HE doesn’t have the swagger and the punching power of a Manny Pacquiao, nor the ring savvy of Gerry Penalosa. Worse, he’s not as young as Rey “Boom Boom” Bautista anymore, and his technical decision loss to Rolly Matsushita last Saturday at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan, doesn’t bode well for Macolm “Eagle Eye” Tu?acao. Matsushita is actually a Filipino (Roy Lunas), albeit based in Japan laboring under the sponsorship of the Matsushita group.
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Losing the OPBF belt translates into another delay, a detour one that Malcolm can ill afford to take. My heart goes out to Malcolm, as his career has seen better days. You see, before Manny became the superstar that he is today, there was Malcolm.
Yes guys, after Manny Pacquiao lost his WBC flyweight crown to Medgoen Lukchaopormasak in Sept. 1999, Malcolm Tu?acao salvaged national boxing pride by winning the same crown when he dethroned Medgoen Singsurat (aka Medgoen 3K Battery) His reign however, was short-lived and undistinguished and he subsequently lost via KO to Thai superman Pongsanglek Wonjongkam But really there is no shame in losing to Wonjonkam as this guy is a certified legend.
Pinoy Butcher. If Manny Pacquiao is the bane of Mexican fighters, then Wonjongkam is the Pinoy butcher, having beaten more than 30 Filipino pugs, among them Randy Mangubat, Jerry Pahayahay and Juanito Rubillar. Ironically though the only blemishes in his record were inflicted by Pahayahay, but Pongsaklek avenged his losses by decisioning the former in 1998.
Did the loss to Wonjongkam affect Malcolm? Prior to last Saturday’s upset loss, all indications had pointed to a rejuvenated Eagle Eye, as he managed to compile a record of 10 wins and two draws. More than anything else, inactivity has hurt Malcolm’s career as he fought only once in 2003 and 2004. Prior to that, he had publicly announced his retirement in 2003, but thankfully he reneged on his promise.
This writer was at ringside when Malcolm tallied a 7th round stoppage of Pornchai Sithpraprom in 2002 at the Waterfront Hotel. He was very impressive that night and even toyed with his game foe at times. In the Matsushita fight, Malcolm reportedly became too cocky and was even the one who requested to the ringside physician to stop the fight due to the cuts he suffered, mistakenly thinking that he was ahead on points.
The great ones usually grind it out till the very end, any lead on the scorecards, notwithstanding. That’s what separates the legends from the pretenders. Ask Manny Pacquiao.
Manny’s cocks. And speaking of Manny, you all heard it on the news. Manny jumped straight from the hospital to the cockpit, thus drawing criticism from his overprotective fans that tend to worry too much about his health and wealth.
Hey, don’t be too hard on him guys. I have a different take on it. Manny is a born fighter, a fierce competitor both inside and outside the ring. It may not be amiss to state that Manny identifies with his fighting bantams and he relishes the struggle and the drama that happens inside the cockpit.
The great Roy Jones is a well known cock fighting aficionado, and he breeds gamecocks at Pensacola, Florida. He once knocked out challenger Glen Kelly with a punch that from behind his back, a move he attributed to watching his prized roosters. Shortly before he was knocked out consecutively by Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson, Roy Jones was said to have remarked that he did not want his chickens to fight anymore, and that he wanted to breed them for aesthetic purposes.
Could it be that it was a portent of things to come? Could he have lost his fighting spirit back then which subsequently netted disastrous results?
Let Manny be. Ill start worrying about his performance inside the ring the moment he starts preferring Chicken joy to gamecocks. As for me, I’d rather watch boxers than roosters. At least you can ask them after the fight why they lost.
THE LAST ROUND. Today’s last round goes out to Atty. Pio Dargantes of the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas. A former police officer before he became a no-nonsense graft buster, Pio used to box and bust heads. However, his unique style of using his face to parry his opponent’s blows did not quite merit his trainer’s approval. Cheers!
