OLIVA NEEDS TO BE RE-TOOLED PRIOR TO ANOTHER TITLE FIGHT
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 29 Aug 2011
Right after Jether Oliva failed in his attempt to wrest the IBF light flyweight title from Ulises ?Archie? last Saturday night
at Guadalajara, Mexico, Team Oliva reportedly made a statement I thought was uncharacteristic. (philboxing.com/news/
story-59167.html)
The team must have been so enamored with the losing efforts of Oliva that they promised the kid a crack at the new WBO
108lb champion, Moises Fuentes. Fuentes dethroned fellow Mexican Raul Garcia on the undercard of the Oliva-Solis title
fight.
Perhaps they are just trying to console Oliva from his sub-par performance but if they are serious, they better think twice
before pushing the kid again to the ?lion?s den.?
Promoter Sammy Gello-ani and matchmaker Sampson Lewkowicz and Oliva?s manager Kenny Smith must have seen
something that night that made them promise the kid a fight with Fuentes.
They must have seen a lot of flaws in Fuentes and/or may have considered his victory against Garcia a fluke.
Surely they could not have based their alleged promise on the performance of Oliva against Solis because what Oliva
showed last Saturday was not worthy of an immediate crack at another title.
Smith said that his ward took Solis to the end of round 12 and was backing up Solis most of the fight. The problem is Oliva
may have done that all through out the fight, but he was losing the rounds, except perhaps one or two.
With that kind of an effort, how can they say that Oliva?s performance was worth another crack at a world title so soon?
In my humble opinion, Oliva needs a few more fights to re-gain his confidence and improve his defense before he should
be matched against Fuentes.
Most importantly, with the raw talent he has, he needs another trainer to add more to his repertoire on top of the ring.
His chin and his heart are beyond question. The kid can take a punch and he has demonstrated a lot of guts. Those alone
however will not lead him to the top. Sadly Oliva has not been exposed enough to foreign boxers thus he could not adjust
his style to counter that of his opponent. True he landed some great punches, but he lacked the follow up to finish it off.
If Team Oliva is really convinced that their ward has the immediate potential to win a title, why don?t they invest some
money on the kid and have him train in Los Angeles where he will be exposed to multiple fighters with styles different
from what he sees back home. With that Oliva will gain valuable experiences and also gradually get acclimated to the
nuances of boxing in this part of the world. Without any doubt, such will push him up the next level.
I have no doubt whatsoever his Team have enough resources to get that done. Thus I would like to see them put their
money where their mouth is. Besides, when Oliva becomes a champion, they could re-coup their investments.
But are they up to it?
I know they have the connections with WBO through the outfit?s Asian Pacific VP Leon Panoncillo and they can get the
fight with Fuentes easily. Panoncillo has been over the years helping Asian boxers get to the top. Filipino boxers have had a
lot of their share from the goodness of the guy.
However, I hope Team Oliva will give Oliva a chance to re-tool properly ( read:- train in the US) before they put him up
for another title crack. We have seen too many Marvin Sonsonas in the past and it would be a shame if Oliva with his raw
talent, huge fighting heart and a great chin will go to waste just like the ones who were untimely rushed.
Note: Follow the author on Twitter: @MouthGrds4Champ
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
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