Sonsona, Is he all Hype or the Real Deal?

Puerto Rico’s Jose Lopez [39(32)-7(0)-2] vs. Philippines’ Marvin Sonsona [13(12)-0(0)-0]

Lopez‘s WBO Junior Bantamweight (115 lbs.) title

September 4 (Friday) – Rama, Ontario, Canada

The lone world title fight this week is between a vastly experienced veteran who is defending his recently acquired world title and a youthful yet savvy challenger with a crippling left hook. It is experience and poise versus youth and pure power.

Jose “Carita” Lopez is in cloud nine after finally getting his long coveted world title in a career that spanned more than 17 years with no end yet in sight. He has been through tough wars including unsuccessful world title challenges four times. That made the title-winning fight last March extra sweet. All the hard work finally paid off. Lopez won the vacant WBO 115-lb. title against Pramuansak Posuwan in a battle of ageless (or aged) warriors. It was not exactly a bout between the best of the division. But, still a world title nonetheless.

What seems to be a never ending wait for a world title belt gives Lopez the extra motivation to keep it tied to his waist a lot longer. He will use every advantage he can take including the psychological facet of the game. Lopez claims that he has seen it all and there’s nothing Sonsona can bring that he has not faced before. That might be true but the only world class fighter Lopez faced in the last ten years was Fernando Montiel. Except for that knock down in the 9^th he clearly lost by a wide margin. In any case, Lopez has the power and can brawl. With a tough chin, he has the advantage if the fight is fought in close distance. His vast experience gives him the benefit of learning a few sneaky tricks of the trade that can be used against a young boxer that still does not have the familiarity to adjust to devious tactics.

Meanwhile, Sonsona is hailed as the next big thing in Philippine boxing according to its local media. His moves, ring generalship and the annihilation of all 13 opponents indeed show the star quality in him. Common boxing sense dictates it remains to be seen since he never really fought the quality of opponents that is close to Lopez’s level. Wandee Singwancha might be one. His manhandling of Singwancha was impressive. His extended reach frustrated Singwancha all throughout the fight and his left connected at will and found the opening no matter how small it was. The crunching left hook in the second round is one of the best knockouts this year and by the looks of it is quite impossible to recover from. That is exactly what happened to the overvalued former world titleholder. To clarify a few things that the Sonsona biased media has somewhat exaggeratedly reported. Singwancha was just an accidental world title holder. He acquired his world title via the unconventional route. He was the less-regarded interim WBC strawweight champion when the great Ricardo Lopez was stripped. Singwancha was then promoted to full title but immediately lost right in his home turf in his first defense against Jose Antonio Aguirre.

Not to undermine Sonsona’s chances, but, he has never gone more than 5 rounds and never fought outside the Philippines. His stamina is still untested and against a veteran warrior, that is obviously critical. On the other hand, it may also work in his favor as his youthfulness might outlast an aging champion.

We have seen over hyped young Filipino fighters before in Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautista and AJ Banal having their handlers prematurely giving them title shots that went awry. Sonsona’s skills and power will help him avoid going the same route. This might not be make or break for the very young General Santos City native. But, it will be a significant step up or down in his thriving career. Are we going to witness the beginning of the rise of possibly the next Filipino star or will it be another boom boom bust? Is Sonsona the real deal or it’s all hype? That will be answered Friday night.

According to various reports, the fight will be aired live in the Philippines and Puerto Rico but will be shown in TSN Canada Saturday night.

Prediction: Sonsona by mid fight stoppage.

Current Tally of Titleholders by Country

List Rules: (1) Only Ring, WBA, WBC, IBF & WBO; (2) Excluded interim champs, WBA's regular champs (when there are unified/super champs), champs-in-recess, emeritus status champ, WBC's diamond title and whatever extra sanctioning fee driven title; (3) Tally titles not titleholders; (4) Considered boxer's country of birth NOT ancestry, naturalized citizenship nor adopted home country.

Dennis Carreon can be reached at denniscmc@gmail.com