CAN MARVIN MAKE UP FOR LOST TIME?
By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 09 Jun 2014
It was five years ago but I still remember the look on his face and the way his eyes lit up.
I was having afternoon coffee with Marvin Sonsona, Promoter Sammy Gello-ani and trainer Jun Agrabio inside one of the malls in Cebu. We talked about Sonsona?s one punch knockout win over former WBC world titlist Wandee Singwancha that created a lot of buzz a few days earlier at the Cebu Coliseum.
He showed no remorse when asked what it was like to watch the Thai being resuscitated inside the ring. While we chatted, Gello-ani was on his cellphone, ironing out kinks, before he broke the news to Sonsona. ?You?re getting a title shot, against Jose ?Carita? Lopez,? Gello-ani said, ?He?s from Puerto Rico, WBO superflyweight champion, so you?ll be moving up in weight.?
Sonsona was an eighteen year old flyweight and had the audacity of youth. His eyes blazed when he heard about the possibility of fighting on the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather-Juan Manuel Marquez bout before his nineteenth birthday.
I told him about Wilfred Benitez, who was a world champ at seventeen. Sonsona was interested about the Puerto Rican who even as a teenager was better than most of the active fighters in that era.
Sonsona?s self belief was evident. I labeled him in subsequent articles as ?Philippine boxing?s worst kept secret? and the next great southpaw from Gen. Santos City.
?I am honored by the comparison but Manny Pacquiao already made his own path. I am now making mine.? he told me.
His title challenge was confirmed by International matchmaker Sampson Lewkowicz when he visited the Philippines coinciding with Sonsona?s 19th birthday celebration.
With the change in date and venue, Sonsona didn?t break the record of Morris East as the youngest Filipino boxing champion. But his 12 round victory against Lopez in Canada was still impressive considering that he never got past the fifth round before his world title shot.
But, Marvin failed to live up to his ring moniker ?Marvelous?. After two months, he lost his title at the scales. Another three months passed and he suffered his first career loss at the hands of Wlifredo Vazquez,Jr.
He finally got his shot at redemption this weekend when he faced Vazquez in a rematch in Madison Square Garden on the Miguel Cotto-Sergio Martinez undercard. After dropping Vazquez with a body shot in the opening round and looking terrific in the early going, the fight turned ugly with low blows, head butts, pushing, holding, elbows, forearms, and a wayward punch that almost socked the referee. Sonsona triumphed by a split verdict and exorcised a few of his personal demons. He has won five bouts since the Vasquez setback. But that is five fights in a four year span. He needs to be more active. In fact he was fighting only once a year until his last two fights which are only four months apart.
Sonsona also needs a more scientific approach to his conditioning and weight reduction. He does have a tendency to bloat in between fights and his build is like that a nerdy,skinny high school freshman when he enters the ring.
He is in a tough division. But most Filipino boxing pundits will agree that he has the talent to beat anyone in the 126 lb category except for Nonito Donaire. But because of the past rumors about his undisciplined routine there remains a huge question mark over his head every time he fights. Sonsona will turn 24 this July and the entire Filipino boxing nation welcomes his declaration that he is a changed man.
We will wait for his next bout simply because he remains one of the few natural and instinctive boxers in the Philippines. And for those who saw the promising teenager turned champion of 2009, we hope he can finally fulfill his ?marvelous? destiny.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Rene Bonsubre, Jr..
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