Gaballo Earned A for Effort To Make a Fight and Win; Rodriguez Simply "Was Not There"
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 21 Dec 2020
There were fights that majority of the judges would not want to be too profound in their awarding their decision to the winner.
Boxing after all needs not be that intricate and complicated. Essentially, it boils down to who wants the W most and shows the greatest determination and effort to achieve it.
As can be seen by who was forcing the fight or as old ring sages had it, the one making a fight out of the fight.
Even if it is not apparent to and appreciated by most other watchers, including one fellow judge who scored the fight wide in favor of the eventual loser.
Fight judges Don Trella and John McKaie turned up an almost identical 116-112 and 115-113 scores for Filipino Reymart Gaballo overturning judge David Sutherland who gave Puerto Rico's Emmanuel Rodriguez 10 of 12 rounds for a 118-110 score.
As a result, Gaballo defeated Rodriguez by split decision to win the interim WBC bantamweight championship at the Mohegan Sun, Uncasville, Connecticut in a battle of subs.
Rodriguez, the former IBF titlist was tapped as replacement for French WBC bantamweight champion Nordine Oubaali who was to defend against Filipino legend Nonito Donaire but turned up positive of Covid virus.
Two weeks before the fight which the WBC agreed to sanction for its interim title with Oubaali as champion in recess, Donaire also came up with a positive result in his latest Covid test, forcing organizers to switch Gaballo in.
Gaballo came out on top of the long and short of the whole episode though most so called expert observers and spectators thought he was undeserving and that the two judges denied Rodriguez of a due W.
Curiously, Showtime Hall of Fame announcer Steve Farhood also had it for Rodriguez 118-110 (giving Gaballo rounds eight and nine), the same as Sutherland.
The ringside commentators may have influence most of those watching the fight in the media to believe that Rodriguez indeed did enough to win.
Not Trella and McKaie.
Rodriguez last saw action in May 2019 in Glasgow, UK where after a fighting first round, he was overwhelmed, got brutalized and knocked out by Monster Naoya Inoue in the second round, losing his IBF title in the process
Prior to that, Rodriguez had built a reputation as a tough, hard punching and fierce fighter and champion as can be attested by an erstwhile undefeated record spiked mostly by knockouts. He even reinforced that reputation by overcoming an equally tough and determined, then still unbeaten Jason Moloney.
The focus and onus therefore were on Rodriguez to prove that he was not only on a comeback but BACK.
He failed miserably on this and it was not beyond Trella and McKaie to see that he remained shell shocked from the shellacking he got from Inoue.
Rodriguez was simply not there.
It is one thing to do enough to win. It is another to do just enough not to lose. Rodriguez was essentially fighting just to survive, just not to lose.
That's not enough.
Apparently, he was outsmarting and outlanding Gaballo but in the few situations, he landed solidly, he never made any attempt to take advantage and follow up.
It was doubtful if ever he even had Gaballo really hurt.
On the other hand, Gaballo was all serious business and the few he managed to land hard on Rodriguez, they were with real mean intention to hurt and damage the Puerto Rican.
It could be argued that Gaballo was able to hurt Rodriguez in those few times. How else do we explain the Puerto Rican's aversion to dedicated exchanges.
Somebody mentioned Gaballo's apparent lack of urgency particularly in the latter rounds on the impression that he was losing the bout.
But how do you entice an opponent who simply did not want to make a fight out of the fight no matter how hard you try to force it.
Gaballo may appear as undeserving victor but Rodriguez looked farther as a deserving winner.
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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