DAPUDONG ENTERS THE LION'S DEN
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 29 Jun 2011
Call it luck of the draw or simply good timing, but whatever it is, I call it Dapudong?s time.
Dapudong was back in the Philippines enjoying a recent victory over Indonesia?s Benja Loemoli (a 4th round TKO) when the call came.
He must fly to Hermosillo, Mexico and meet WBA flyweight champion Hernan ?Tyson? Marquez as a replacement for Marquez? original opponent who had to pull out of the fight due to training injuries.
It was a call on short notice, but it is great opportunity none-the-less. The Aldeguers of the famed ALA Boxing at Cebu who now promotes Dapudong must be congratulated for securing the fight.
The sudden and unexpected call sounds all too familiar. Hopefully it will end up with the same results as two of the previous ones in the past that ended in a couple of Filipinos winning a world titles.
Rolando Navarette got the same call years ago and beat Cornelius Boza-Edwards for the WBC super featherweight title in Italy.
Manny Pacquiao, did so too and he went on to beat Lehlohonolo Leddwaba for the IBF super bantamweight title at Las Vegas.
Now it is Dapudong?s time. Will the kid from North Cotobato, a product of the famed boxing experiment of former Governor Manny Pi?ol wherein he brought in a Cuban trainer to work on a few budding prospects from his area, succeed as Navarette and Pacquiao?
The odds are long, mainly because Dapudong has to face impediments such as jet lag, high altitude and the hot summer temperature this time of the year at Hermosillo. On top of that, he will be going in to the proverbial ?lion?s den? called Mexico.
Dapudong (R) poses with the author after being fitted with his own mouthguard.
But Dapudong has a great chance to pull it off.
Marquez is not a super exceptional fighter. Oh, don?t get me wrong. He had his moments and in fact he is a world champion. And, he holds a very commendable record of 30-2-0 (23 KO) But he is not totally flawless and his KO wins, except for about 4 of them were at the expense of fighters with dismal records.
Take the case when he was matched with Richi Mepranum in Texas. The kid Mexicans called ?Tyson? all of a sudden lost his much-hyped knock-out power and was soundly beaten by Mepranum. That night, Marquez certainly did not live up to his moniker, ?Tyson?.
Then he challenged Nonito Donaire Jr perhaps hoping that his defeat at the hands of Mepranum was just a fluke. Marquez was totally out-classed and severely exposed. He became an experiment for Nonito Donaire, Jr who switched from two different stance as he toyed with Marquez before finally stopping him in round 8.
Dapudong maybe disadvantaged fighting at the lion?s den. But if he shows half of what he displayed when he beat the old fox, Bert Batawang and recently, Leomoli of Indonesia, Marquez will be in for a short night.
Marquez has flaws that must be exploited by Dapudong. He does not like taking body shots so much and is largely ineffective against opponents who are fast to the draw. I know because I was at Mepranum?s corner together with Buboy Fernandez when Marquez was beaten by Mepranum.
Marquez has never beaten a Filipino and there is no reason to say that for him, the third time will be a charm. For all you know, it will be exactly the opposite.
I would not be surprised if good ole? Manny Pi?ol after all these years may finally see his dream come true that is- finally seeing a world champion from the group of boxers he nurtured for many years.
Dapudong can and will make that dream happen.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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