And then there was none
In the Agatha Christie novel “Ten Little Indians” the main characters started falling away one by one.
The same is happening to Philippine boxing. Only a couple of years ago, Philippine boxing was at its zenith.
Then came the demolition of Manny Pacquiao……Brian Viloria followed.
The last man standing, Nonito Donaire, fell last Sunday to a wily Cuban, whose looks and stature looked deceiving.
In the Agatha Christie thriller, the deaths were planned by one of the little Indians. Is there also a common hand in the successive defeats of the Filipino boxing icons?
I am not very sure about the Viloria fight, but both the Pacquiao and Donaire bouts were both Bob Arum promotions.
I am not insinuating anything, but the Bob Arum patronage has become a hex for Filipino boxers. Its probably time to look for some other avenues where our boxers can discover their pot of gold.
My source of wonder is why were the three Filipino champions pitted against opponents whose style obviously made it difficult for them to win?
Manny Pacquiao for instance.
Of all his opponents, Morales was the one who always gave him a hard time. In fact, in one or two of the first meetings, before the fated fourth, Marquez had a legitimate claim to victory.
I did not see the Viloria fight because of confusion as to the time of broadcasting. But the way the Hawaiian Punch looked after the fight, he was obviously outclassed, overpowered and outpunched.
Then Nonito Donaire.
After his last fight, I was telling friends that we can now afford to forget the Pacman, because The Flash is going to keep us in boxing heaven for a long time.
Nobody had Guillermo Rigondeaux worked into the equation. Nonito probably took him as a gimme.
Obviously, he was not accustomed to the style of the Cuban. He probably did not watch tapes of Rigondeaux’s previous fights. My goodness, he only had eleven (11) professional fights!
However, If you are a keen observer of boxing, one factoid would have immediately raised a warning bell. Rigondeaux was a two-time Olympic Champion. This is something that cannot be sneered at. He is a Cuban.
To represent Cuba in boxing, one has to probably tread a camel’s hair through a needle. So Rigondeaux had a long and storied amateur career, before turning pro.
Donaire probably took it for granted given the short time that elapsed between his last fight and this one. He did not have any idea how to deal with the Cuban mighty mite.
End of story.
Ten little Indians…………and then there was none.
