FOR boxers who are not blessed with the hand speed of Manny Pacquiao or the defensive wizardry of a Floyd Mayweather Jr., the sad, unflinching truth is that most of them may tend to swaddle in pugilistic obscurity, and becoming a world champion will remain a sad, elusive dream.
Yet sometimes, the stars are aligned just right, and on that particular night, what he has may be deemed enough to make that dream a reality.
Last Saturday, the stars aligned their preternatural glow just right for one Pinoy pug who was able to pull off what could be one of the biggest upsets in recent boxing memory.
All hail Sonny Boy Jaro, conqueror of Pongsaklek Wonjongkam.
FLYWEIGHT KING. A veteran of 83 wins and 3 loss with 44 knockouts coming into the fight, Wonjongkam is arguably a certified Asian boxing legend.
A skilled southpaw with a solid chin, Wonjongkam ruled the WBC flyweight waters for more than a decade.
Incidentally, he had his first taste of the title when he wrested it from our very own Malcolm Tunacao in March 2001.
He went on to maintain a vise-like grip on the belt, defending it from the likes of Hussein Hussein (W UD) (Luis Lazarte, TKO2), Daisuke Naito (KO1), Trash Nakanuma (W UD), Gilberto Keb Baas (W UD) before faltering in a rematch with Naito to lose by decision in 2007.
He went on a nine-win, one-draw tear and regained the belt in 2010 with a majority decision over Japanese Koki Kameda.
He then defended the belt eighttimes, including a unanimous decision win over former champ Edgar Sosa. In his last outing prior to the Sonny Boy fight, he figured in a draw with Hirofumi Mukai.
SONNY. In marked contrast, Sonny came into the fight with a pedantic 33-10 record, peppered with 23 KOs.
The best names on his resume were against local boys Eriberto Gejon (KO1) and Along Denoy (SD). He failed in his efforts against foreign competition such as Giovanni Segura (KO1), Edgar Sosa (L UD) and Oscar Ibarra (TKO2).
So you see, Sonny was a long shot. But coming into the fight, he had a plan.
THE FIGHT. In the first round, Sonny started out like a house on fire, taking it immediately to the surprised champ. His feral approach netted him immediate dividends as the Thai went down after only 20 seconds with a clubbing left to the head.
The Thai tried to regain his composure but Sonny Boy maintained his aggressive approach. A brief clash of heads momentarily halted the action, but when it resumed, Sonny Boy started scoring with some brutish right hands.
The Thai champ would score with several flush counters in the second and third, but Jaro held his own. His superior strength was clearly a major factor in the fight as he would walk through Wonjongkam?s best blows and deliver punishment that had the Thai wobbly on several occasions.
In the fifth, Pongsaklek tried to make a fight out of it by standing his ground, but he was just playing into the muscular Jaro?s hands, who had the audacity to smile everytime he got tagged.
In the sixth, Jaro was deducted a point for a blow that purportedly landed south, but this only served to stoke the fire. Moments later, a crushing right hand backs Ponsanglek into the ropes followed by a body shot and a barrage that had the Thai champ crumbling down to the canvas. He would get up unsteadily at the count of eight.
Jaro followed it up with a brutal barrage that had the Thai champ out on his feet. And just like that, we have another Pinoy world boxing champ.
LAST ROUNDS. Are on Atty. Gayle Marie Hernando who recently passed the 2011 bar exams and Sydney Dawn B. Lizares who celebrates her birthday today. Cheers!
