STOCKTON, California — The mood inside hotel room No. 2234 of the Great Wolf Lodge, which doubles as a water amusement park standing in the middle of nowhere in the sleepy city of Manteca, was bouncy and kind of loud.
Two reporters from Manila were heavily engaged in a conversation with two noted cornermen present — the first was comfortably seated on a sofa — and the second was attending to a portable stove, making sure the sour beef broth was piping hot.
A longtime resident of this city that once was home to the first wave of Filipinos who worked in the fertile land and fields of the San Joaquin Valley was also in the mix, deep in thought most of the time but joining in the discussions as well when the talk became animated.
Meanwhile, the main man, the reason behind all the buzz and the excitement, was silently wolfing down a plate of prime rib and occasionally gulping the fiery soup with a small amount of steamed rice.
He also had a banana in one hand and selected cuts of fresh fruits harvested from the farms nearby.
Vincent Astrolabio looked as though he was in vacation mode and not somebody who was going to battle Australian Jason Moloney for the vacant World Boxing Organization bantamweight crown the following day at the Stockton Arena.
His demeanor was subdued and didn’t show any signs of anxiety.
“He’s done everything and all he has to do is execute the gameplan,” blurted Ting Ariosa as he extracted himself from the conversation with the pair of scribes and his co-trainer Nonoy Neri.
Ariosa says the ball is now in the hands of Astrolabio.
“If he does everything the way it should, then the fight will be short. It won’t go the distance.”
Astrolabio didn’t say a word and looked poker-faced as the men inside the room continued to talk.
He got up, took a few steps and sat again to finish his meal.
Earlier, Astrolabio tipped in at 117.2 lbs.
Moloney, nicknamed ‘Mayhem’, came in at 117.8 lbs.
When the bell rings Saturday night (late-Sunday morning in Manila), Edward Collantes of Burlingame, near San Francisco, will be the referee and the three judges will be Zachary Young of Los Angeles, Robert Hoyle of Henderson, Nevada, and To Carusone of Hebron, Connecticut.
Collantes, who will be refereeing his sixth world title fight, familiarized himself with the fighters he will be working with by watching their fights on video.
Moloney, 32, is the clear betting favorite.
Though the underdog, Astrolabio is the type not to be taken for granted, certainly not a guy who was called in to make Moloney, the house fighter, look good.
In fact, Astrolabio, plans on messing up Moloney’s grand plans of figuring in a unification showdown with the 118-lb division’s top dog.
Reports continue to circulate that if Moloney becomes the WBO champion, he will be pitted against the soon-to-be-crowned World Boxing Council titleholder.
Incidentally, Nonito Donaire is being seen as a future WBC titlist as he is favored to hurdle past Mexican Alejandro Santiago in a proposed July clash for the title.
But that’s going way too far ahead of the story.
Astrolabio has another script in store.
Sean Gibbons, the well-connected boxing man, sums it all up in his description of Astrolabio.
“He is a star in the making.”
