TAPALES WINS USING A 7-YEAR OLD MOUTHGUARD
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 18 Feb 2019
Properly designed, fabricated and fitted mouthguards don?t necessary guarantee a win in boxing. They do not assure that the boxer wearing them will not get knockout either.
But a proper mouthguard can buffer damage to the teeth, from blows and physical contact. These mouthguards can also act as a barrier between teeth and the cheeks, and between the lips and tongue, thereby limiting the risk of soft tissue damage.
They also allow proper breathing due to their high degree of comfort and fit. More importantly, they stay firmly in place and would not come off during the heat of combat. Further, athletes love using them because they are resilient, tear-resistant, odorless and tasteless.
Case in Point: Marlon ?The NIghtMare? Tapales.
When we made a mouthguard for Marlon Tapales in his bout versus Alejandro Solorio of Mexico that was held at the Mandalay Bay in May of 2011 at Las Vegas, we cautioned him as we do everybody else, to ?take good care of his mouthguard?.
Apparently, Tapales took our advice to the hilt. He took great care of his precious mouthgurd all through the rest of his career from 2011 to date, a career that involved many fights including three world title fights in a little over 7 years.
Last Saturday night as he relaxed at the makeshift dugout at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles waiting for his fight versus Fernando Vargas Parra, we visited him to wish him good luck and ask what mouthguard he will be using. We know that his training schedule was too tight and his trainer did not have time to take him to our offices for a new mouthguard. That is why we were a bit concerned.
Much to our surprise, he said that his mouthguard is ?ok pa po? (It's still ok) and it was the same mouthguard we made him over 7 years ago.
I was truly amazed when he said that. He apparently took good care of it. We are fully aware that our mouthguards can last for a while, but 7 years plus?
That is insane!
Well, Tapales, after waiting for almost six hours for his fight to happen, (His fight was the last in the 18-fight card scheduled by PBC and it started almost midnight) made the most of it. He took care of Vargas Parra in less than half of the scheduled 10 rounder and won via knockout.
Did his old mouthguard contributed directly to the win?
I should hope so, but one thing we were sure of is it played a part, albeit small part in his victory. At the very least we know he felt confident that he had proper intra-oral protection so that is one thing less to worry as he faced Vargas Parra at ring center.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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