ONE PUNCH SPOILED EVERYTHING
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 31 Oct 2010
First, let me start by saying that the referee is there to enforce the rules. He is not there to please the fans nor should he bother with what the outside world will think. What matters is what happens inside the ring during a fight. Boxing is still a controlled form of violence and the referee is there to control the proceedings. But I am getting ahead of myself.
AJ ?Bazooka? Banal of Ermita, Cebu City was way ahead after the first six rounds in his fight against former two division world champion Luis ?El Demoledor? Perez of Nicaragua. Banal's lateral movement made it difficult for Perez to land a decent punch; and even if he did, Banal took it well. In the second round, Perez tried to elbow Banal when he had his back turned when the referee tried to separate them. Perez was warned earlier about hitting after the break. Was it early frustration for the 32 year old veteran who was being schooled by someone 21 years his junior?
Banal had no trouble finding Perez' face with his right hook. Banal mixed it up with brutal body shots as flecks of Perez' blood were mixing with the sweat on his face. In a spine tingling fourth round, Banal trapped Perez on the ropes and landed a brutal barrage of punches. Perez somehow survived and even finished the round strong.
Perez' corner implored him to go for Banal's midsection but AJ was a difficult target. In fact, it was Perez who was reeling from a series of body shots in the fifth and sixth rounds. The end seemed near for the Nicaraguan. But in the seventh he hurt Banal with a left.
It would have been a classic. Perez was losing but still in the fight. This was shaping up to be better than Milan Melindo vs Anthony Villareal or Banal vs Big Yoo. But it was not meant to be.
As referee Ver Abainza yelled ?break?, he had his hand already on Banal's shoulder with Perez in clear view of Abainza who was in position to separate them. But Perez fired a right hook that sent Banal down, dazed and bleeding on the canvas.
The referee had no choice but to declare Banal the winner by disqualification. For the record, the judges' scores were 59-55, 59-55, 60-54 after the completed six rounds. Opinions were divided at ringside.
Grab any boxing rule book and you'll read that when the referee breaks boxers from a clinch, you have to take a full step back; you cannot immediately hit your opponent--that's called "hitting on the break" and is illegal. When an injury is caused by an intentional foul, and the injured boxer is unable to continue, the offending boxer will lose by disqualification.
So, was it intentional? Team Perez will deny this but I will use for a point of comparison, the first fight between Rodel Mayol vs Omar Nino Romero which ended in a technical draw in the 3rd round. Referee Vic Drakulich was far from the action and reached from behind Omar Nino after he yelled 'stop.' Romero obviously was not looking behind his back as he was looking at Mayol. The Filipino on the other hand was looking at Drakulich thus was able to obey the command to stop. Romero then stepped on Mayol's foot and landed the final punch.
In the case of Banal vs Perez, Abainza approached from behind Banal, meaning Perez was in clear view of the referee trying to stop the fight. Abainza did command the fighters to break. He was near both of them, his hands on Banal,in clear view and in good position to stop the action. Perez threw his right even if he saw the referee trying to separate them.
This makes it different from Omar Nino's angle and eliminates any gray areas as to whether Perez understood that they were being separated.
Now, it is not Banal's fault that the fight ended that way. He tried to win convincingly. In fact, this was the best AJ Banal that I have seen since the loss to Rafael Concepcion.
But Banal's detractors will always go back to that loss. I know Banal wants to erase the stigma of that late collapse. But unfortunately for him this was not the night for it to happen. Perez was banking on a late rally and hoping for Banal to fade in the second half of the fight. There was always that possibility. The ending would have been as dramatic as Brian Viloria vs Carlos Tamara. But unfortunately for Perez, his foul blow prevented that from happening. In the end, Perez cannot blame anyone but himself.
Banal, aside from being hurt from the foul punch, also had a deep cut on his left eyelid. If the fight continued, Perez would have the upper hand. That in a way would have been a 'reward' for fouling.
If the referee won't enforce the rules, boxing will be reduced to a mere street fight. There is also the unpredictability of a boxing match that you cannot find in any other sport. There lies boxing's allure and also it's source of disappointments.
Both Perez and Banal want a rematch. Personally, I hope they cross paths again someday.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..
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