Re: Arce vs. Penalosa looms
Shucks! I'm really for a de Leon rematch, and win or lose, end his career with a big bang. He's got nothing to lose fighting de Leon but everything to gain. Imagine him beating two great champions in a row. Although I have strong doubt about it and favor de Leon 60-40, it's not a very farfetched possibility for Gerry to win. He had de Leon running in the last couple of rounds in the last fight, which just means he was hurt cuz there was no solid indication he was far ahead in points to afford running, except in the 'crooked' (did that sound like crooks?
) eyes of judges. I can live with the decision, but not the scoring, the fight which many well-known boxing analysts thought Gerry won. If I remember it right, two judges gave Gerry no rounds, while the last one gave him just one round! or something like that, a typical uncle Golden Boy robbery - what a heck, uncle Golden Boy is one of my favorite boxers. There was a good thread by El Gamo few weeks back where de Leon's coach or manager lamentated his horrble performance in that fight - it was like he was admitting defeat. Another good related thread by El Gamo (Gamo again! where are the others? - you're a posting genius, Gamo, thanks) something about 'keeping busy' being a criteria(ium) for scoring - that's stupid, anybody can pretend being busy, and in boxing terms, that could be like hitting nothing but gloves and air and getting credit for that. That's exactly what de Leon was doing, cuz if he weren't, an old Gerry wouldn't have lasted 12 full rounds and had de Leon running in the end. Just see how beautifully he blocked almost all de Leons body shot to the side (those were aimed at his kidneys and believe me they really hurt) - he just lowered his elbow everytime it came without even looking at it! As I said, I'd still favor de Leon in a rematch but what I'm saying is the it's a risk worth taking - naw, it's a risk he must take. And if he did pull it off, it'll be just exact opposite of what they criticize pac of - an ol' shot fighter beating two great champions in their prime, in succession! Geez, that's a stuff for HOF. On the other hand, what does Gerry gain by fighting a fighter coming from the lower weight class and coming off a defeat? I'll let others answer that.
Digressing a bit, let me talk about Arce. He is a good fighter who relies mostly on his heart and good (but not super) power - he just overwhelms his opponents by his sheer persistance - in other words, he just keeps coming back at you until you can take no more. Duran and Barrera falls in this category of boxer. But just like Barrera, he has to learn to dance a bit, though I didn't mean chicken dance as some boxers do. He should start to learn to 'box' - to dance and counter - and then, I think he'll be a more well-balanced and complete boxer - a great future champ. I'm pretty sure he will.
Once in awhile, get outside in fresh air, take a deep breath & with a deep sigh, let out all the things that's bottled up inside you & be free, & you'll get a glimpse of nirvana.
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