WHOA! HOLD YOUR HORSES
By Manny Piñol
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 04 Oct 2005
Whoever thought of including Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista in the elite group of boxing heroes to be honored by President Arroyo Monday must either be ignorant of boxing or involved in a grand scheme to take Filipino boxing fans on a great ride.
Manny Pacquiao is a boxing hero, no doubt. Because of him, people's interest in the sport heightened. Even my three-year-old son who could barely talk , would stand up, throw a left and shout "Manny Pacquiao" everytime he sees boxing on TV.
His story serves as an inspiration to young boys who dream of rising out of poverty.
Brian Viloria is a boxing hero without any argument. Being the first Ilocano boxing champion, he has stirred the imaginataion of young Ilocano boys who now realize that good boxers do not only come from the Visayas or Mindanao. An Ilocano could also be a world champion.
I was in Vigan City in Ilocos Sur last Friday for a meeting of the National Executive Board of the League of Governors and I felt the immense pride of Ilocanos in Viloria's conquest of the world junior flyweight championship from Eric Ortiz of Mexico.
But Boom Boom Bautista a boxing hero? Maybe to the people of Candijay, Bohol or the whole province for that matter including Cebu City where he trains, Bautista is a hero.
However, his inclusion in the list of boxing heroes to be honored by the country's President is a bit over, a bit too soon.
Now, don't get me wrong. I like the boy. He looks nice. Maybe he will become a world champion someday. But the fact remains, he has not proven his worth yet as a boxer.
Even Manny Pacquiao shakes his head at the way Bautista's handlers are trying to project his reputation.
"Mukhang nauuna ang build up. Baka masyadong maniwala ang bata na magaling talaga siya dahil yan ang nababasa nya sa diyaryo," said Manny. (There's just too much media hype. It might lead the young boy to believe that he is really that good because that's what he reads in the papers.)
One magazine has written extensively about Bautista calling him the next Manny Pacquiao. Is he?
With an impressive record of 18 wins and 14 knockouts, Bautista is indeed fearsome. But what about the quality of his opponents? His last fight was against a Colombian journeyman Felix Flores Murillo, 31 years old.
A check with Boxrec, a website that carries the record of all professional boxers in the world showed that Murillo who now lives in Tampa, Florida has not won in his last five fights. Was his knockout in the hands of Bautista a basis in the selection of the youngster from Bohol as a boxing hero?
Is Bautista really that good? That remains to be seen when he fights the kind of boxers that Manny Pacquiao has encountered inside the ring.
Indeed, Bautista can throw a punch but can he take a punch? I received reliable information from a boxing manager that in one sparring match against Japanese bantamweight Hideyasu Ishihara who trained in Cebu City, Boom Boom was knocked out cold.
Let us put things in their proper perspective. We cannot call somebody a boxing hero simply because he fought in the undercard of a Pacquiao card and knocked out his opponent too.
Being a hero takes a lot more than just being the subject of overenthusiastic press reports and reviews.
A boxing hero must epitomize the struggle of the Filipinos to rise out of poverty and to overcome adversity.He must be able to inspire and stir the imagination of the whole nation.
Bautista has not reached that level yet and no amount of press releases churned out by his handlers can change that.
Boom Boom's handlers must learn their lessons from the way they built up the likes of Ala Villamor and Z Gorres. If only press releases and media reviews could make champions, these two fighters would have become boxing champions many times over.
But the truth is when they were pitted against the best in the business, they wilted.
Along with that is the feeling of disenchantment by ordinary fans who believed the media reports of these fighters' seeming invincibility.
Let us make boxing heroes inside the ring, not through press releases and media interviews.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Manny Piñol.
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