Jundy ?Pretty Boy? Maraon was considered as one of the country?s brightest prospects in professional boxing in the bantamweight division.
Tall, good-looking and powerful, he stirred the imagination of TV sports producers, especially when he scored a sensational 6th round knockout victory over countryman Jason Egera to win the World Boxing Organization Asia Pacific bantamweight title in Cebu City a few years ago. The knockout was so devastating that Egera had to be brought out of the ring in a stretcher and it took sometime before he could fight again.
But after one defense of his WBO regional title in Ozamis City three years ago, Maraon, undefeated with 14 wins, 11 KOs and 1 draw, disappeared from the boxing scene.
Hounded by a hand injury, Maraon decided to leave boxing. He married his girlfriend and decided to start a family.
The death of his father, a former barangay chairman in Zamboanga del Sur, however, rekindled his desire to get back to the ring. His father wanted him to become a boxing champion and Pretty Boy wanted to realize his father?s dream.
Earlier this year, I and trainer Nonito Donaire Sr. decided to bring Jundy Maraon to the US with the help of American boxing man Vinny Scolpino, who also managed Joshua Clottey and Joseph Agbeko.
After a long wait in the US where he trained with Donaire Sr. in San Leandro, California, Pretty Boy Maraon finally got his chance to fight again.
On Saturday (Friday in the US), Pretty Boy Maraon appeared in his first fight after three years. It was a fight scheduled for six in the Chumash Resort in Santa Inez, California.
Pitted against veteran Mexican fighter Ernie Marquez, Pretty Boy Maraon started the first round showing his effective right jabs and punches to the midsection.
Donaire Sr., who worked in the corner of Maraon said the Filipino fighter fell flat to the canvas in the second round after missing with a wild right hook to the head of the Mexican fighter.
Recovering from that embarrassment in the second round, however, Donaire Sr. said Pretty Boy came out strong in the third round and connected with a quick right hook to the Mexican?s head scoring a knockdown.
Badly hurt, Marquez managed to stand up to beat the mandatory count.
Pretty Boy resumed the attack scoring another knockdown with powerful body shots.
After another mandatory eight count, Maraon connected with a very powerful left to the head of Marquez prompting the referee to stop the fight.
It was a sweet victory the for 27-year-old fighter from Molave, Zamboanga del Sur, who is a father to a beautiful girl who was left behind with her mother in Cebu City where Maraon was based before he left for the US.
The fight and the win ended Maraon?s misfortune in his US sojourn. Three years earlier, Maraon, along with another Braveheart boxer Glenn Gonzales were signed up by Top Rank Promotions. It was only Gonzales, however, who was able to fight in their stay in the US and Maraon came home to the Philippines very disappointed for not having had the chance to fight under Top Rank.
His win last Friday not only marked the return of Jundy ?Pretty Boy? Maraon to the ring but the rebirth of a boxer who could be the country?s best bet in the bantamweight division.
