Pinoy Fight Scribe

The film Cinderella Man starring Russell Crowe was inspired by the life story of Irish-American heavyweight boxing champion James J. Braddock. If you take a look at Braddock’s record, there’s a big chance you won’t be impressed. Although he  won 46 fights with 26 wins coming the short route, he also lost 24 bouts. However, one must understand that Braddock boxed in the 1920’s and 1930’s, during the Great Depression. Because employment opportunities were so scarce, Braddock was forced to make boxing his primary source of income just to put food on the table for his family. And thus Braddock treated boxing merely as a means to an end. But this would all change in 1934 after he filled in for another fighter and fought and won by TKO against John “Corn” Griffin. Braddock then went on to defeat Henry Lewis, Art Lasky, and, eventually, heavyweight champion Max Baer to win the NYSAC World heavyweight title and the National Boxing Association World heavyweight title. Needless to say, Braddock was the underdog in all those fights.

ALA Promotions fighter Michael Domingo (26 wins, 14 knockouts, 14 losses and 2 draws) is not a stranger to being an underdog, nor is he a stranger to having several losses dotting his resume. But like Braddock before him, he has experienced a resurgence of his career winning eight straight fights since 2007. In that span of time, he has knocked out five of his opponents. This weekend, Domingo faces Colombian Luis Melendez, incidentally, the fighter that sent to retirement Domingo’s fellow ALA stablemate Z Gorres.

Reports boxing and MMA columnist Jingo Quijano of Sun.Star Cebu in today’s Last Round column:

CASUAL boxing observers who have not yet heard of Michael “Bruce Lee” Domingo will probably do a double-take when they realize he is actually an ALA pug, with a record of 39 wins, 14 losses and 17 knockouts.

But that record is actually quite deceptive as Domingo is just as skilled as his more celebrated stablemates.

Hardcore boxing fans are all too familiar with how he derailed the erstwhile undefeated Mexican, Miguel Roman, during the Boxing World Cup in August 2007.

Or how he readily handled former world champion Ratanachai Sor Vorapin in eight rounds and looked quite comfortable in there against a renowned veteran with a
fearsome record of 73 wins with 49 knockouts.

In his last fight, Domingo was supposed to be a bump on the road for world-beater Jose Navarro who was smarting from a split decision loss to Christian Mijares.

Unperturbed, Michael finished off a tired Navarro in eight rounds.

UNDERDOG. Michael seems to relish his underdog role to the fullest and thrives in making more accomplished opponents pay for overlooking him.

But with his current eight-fight win streak peppered with five stoppages, Michael is fully aware that his opponents are already according him the respect he rightfully deserves.

This Sunday he will be facing Luis Melendez, the last man to have fought Z Gorres before the latter succumbed to a career ending infraction.

While I’m quite uncomfortable with the revenge angle in the build up to the fight, as we all know that Melendez could not have intentionally wished such a fate to befall his opponent, still it would be interesting to see how Domingo reacts to facing the boxer who retired his friend and stablemate.

Good luck to Domingo, and may he continue his journey of being the modern-day Cinderella Man right up until he wins his own world title.

*****

I honestly don’t know why Michael Domingo’s monicker is “Bruce Lee”, considering that he’s a boxer and not a Jeet Kune Do practiotioner, but it’s certainly a lot better than some of the odd nicknames some boxers have.

Check out five of the oddest  boxer nicknames out there:

Darnell “The Ding-a-Ling Man” Wilson

Jerry “Wimpy” Halstead

Eric “Butterbean” Esch

Chuck “The Bayonne Bleeder” Wepner

Kevin “The Flushing Flash” Kelley

Boy, these kinds of nicknames will really get you punched in the face, literally.

*****

Hat’s off to Cebu-based fighter Sabah “The Persian Warrior” Fadai who won the first night of Asia’s biggest mixed martial arts championships, the World Sentosa Martial Combat, at the Compass Ballroom of the Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore. Fadai trains at the Deftac Cebu – Gracie Barra Jiujitsu gym, located in the building next door where I work here at the Cebu IT Park in Lahug.

Here’s a report from the Manila Bulletin:

Kevin Belingon and Sabah Fadai, two of the deadliest fighters of Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC), made their mark in the first-ever Asian Martial Combat by pulling off similar technical knockout (TKO) wins held recently at the luxurious Resorts World in Sentosa, Singapore.

A blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under DEFTAC Cebu, Fadai needed just four minutes in the first round to beat China’s Yang “The Pugilist” Fei by referee stopped contest (RSC) – a victory that started the day right for the RP squad.

After a heated exchange of punches, Fadai stunned Yang with a vicious left hook that sent his rival down to the canvas. The URCC fighter wasted no time and landed heavy blows forcing Australian referee Steve Perceval to halt the match.

The win was Fadai’s big follow-up to his stunning win over Ari Zarco in last year’s Colt 45 URCC XV “Onslaught” where he knocked down his veteran foe with a thunderous kick to the head.

Belingon, fighting in the flyweight division, was equally impressive as he dispatched Thai Ngoo “The Indomitable” Ditty of Tiger Muay Thai gym in 2:51 of the first round.

Unfazed by the impressive record of his Thai rival, Belingon scored repeatedly with his well-timed punches to the head and body before throwing him to the ground and pounded him again forcing the referee to stop the contest.

Congratulations to Sabah and keep up the good work. You’ve made the Cebuanos extremely proud.

May 18th, 2010
Categories: Boxing Dispatches, Fight Sports, MMA Dispatches . Author: Mark Lorenzana

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