TALO, we lost by unanimous decision. Terribly slow.
The report, straight from ringside in Cancun, Mexico, was tight and terse.
It was sent through text message shortly after lunch on Saturday.
“It’s a pity, God bless,” a reply from Manila followed.
There was no further message the whole of Saturday from Cancun, where Edrin Dapudong made a first defense of his World Boxing Council silver flyweight world crown.
* * *
Based on information from his manager, former North Cotabato Gov. Manny Piñol, Dapudong had trained long and extra hard for the title defense.
Team Dapudong left for California early this month.
You see, in his first fight in Mexico last June, Dapudong, a last-minute choice for the title challenge, barely had chance to train enough.
But with time in their hands this time, Piñol enrolled his premier fighter in the gym of former Manny Pacquiao conditioning coach Justin Fortune.
* * *
Yesterday, Piñol had this to bare:
“The disappointing loss of Filipino Edrin Dapudong, a boy whose career I have nurtured for over 12 years, was a result of a good intention that did not bear the right results.”
It’s like this: The moment I received news that Dapudong fought like a wreck, thereby serving the WBC silver flyweight crown to his challenger on a silver (pun intended) platter, I readily suspected who was at fault.
The poor fellow left for California ahead, already honed to near perfection.
Now, it’s hard to deny that Dapudong was forced to do a stateside power-boosting regimen while with Justin Fortune.
* * *
As the saying goes, “Why fix it when it ain’t broke?”
Did they end up trying to fit a new engine into Dapudong’s well-tested warrior system?
“I take all the blame. Nobody else. Not Edrin, not trainer Noli Piñol, not Justin Fortune, the conditioning coach,” Pinol explained.
Anyway, after they returned to their dugout following the embarrassing loss to Wilbert Uicab, Piñol said they immediately made a mental review of the debacle.
Piñol was aghast at what they discovered.
* * *
“The fighter who lost to Uicab was not the Edrin Dapudong that I knew. He was not the same Dapudong who scored a sensational first-round knockout over former world No. 1 flyweight Jesus Jimenez last June,” Piñol said.
“He was slow and lumbering, and was even beaten to the jab by the much shorter Uicab,” the manager continued.
He said that, by the end of the third round, Dapudong was already gasping for breath.
“I could not believe what I was seeing because we knew how long and hard Edrin prepared for this fight,” rued Piñol,” a Pacquiao confidante and well-respected boxing expert.
* * *
They did not have to ask Dapudong what the hell went wrong.
“Hindi ko halos matapon ang mga suntok ko (I can’t release my punches),” the loser complained the moment he stepped into the funereal dugout.
Piñol went on to explain.
“In the end, we pointed to a tragic mistake that was a result of a decision I made. I allowed a totally new physical conditioning program to be introduced to Edrin with barely two weeks before the very important fight. He made two hard sparring sessions at Maywood Gym with a week to go before the fight, and he underwent physical regimens which were new to his body.”
* * *
Piñol apologized and said the intention was noble.
“It was my belief that the conditioning program would further improve Edrin’s stamina and strength. The result proved that it was wrong. We should have waited for a longer period to implement the program to get his body to adapt to it. My mistake.”
He said he expects criticisms for his wrong decision, and is ready to take the full blame.
Not Noli, not Justin and especially not Edrin.
Not Justin who, with a little common sense, could have avoided causing RP boxing one grand misfortune?
Taking the full blame again, Piñol assured boxing fans that it was not the end of the road for Edrin Dapudong, the barefoot prince of boxing.
With better Fortune, he’s bound to end up reigning as king of the ring.