Ana breaks silence, vows bounce back

MANILA, Philippines - A somber, teary-eyed Ana (Hurricane) Julaton yesterday promised to regroup and get back on track in her quest for another world boxing title after losing a unanimous 10-round decision to unheralded Celina Salazar in Cancun a week before.

Julaton, 33, spoke to The STAR on skype from Las Vegas and offered no excuses in failing to overcome Salazar in what would have been a stepping stone to challenging IBF bantamweight queen Yazmin Rivas of Mexico in the undercard of the Floyd Mayweather-Saul (Canelo) Alvarez mainer on Sept. 14.

“That’s boxing,” sighed a visibly disappointed Julaton, a former two-time WBO/IBA superbantamweight champion. “It was human error on my part. I had an off-night, I leave that now in the past. A combination of things led to it. I looked past Celina. I got really excited to do the Rivas fight. That’s never happened in world boxing, for a women’s fight to be in the undercard of a major show. I had in mind fighting Rivas as a bantamweight and I should’ve trained for Salazar as a superbantamweight. Salazar really looked bigger than me. We should’ve fought last October when I had momentum but I couldn’t get a fight. If we fought then, it would’ve been a different story for sure. The dynamics of the camp would’ve been different.”

Julaton admitted she was flat that night. “I don’t think my age was a factor,” she said. “I think my long layoff was. I hadn’t fought in a year. That was not my best, by far. It wasn’t a reflection of me. I think I’m very capable. Was she roughhousing me because she was bigger? So be it, whatever, that’s fighting. She played the game the way she needed to play it. That’s what the judges were scoring. The only way she was able to hit me was when we did a clinch. The referee (Celestino Castro) didn’t call it and I’m not going to sit there and complain about it. I don’t think she really hit me with any big shots to the head. A fight’s a fight, it’s a rough sport.”

The judges had no difficulty scoring it as the three scorecards were identical at 99-91. Julaton was never in contention and accepted the fact as a lesson to learn from. “I’m back in the gym, getting ready for my next fight, whenever that may be,” she said. “I’m supposed to sit down with (trainer) Angelo (Reyes) and (manager) Allan (Tremblay) on Sept. 7 to talk about what we’re going to do in the future. Right now, I’m just playing it by ear. I’m going back to the building mode again. You never know about boxing, it’s a funny sport, things happen, it’s so unpredictable. The thought of Sept. 14 just went out of my head, there’s no way. But who knows?”

Julaton said it remains her dream to fight in the Philippines. “I would love to fight in the Philippines,” she said. “I feel like everyone in the Philippines has been so supportive, I really appreciate that, I would love to thrive off it, live in the moment of that, having that vigor. I just want to go out there again and beat someone down. That’s the core essence of it and I felt that was a little bit lost in my last fight.”

Reyes assumed responsibility for Julaton’s loss and said he blames himself for overlooking Salazar. “Hard as it is for me to admit, with all the potential rewards after a win, we were looking past this opponent,” said Reyes. “Salazar’s strength surprised us and as always, Ana and our team will remain classy. I’m sorry to admit we lost. I could make up excuses as to why things led to the final result but at the end of the day, if you watch the fight, Ana was clearly against a more muscular fighter who was allowed to hit Ana in the back of the head early on and was able to get away with pushing and grabbing along with being able to punch Ana in the kidneys and back area. It was a rough fight, to say the least, and I’m happy Ana came out of it not seriously injured.”

But Reyes said Julaton should bounce back in a big way. “I feel she’ll come back stronger than ever and this was just a setback in a long layoff,” he continued. “It’s been a year since her last fight and it definitely played a role in losing this fight. I believe had she been able to fight last October and February, two dates that were cancelled, a result like this would not have happened. After (Yolanda) Segura and (Abigail) Ramos, she was finely tuned and would have beaten anyone which is why I’m sure Yesica Marcos did not want to give her a rematch last year.”

Reyes said more than being physically hurt, Julaton was dejected about letting her fans down. “Ana has always been known for her incredible ability to bounce back,” he said. “If you remember, in March 2010, she fought Lisa Brown in a WBO/WBA/IBA unification bout. In that fight, Brown used headbutting tactics, opening up two lacerations above both of Ana’s eyes, preventing her from seeing clearly as blood dripped down her face for the second half of that fight. Ana finished like the true Filipina warrior she is and though she lost on points, she won the hearts of the people. Ana didn’t complain but rather healed up and moved on. You may also remember she was able to reclaim the world title in June 2010 which made her the best Filipino boxer in history. The newly elected President Aquino invited Ana to Malacañang Palace, making her the first Filipina world champion to ever be invited by the President. I think Ana will be ready to fight as soon as Allan gives her the green light.”