A life of blamelessness

Seeing the round between WBO Asia-Pacific Bantamweight Champion Ray “Boom-Boom” Bautista and WBO Super Bantamweight Champion Daniel Ponce de Leon distresses me. I was greatly troubled that within only two and a half minutes of a first round will a boxer fall like Boom-Boom had. I thought he was prepared. I thought his trainers and managers believed so too. Maybe, his opponent’s punches have just taken away his senses that he forgot protecting his 21-year old face.

And I think that is it. His age and ring immaturity are not really a factor, because a boxer is a boxer. It would not help if his fans or even Boom-Boom himself will sugarcoat his defeat. As Atty. Ed Tolentino puts it, “The key for Bautista is to admit that he erred. By coming into grip with this reality, he can move on. Admitting the mistake one committed is the first step to correcting it… The key is not to dwell on the loss; dwelling is like a termite that can only weaken further whatever solid foundation Bautista has left.”

What happened to the Boholano pugilist should be a lesson not just for the other boxers who can still be cocky after they have lost a fight but for us too (Boom-Boom claimed that his hands were throbbing days before the match). I observed that most Filipinos would not accept a fault if it can be veered to another direction, and that is not good. We would not go too far if we would continue doing that.