SUICO DISAPPOINTS…AGAIN!
Los Angeles, Ca- WBC ranked #4 at super featherweight, Randy Suico, he again failed to step up to the next level, as he was defeated handily over ten rounds by Javier Jauregui. The rugged Jauregui, he needed a win to stay upright, and to get it he came back to 130lbs., this after losing at lightweight. Javier is ranked #6 WBC, and the Golden Boy Promotions handled fighter, he may be next in line for recognized 130 lb. kingpin Marco Antonio Barrera.
ANOTHER MISSED CHANCE, WILL THERE BE A THIRD?
The Filipino from Cebu piled up an excellent, but heavily inflated 23 wins, of which 19 were by knockout. His only prior loss was against the pillow punching Mzonke Fana. Suico, dropped Fana twice and almost stopped him in the last round. This time, on the nationally televised Telefutura, a Spanish speaking channel, in the USC Center in Los Angeles, Suico committed the same errors that resulted in his first loss.
“HANDS OF STONE” WITH “FEET OF LEAD”
In the early rounds, Suico was only able to be effective when he had Jauregui on the ropes. However, when the fight was in the center of the ring, Jauregui boxed circles around the plotting Suico, landing looping right and lefts that Ray Charles could’ve seen coming. Still. Suico never moved his head, and his feet couldn’t side step, or evade the Jauregui haymakers. Although Randy landed some powerful and accurate punches, especially his right uppercut, Suico would often miss and fall over after launching his vaunted uppercut, this because his footwork was so awful. Add to that the slow pace he tried to implement, and Jauregui easily won five out of the first seven rounds.
SUICO COULDN’T PULL THE TRIGGER
When Randy finally stepped up the pace, he was able to force Jauregui into a defensive mode, landing while Javier had his back to the ropes. However, when he did have J.J. trapped on the ropes, he couldn’t finish him, nor could Randy really trap him. In the last two rounds, Suico made a brave effort to pull out a win with a KO, but the ring wise veteran got on his bicycle, and made sure Suico wasn’t going to land a lucky punch.
A “VERY” LOPSIDED MAJORITY DECISION
At the end of ten rounds, judge Chuck Hassett, he scored the bout even at 95-95, which meant he didn’t appreciate Javier running late in the fight. Or, he’s in love with Filipino food! Hassett’s scorecard, it was rightfully overruled twice by Ray Corona and Jack Reiss, who both saw it a rout at 99-91 for the Mexican fighter. These lopsided scores, they favored Javier for his landing clean and effective blows, the majority of the time.
CONSTRUCTION, OR RE-CONSTRUCTION NEEDED?
Suico, who was in an ideal position, he now has to reevaluate how he wants to continue his career. Managed by “Tokyo Joe” Koizumi, who led Luisito Espinosa to the featherweight crown. Suico did manage to look good late in the fight, showing both guts and heart. On the other hand, Suico clearly has deficiencies in his game that needs to be corrected.
“THE PINOY” TELLS IT LIKE IT IS!
The 25-year old has natural power, size, and a hunger to win, but he is too raw to compete in the upper levels of this very tough division. Randy can go back to the Philippines, and continue to fight patsies and journeymen, with the hope that he can once again contend for a title shot. The other choice may be to continue fighting on U.S soil, fine tune his boxing skills with a more experienced trainer, and capitalize on the new wave of Philippine boxing.
QUICK JABS
Eriberto Gejon challenges the WBA 105 lb. defending champ Yutaka Niida of Japan in Yokohama this coming Sunday. I’ve never really heard of Gejon until this bout, and his record looks very padded. However, he is managed by Rex Wakee Salud, the man who led Gerry Penalosa to a world title. He’ll also have the support of Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao, who’ll watch and support his countryman from ringside. Does Gejon have a chance? Well, in this division, the horse jockey weight class, just about anyone can win a world title at any time, just look at the linage…Speaking of Pacquiao, he’s currently second in a two person race to become the leading vote getter of Time Asia’s poll for the annual “Asia’s Hero of 2005.” A Korean pop singer, Rain, currently has the lead, with other Asian nominees from Jackie Chan to Manmohan Singh. You can bet the Filipinos and Koreans are spending any free time they can, logging on and voting. You may remember back in 2003, Manny Pacquiao dominated both an HBO poll for “Fighter of the Year,” and “Upset of the Year.”
