They came, they saw and unfortunately, they were vanquished albeit to a certain extent. Such were the fates of the Filipino pugilists who invaded foreign shores in search for boxing glory with the hopes of following in the footsteps of current P4P king Manny Pacquiao for a special place in the hearts and minds of their countrymen.
First to fall was journeyman Juanito Rubillar who went on an African safari but instead of taking his prize home, he ended up with a bum decision that is hard to swallow, a victim of South African home cooking and lost to Hekoe Budler for the vacant IBO light flyweight belt. The judges, according to Ronnie Nathanielzs of Philboxing, reportedly gave the local boy a pass despite the Filipino controlling the fight, especially in the second half of the fight.
South Africa, once again, confirmed further to the casual boxing observer its notorious reputation as one of the hometown decision nations in the world, synonymous with Thailand and South Korea, where visiting fighters will never be given a chance to win a fight unless he does it by knockout.
Anyway, this writer was invited by some of his Filipino friends in the Downriver area for another Saturday fight night and, of course, another round of Filipino-style Fiesta, where native food and drinks once again flowed in the night, while waiting for the featured bouts of the evening to beam live from two different countries where two of their compatriots were vying for titles.
First to fight from Bayamon, Puerto Rico for the WBO super bantamweight crown that current super featherweight title-holder Juan Manuel Lopez earlier relinquished, was the flamboyant “Marvelous” Marvin Sonsona, the former WBO super flyweight champion who lost his belt earlier in the year at the scales and was hoping to win another title at the expense of the proud son and namesake of a Puerto Rican legend, Wilfredo Vasquez.
After a slow start and a feeling out first round, Wilfredo Vasquez, Jr. stalked and methodically broke down his taller but younger opponent until Sonsona capitulated on his knees after a vicious left hook landed on his liver in the 4th round. Thus, WV2 lived up to his pedigree and made Puerto Ricans proud. We can bet our souls that a lot of Bacardi’s and Captain Morgan’s flowed after the fight to welcome Puerto Rico’s newest world champ.
Down Mexico way, defending champion Rodel Mayol, who has a history of controversy in his recent fights, was once again involved in another bizarre and controversial fight with rugged challenger Omar Nino Romero in Guadalajara. But this time, he was at the receiving end of a wicked punch to the jaw that knocked him out of his senses for several seconds.
Referee Vic Drakulich was slow to react to a series of low blows that were unleashed on the Filipino by Romero before that fateful and fight- ending punch. The bout was declared a no- contest and Mayol, who was winning the fight earlier, ended up being brought out of Coliseo Olimpico on a stretcher. Technical draw or not, a rematch is necessary to settle the score between the two protagonists. It is also worth noting that the WBC panel, headed by its vice- president, Mauricio Sulaiman, did the right thing in coming up with the right decision with regards to the controversial ending.
The Filipinos who gathered for the evening were obviously not happy with the outcomes, but if their spirits were affected by their countrymen’s setbacks, they did not show their disappointments during the karaoke- powered after fight concert and party.
As Allan Sabater of Melvindale exclaimed, amid all the cacophony of voices during the merriment, “We came here to celebrate and we will not let these losses dampen our spirits. I’m sure Manny Pacquiao will make up for them on March 13th. So, to paraphrase the old clich?, the party must go on.”
