SONSONA AND HIS TRUE FOCUS TO THE GAME
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 08 Jun 2015
Los Angeles, CA: It is a well-known fact that for fighters to be ultra successful, they should continually focus on their craft. Every minor detail must be given due attention as even a simple misstep may lead to disaster.
Case in point: Marvelous Marvin Sonsona.
Sonsona?s Filipino manager, Sammy Gello-ani succinctly pointed it out. ?We need to have Marvin not lose focus. After this fight, he will continue to stay in Las Vegas where he will train with Al Haymon?s stable of fighters,? he said.
Coming from Gello-ani, I have no doubt he will make that happen - at the least part that says Sonsona needs to stay in Vegas and train. But Gello-ani must also assure that each member of the Team is fully aware of its responsibility to details.
But that does mean that the kid can continue to focus unless drastic measures are taken to assure that will happen. In addition, his handlers must also focus on every little item so no potential missteps happen.
Yesterday morning, Sonsona sent an urgent text message to Philboxing photographer, Jay Otamias asking for a special favor. He wanted Otamias to contact me because apparently he forgot his mouthguards in Las Vegas! Otamias advised him to call me directly and gave him my personal cell phone number.
Then at about 9:45 am Sonsona called me. He said that he needs a mouthguard in a hurry and asked if I can make one for him.
Yes, I make mouthguards very quickly (if you can call three hours quick) but the fighter needs to be in my office so I can take an impression, make a mold and fabricate the mouthguard.
I told him that and he being housed at the Crown Plaza Hotel near LAX about 20 miles from my office, and the fact that he should check in at the StubHub at 11:00 made it impossible for us to get together and get a mouthguard done.
I also told him, as an emergency procedure, I will ask Otamias to buy a "boil and bite? mouthguard material and tea pot warmer and I can quickly fabricate a mouthguard for him in the dressing room. It may not be the best mouthguard, but it may work if correctly done, albeit not as good as a custom mouthguard.
Otamias did just that and gave Sonsona the ?boil and bite mouthguard material? just as he went inside the venue. Then he located me and asked that we go to the dugout. But Sonsona's team decided that they don?t need us any more. They will just take care of the issue themselves.
Apparently, according to Otamias, Sonsona is so excited he could not locate his primary mouthguard. How can he when he left it in Vegas? So he contacted us to take care of the issue.
Apparently the Team panicked when they found out that in California two mouthguards are required. Since they left Sonsona?s mouthguard in Vegas, and won?t be able to show the CSAC any mouthguard, they panicked and contacted us.
Guess how they took care of the issue?
According to very reliable sources, Sonsona borrowed and used the mouthguard of his teammate Jonreil Casimero who trains with him in Vegas.
They apparently placed Casimero?s mouthguard in hot water and molded it to ?fit? on Sonsona.
That certainly is very creative but extremely stupid to say the least!
It not only unnecessarily exposed Sonsona to extreme danger but allowed Casimero to lose his mouthguard as well. How can it fit him again when it was altered to ?fit? Sonsona?
The incident should not have happened if the whole Team, Sonsona and Agrabio included, were just a bit more focus particularly on the minor details. Why they apparently ?forgot? to bring the all -important mouthguards is beyond me.
Don?t? they have check list?
Incidentally, after the fight, I thought I would offer Sonsona to come to my office before they go back to Las Vegas. I will open my office even if it?s a Sunday just to accommodate him. When I called him someone else answered saying that Sonsona is not available. But I left the message just the same.
A few minutes later Otamias called me saying that he contacted them and they stated they are leaving early today for Las Vegas and would not have time to get new mouthguards that will be far better that what he presently have.
Oh well, as I told Otamias, its their loss, not mine.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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