joshua Clottey as his next dance partner.
Clottey doesn’t have a huge fan base but he’s actually a very live underdog with the potential to score a huge upset. The risks far outweigh any potential benefits.
WAR CHEST. First things first, we all know the “Pambansang Kamao” is running for a congressional seat in May and so he might be padding up the war chest. That’s a perfectly acceptable reason to fight in March.
But because Clottey is not the draw, Manny can conceivably earn the same amount of money fighting somebody with lesser credentials.
Why is Clottey a dangerous opponent?
He’s a fast, powerful puncher with a good chin. In his last outing, Miguel Cotto could only eke out a split decision win and this was with a knockdown in his favor.
On numerous occasions, Cotto backed off from exchanging with the tough Ghanian and was on his bicycle the second half of the fight.
Plus, he apparently does well against left-handers too, having beaten Judah by decision.
It’s certainly not going to be a walk in the park and considering that a strong welterweight like Cotto was able to inflict damage, we can probably expect more of the same.
THE BEST. But there is however a different dimension to this story. There’s the not-so-simple matter of Pacquiao’s legacy.
At this point in his career, his true remaining test is Floyd Mayweather Jr. But if that’s not possible, then the pound-for pound champion has the responsibility to the hard-core fans of the sport to face only the best possible challengers.
Clottey is one such challenge. If that’s the case, then my hat goes off to Manny.
You see, unlike Roy Jones Jr. or Bernard Hopkins who were content to coast along by fighting the Morrade Hakkars and Richard Fraziers of the pugilistic world, Manny apparently wants only the best and will not have it any other way.
That’s why he’s sui generis.
LAST ROUND. It’s on Mimi Maureen L. Co who celebrates her birthday this week. Cheers!
