Carl Jammes Martin Brings Back Memories of Rey Tam, North-South Rivalry
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Thu, 25 Mar 2021
Carl Jammes Martin.
Thanks to bloggers and many of his adoring fans, youthful, good looking undefeated Ifugao boxing sensation Carl Jammes Martin through his exploits in the ring, has captured the imagination of the country and brought back fond memories of the rivalry between fighters from the upland north, Metro Manila and the generally plain and coastal south.
Though soft spoken and humble, Martin's ferocity inside the ring brought memories of Rey Tam who in his heydays fiercely fought against top local fighters mostly from the Visayas and also more than held on to his own versus foreign opponents.
Martin has thus far beaten 17 ring rivals, 15 of them via the short route and most of them are from the Metro Manila or the South like Joe Tejones, Richard Rosales and Philip Cuerdo. He has also beaten a few foreign foes.
Rey Tam hailed from Benguet and fought professionally from 1974 to1 982. He was one of the notably successful boxers, if not the best, originating from the Cordilleras and mainly fought in the super featherweight division.
He made his debut on December 26, 1974 in Baguio City by knocking out Star Ben in two rounds. He knocked out his next three opponents showing the potentials of a knockout artist. He proceeded to knock out six of his next ten foes and registered a high 67 percent flooring rate in his first 15 fights.
Tam won his first major title, the Philippine Super Featherweight, in his 20th bout when he outlasted Al Espinosa in 12 rounds on July 30, 1977. A year later, on November 19, 1978, he won his first international belt by beating former world title challenger Apollo Yoshio (32-8-4) for the OPBF super featherweight title. Both bouts were held in Baguio City.
Rey Tam.
His 18-bout winning streak set-up a WBC World Super Featherweight title shot. He went up against reigning champion, Legendary Nicaraguan, Alexis Arguello, on April 29, 1978. The world title bout was held at The Forum, then home of the Los Angeles Lakers, in Inglewood, California, USA.
Tam lost the bout when referee Rudy Jordan stopped the contest at the 1:54 mark of the fifth after Tam turned his back and headed towards his corner as a sign of waving the white flag.
Philippine Star’s Joaquin “The Dean” Henson said delay in the trip and referee tactics were the culprit for Tam’s loss. Henson said Tam’s acclimatization process suffered because he arrived only a day before the bout. Jordan’s repeated breaking up the fighters as Tam pushed Arguello against the ropes and into the corners to take away the Nicaraguan’s reach advantage, and tolerance to Arguello’s nifty tricks like holding down Tam’s left arm in close exchanges and using his forearm to ward off the Filipino hurt Tam’s chances.
His loss to Arguello prelude four more straight losses including, one against Moon Suk Choi in Busan, South Korea where he lost the OPBF super featherweight title on November 19, 1978, and another to Filipino Superstar Rolando Navarrete at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum on February 16, 1979.
He, however, showed resiliency and got back on track by going on another winning streak. He knocked out Nardito Adrayan in Manila on June 22, 1979 to open an 8-0-0 record in his next eight fights.
This streak again ushered another title shot, the OPBF Super Featherweight title, against Ryu Fukita in Tokyo, Japan October 28, 1980. Tam, however, lost this one in a very tight fashion. The Japanese judge, Ken Morita, had it 117-114 for his countryman and the Filipino judge, Godofredo Fandialan, had it 117-115 for Tam. The neutral judge, Paul Field, scored it a 117-116 squeaker in favor of Fukita.
A similar pattern again ensued in the next phase of Tam’s career. His most recent title bout loss set up a three-bout losing streak, as he went down against Dorn Sornsakdisith on April 1, 1981 at the Araneta Coliseum and to Chung-Il Choi at the Kudok Gym in Busan, South Korea.
As in the past, he again showed toughness to the losses by answering with another winning streak, this time six straight, including one against Rod Sequeñan on July 18, 1981. Sequeñan had a 21-4-2 card when he faced Tam.
That winning streak again ushered another title shot, this time for the Philippine Lightweight Title, against Flash Villamer on January 6, 1982 in Baguio. Being a titleholder again was not meant to be as he was floored by Villamer in the 11th round in what turned out to be the last bout of his career.
Tam had a record of 36-9-1 including 14 knockouts when he decided to hang his gloves.
At the rate Martin is going in his career, he may be duplicating Tam's knockout clip.
However, at 21 and just 17 completed bouts, Martin has already won the Philippine title at bantamweight and is set to add the national title at super bantamweight against his most difficult opponent yet, Mark Anthony Geraldo who was already a veteran of about 40 fights, including fights against world champions and world rated fighters.
Geraldo, who is from Bukidnon, is the only fighter to beat reigning IBF super flyweight champion Jerwin Ancajas.
Should Martin prove victorious, comparison with Tam is already inevitable as well as heighten up rivalry with such Pinoy bantams as Johnriel Casimero, Nonito Donaire and Reymart Gaballo who all hail from the South.
Reference: Remembering One of Cordillera's greatest Athletes: Rey Tam by Armando Bolislis, Herald Express,July 14, 2017.
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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