YOU CAN?T WIN THEM ALL
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 19 Sep 2010
Edrin Dapudong was expected to win. Well, at least by all the people who follow boxing particularly those who lurk on forums such as Pacland.
Sadly however and no offense meant, a great majority of these people are not really knowledgeable about the inner workings of boxing per se. They are simply ?fans? who want to see a victory for every Filipino boxer that enters the ring.
And when these boxers lose, in a blink of an eye, they are on the forums labeling the boxers and even their managers as ?bums?.
Perhaps they are just having fun but little do they realize that such accusations are very hurtful to the boxers and the managers. Many of these managers such are well-meaning. Manny Pinol is one of them. Therefore it is not fair to label him a bum.
I have been involved with many Filipino boxers in the past years. Some win and others lose. But without exception, those who lose lament the fact that certain people are quick to label them as ?bums?. ?Di nila alam kung gano kasakit ang matalo lalo na pagkatapos mong ibigay lahat?. ( They just don?t know how it hurts to lose particularly after giving it all?) they would say.
There is nothing wrong in criticizing boxers who end up on the short end of the stick. But there a great deal of difference between constructive criticisms and deliberate insults, particularly from people who have never gone through the hardships of training and combat inside the ring. Perhaps these people should try what boxers go through and then they will find out who is the real bum.
It is not fair insult people who stake their lives in order to improve their quality of life and along the way bring honor to the country. Further, it is foolish to crucify people so to speak, who spend lots of cash to bankroll these boxers in order to give them a chance to succeed.
So what if these managers hype their fighters to no end? That is part and parcel of the fight game. Most importantly, it lifts the soul of the boxers and give them more incentives to do well. But there is no guarantee and one can?t win them all. Even the great Manny Pacquiao had losses along the way. But look and see where he is now. Granting that there is only one Pacquiao, but would it be too wrong to try and mold someone else and perhaps succeed?
I salute Manny Pinol for taking all the blame for what happened at Cancun. Absolving Dapudong for the lost as well as his trainer Noli Pinol and conditioning coach, Justin Fortune wasn?t that easy. But it takes a man like Manny Pinol to know where things went wrong and he was gallant enough to accept the blame for it all. Unlike others, Pinol did not go around looking at where to point the finger. He took it all, hook, line and sinker.
What a man!
I also give it to Dapudong. In spite of the odds and what happened to him physically as a result of the new conditioning regime, he did not give up. It must have been terrible being up there in the ring with nothing left in the tank. In my heart, I know the kid will be back.
Now that Pinol has identified the most likely reason why Dapudong run out of gas, I am pretty sure it will never happen again. At least not to Braveheart boxers.
I have one small unsolicited advice however. Fighting at the vicinity of Mexico City is different from fighting shall I say in and around Tijuana. The area near the Mexican capital city has a higher elevation. To someone not used to fight in such elevations, running out of gas early will most likely happen. Therefore, may I suggest to Pinol and any other Filipino manager intending to send their boxers in that area of Mexico to spend at least two weeks there and get acclimatized?
Getting there two weeks early is easier said than done. It will add more to the cost of bringing a fighter up there. With the miniscule purse most of these boxers are getting, that surely would put a damper on the net gain of the boxer.
But that beats going home a loser.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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