Paying the price for manna
By Joaquin Henson
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 25 Jul 2019
LAS VEGAS. Jay-Ar Inson was booked to fight Mexican veteran Mahonri Montes in an eight-round fight before the main event featuring Manny Pacquiao and Keith Thurman at the MGM Grand Garden Arena here Saturday night. Inson, the Philippine welterweight champion, was guaranteed a purse of $8,000 for his second US outing. In his American debut last January, Inson was floored in the first round but got up and rallied down the stretch to lose only by a split eight-round decision to Jonathan Steele.
Inson is trained by Nonoy Neri, one of Pacquiao?s close aides. Neri helps out Buboy Fernandez in Pacquiao?s training and also supervises the kitchen staff. Inson has sparred with Pacquiao in a few camps because they?re both in the same 147-pound division. He?s not often called up to spar because he?s a lefthander and Pacquiao has fought orthodox opponents lately.
Inson, 28, has won fights in Japan, China and Kuala Lumpur and his only losses were in South Africa and in the US. Montes, 29, was supposed to be a match for Inson. But the day before the weigh-in, Inson got the surprise of his life.
MP Promotions head Sean Gibbons said John Molina, Jr. had pulled out of his 10-round bout against Kazakhstan?s Sergey Lipinets for the vacant WBO Intercontinental welterweight crown because of an injury. Apparently, Molina hurt his back in training. Molina?s withdrawal left a gaping hole in Fox Sports? pay-per-view card and Gibbons suggested elevating Inson as a replacement.
GAB chairman Abraham Mitra was conveniently in town to supervise two WBC-sanctioned fights with WBC vice president Rex Walker in the undercard and approved the change of Inson?s opponent. Filipinos fighting abroad require GAB clearance.
Neri said Inson was well-trained for Montes so taking on Lipinets on two days? notice was no problem. Pacquiao?s strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune, however, warned that Lipinets is a ?killer? and gave Inson only up to five rounds. Still, it was manna from heaven as Inson?s purse was scaled up to $100,000. So from a purse of the equivalent of P420,000, Inson got a pay hike of P5.2 Million.
?It was an opportunity for a big paycheck,? said Fortune. ?Of course, Inson grabbed it.? Lipinets, 30, reported for work with a 15-1 record, including 11 KOs. His only loss was a decision to Mikey Garcia in yielding the IBF superlightweight title last year. One of Lipinets? victims was Filipino Ernie Sanchez who was stopped in eight rounds in Moscow in 2014. Inson?s record was 18-2, with 12 KOs.
Inson would?ve trampled Montes whose record is 35-9-1, with 24 KOs but against Lipinets, he was up against a former world champion and an ex-kickboxer. Last March, Lipinets halted former IBF superlightweight ruler Lamont Peterson and propped himself up for another title crack. Molina would?ve been a stepping stone with a record of 30-8, including 24 KOs. Instead, Inson walked in as a sacrificial lamb.
Inson, at 5-10, is three inches taller than Lipinets and also has a four-inch reach advantage. But in terms of skill level, they?re worlds apart. In the first round, Lipinets watched Inson from a distance, studying his moves which were extremely limited. Neither had the benefit of scouting each other closely because the fight was sealed only two days before. In the second canto, Lipinets went to work and landed a left hook to the jaw, toppling Inson to the canvas. Inson got up on shaky legs and referee Jay Nady waved it off at 0:57 of the round. Inson was disappointed and slammed a glove on the canvas. But there was no basis to protest Nady?s decision. Inson, nicknamed the Hitman, never had a chance against Lipinets.
Inson?s consolation is unexpectedly, he?s now more than a millionaire. He?ll give up 30 percent of his purse to the IRS and pay off his training team which included former WBC lightflyweight champion Rodel Mayol. Inson should still clear over P2 Million. He paid the price for manna from heaven but it was worth taking the risk of suffering a knockout. At least, Inson wasn?t badly battered. A one-punch knockout in an early round has less of a debilitating effect than a constant bashing over a protracted period.
Inson was the only Filipino casualty of the night. Pacquiao won by a split decision over Thurman. Agusan del Sur flyweight Genesis Libranza, 25, stopped Carlos Maldonado of Los Angeles in the fourth round and La Union featherweight John Leo Dato knocked out Juan Antonio Lopez of Dallas in the fifth stanza. Fil-Italian Austin Dulay halted Justin Pauldo of Orlando in the third round. In a sense, it was a clean sweep for the Filipino fighters because even though Inson lost, he was surely a winner with a $100,000 purse.
Photo: Sergey Lipenets drops Jay-Ar Inson in the second round during their ten-round scheduled fight Saturday night in Las Vegas.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Joaquin Henson.
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