ON THE PAL flight from Tokyo to Manila on Monday, Yukka Gejon took a window seat where he tried to figure out what went wrong in his quest for a world boxing crown the night before.
He did follow all of Manny Pacquiao’s pre-fight instructions.
Gejon boxed better and visibly won the bout on points.
In fact, the Inquirer had him ahead, 96-94, when the bout at the Yokohama Arena was stopped in the 10th round after he got cut a third time, the result of another headbutt.
So why did he have to suffer his first defeat in 23 fights and return empty-handed?
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Gejon claimed he had trained hardest and longest for his world crown quest.
He checked in at his best for his title fight against world minimumweight champion Yutaka Niida of Japan.
Gejon did his darned best, no doubt about it.
But, then it was not a question of what he was able to carry out during the abbreviated title bout.
It was a question of what he failed to do out there.
They’ve many names for this ingredient that could’ve perfected the winning chemistry.
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In the case of Manny Pacquiao, the hotrod weapon could be aptly called fire in the belly.
Or lion’s heart.
In Gejon’s case, it was too late when he was finally told that he had lacked the necessary aggressiveness in that night of nights.
OK. He was masterful and dominated most of the first six rounds, using his longer arms and sharp jabbing, as had been prescribed by Paquiao.
However, Gejon soft-pedaled once he neared the ascent — the 7th round, to be exact — thereby allowing the outclassed defending champ to bore in and bully him.
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Niida, short and ill-equipped, took round four and went on to win rounds 7, 8 and 9 in the Inquirer scorecard.
Gejon took all the other rounds, thereby edging Niida by two points.
But here’s the catch. Although that margin had made Gejon appear the winner, it was not wide enough to wrest the crown from the champ.
Gejon, indeed, had been short-changed.
They have different names for this malpractice: hometown decision, lutong Macau, hocus pokus, etc.
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But, whether you like it or not, the dirty trick has become part of the grammar of professional boxing. A visiting challenger cannot hope to win a world title merely by slim margins.
It was just too bad that Manny Pacquiao, who took the trouble of skipping his endless post-victory engagements to personally help in the crown quest, could not detail the necessity of sustained fierceness inside the ring to Gejon.
Pacquiao, a born warrior, must’ve felt, quite honestly, that this backbone of a boxer’s artillery no longer had to be emphasized to someone seeking a world crown.
Of course, it has got to be told again: Other than sharpness and skills, aggressiveness, the so-called fire in the belly, should regularly fuel a true ring warrior.
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Anyway, Pacquiao did find time in Tokyo, where his group had motored from the failed mission in Yokohama, to make a belated explanation.
Gejon, thick tapes over both eyebrows, sat in a sofa at the hotel lobby while Pacquiao detailed with sharp swings of his fabulous fists how he turned the tide and won the world flyweight crown with a devil-may-care pressure offensive against Chatchai Sasakul of Thailand in 1998.
Pacquiao had to make his message clear again: You don’t bargain for a world boxing crown using loose change — “Hindi puwedeng barya-barya lamang.”
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(SIDE BET: Malaca?ang is busy preparing a grand celebration for the victorious trio of Manny Pacquiao, Brian Viloria and Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista, complete with a ticker tape parade and a welcome by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Monday. This was relayed by broadcaster Hermie Rivera, who said he has been tasked to turn over the golden fighters to the President after the parade.… Gene Labadan of the PAL corporate communications office is calling members of Class 1975 of Misamis Occidental National High School (MONHS) to a meeting on Oct. 31, 3 p.m. at Rhovic’s Place, Oroquieta City, Misamis Occidental to discuss their grand reunion for 2006. Please contact Leola Estela at tel. 09278960951 and Carlos Villa, 0917-8971720.)
