Joe Marie Noynay of Bogo City lands a left jab to the face of Hector Garcia of Mexico at the Celestino Martinez Sr. Sports and Cultural Complex.
Not so impressed with his performance, Bogo City’s Noynay vows to train earlier in next fight
Bogo City—Joe Marie “Jawbreaker” Noynay may have walked away with a victory against Hector “Guadaña” Garcia in the main event of “For Honor and Pride” fight card last Sunday evening at the Celestino Martinez Sr. Sports and Cultural Complex here, but the 22-year-old World Boxing Organization (WBO) Asia Youth junior lightweight champion knows he could have done better.
Noynay, fighting in his hometown in this northern city of Cebu for the first time, escaped with a majority decision victory over the tough 23-year-old Mexican but admitted he was a bit disappointed with his performance.
“I already expected a tough fight that’s why I never promised a knockout win but instead I told everyone that I will win by points,” Noynay, who improved his record to 14-2-1 (win-loss-draw), said. Garcia, whose camp was complaining all-bout long with the officiating of referee Tony Pesons, suffered his seventh defeat against 12 victories and two draws.
The Barangay Nailon, Bogo City native Noynay, who is also the World Boxing Council (WBC) silver junior lightweight champion, thinks he could have performed better if he had more time to prepare as he only trained for roughly a month for this big fight.
“The biggest lesson I have learned in this fight is that I have to train and prepare earlier. If I have an upcoming fight, I want to train earlier. I want to train three to four months ahead of my fight so that I can prepare myself very well,” Noynay said.
Noynay revealed that if not for the hometown crowd, things could have turned out different. He said it was the crowd’s loud chanting of his name that gave him his second wind in the later rounds that allowed him to escape with a majority decision victory.
Two judges, Edward Ligas and Edgar Olalo, scored the bout, 96-94, in favor of Noynay while Salven Lagumbay saw it 95-95.
“I am very thankful for the overwhelming support given by my hometown folks, the Bogo City government and everyone who watched the fight,” said Noynay.
Another fight card
Among those from the Bogo City government who watched was former Bogo City mayor and well-known boxing patron Celestino “Junie” Martinez Jr.
Martinez actually admired the Mexican’s resiliency.
“It was a tough battle for Noynay and I am very impressed with the Mexican who came here to fight until the end. The fight could have gone either way,” he said. “Noynay definitely learned something from this fight and hopefully, he will use it to improve himself.”
Martinez also hinted of another fight card in Bogo City.
“I want to promote a fight card pitting Elorde Boxing Gym and ALA Boxing Gym. Hopefully, this will materialize soon.”