Watch out for a boxer name Roma Rate

There is one good thing about predicting the outcome of a sporting event. It can also be true with foretelling the future of a sports personality. Anybody who does it assumes only fifty percent risk. The result may either only prove him correct or wrong.

 I say this in the light of a boxer who was in the under-card of a boxing event at the Waterfront Hotel recently. The ring announcer introduced him to the crowd as one Roma Rate, a local boy. It was the first time I saw him and upon the introduction, he was a complete novice to me. His opponent was a boxer from Aklan, whose name I also forgot.

 What I remember of the fight was as forgettable as most other contests between starting pugilists. Or so I thought. They were just feeling each other. In the initial few seconds of the very first round though, this guy from Aklan flicked tentative jabs which the local boy dodged. Then, Roma Rate exploded with a right over hand that half-twirled his opponent before the visitor hit the canvass. Immediately, the referee counted the mandatory 8.

 When the visitor stood up, he shook his head to acknowledge that he erred but he was otherwise unhurt. Few seconds later, Roma Rate uncorked a left hook that caught the Ilonggo right on the face. I believe the blow was very heavy because this man from Aklan reeled to his back before he sat on his pants. To the credit of the visitor, he still stood up but the local boy delivered a combination of a left to the body and a straight right to the jaw that abruptly ended the bout. What caught my attention was the way the Ilonggo fell. He looked like a tree uprooted by hurricane Katrina and dumped away.

 Roma Rate impressed me such that shortly after scoring that awesome knockout I sent a text message to Mr. Antonio Aldeguer, in extremely generous words: “I have seen an unpolished gem in this guy Roma Rate. He might just be your future world champion”

 One fight does not a champion make. We have seen several promising boxers, some of them registering spectacular knockout victories, who missed to hitch their wagon to the proverbial stars.

 There was one Benedict Suico, for example, a native of Mandaue City. His early achievement was a roll of 9 victories, 8 of which were via quick knockouts. In a televised fight I saw, Benedict literally splattered the nose of his opponent with one punch and he did it in a manner I had never seen in the ring. But, barely after fighting his first ten round contest, he was sidelined for almost a year. His training sputtered. It was in limbo. Then, his manager booked him for a match, and it was to be fought in a foreign land against a world champion at that! When Benedict called me with that information, I cursed his manager for setting up his ward in such a foolish and senseless match.

 On his return, Benedict told me he was, for all practical purposes, left alone in Thailand, untended and uncared for. Yet, the heavy puncher that he was, he silenced a hostile crowd by scoring a first round knock down. It was not enough though. Without a semblance of any training, Benedict did not last the fourth round. His career careened away.

 I had the chance to review the first three fights of Roma Rate. Thanks to Mr. Aldeguer who sent me the DVD of those matches. In his debut as a professional boxer, he convinced me that I was not entirely wrong in my later text to Mr. Aldeguer.

 Roma Rate is relentless. His punches are always forthcoming and he throws them from unexpected angles. On top of that, he seems to have been born with an unusual strength that he translates into kayo blows. That is most important. There is nary a world champion without a knockout punch.

It is a good thing for Cebuano boxing fans that Mr. Aldeguer has taken this boxer in his wings. At ALA, Roma Rate will receive the kind of attention and training that may make him an eventual world champion. Who knows, after the reign of Cong. Manny Pacquiao, this guy will follow the footsteps of another great Cebuano, the late Gabriel “Flash” Elorde. Just predicting!