By Ronnie Nathanielsz

Ana Julaton’s attractive looks which drew media especially from the Philippines to create a hype around her didn’t help much in the ring as she lost a lopsided ten round decision to the far more talented Lisa ”Bad News” Brown in a WBA super bantamweight title fight at Casino Rama in Ontario, Canada.

With only eight fights in her career Julaton nevertheless received the attention of media as she trained in Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym capitalizing on the presence of pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao and the attention he receives. This reflected attention was carried over into the ring where she had a bigger following especially with a large crowd of Filipinos supporting her.

Reporter Morgan Campbell of star.com said the 29 year old from Daly City made the cover of SF weekly magazine last week while TV crews from Manila where GMA 7 telecast the fight traveled to Canada to provide coverage. But that was nowhere near enough in the ring.

The much older 39 year old Brown entered with little fanfare but was clearly the more polished fighter who used a  sound game plan which centered around a stinging left and solid right hooks to the body which earned her   an easy unanimous decision.

She also inflicted two cuts around Julaton’s eyes. With the win Brown improved her record to 17-4-3 with 5 knockouts  while Julaton dropped to 6-2-1 with 1 knockout..

All three judges had Brown the comfortable winner by margins of 99-91, 99-92 and a shutout 100-90. With the win Brown gained the recognition she deserved in capturing the WBA crown after winning far less prestigious titles in the past.

For Julaton, whom Morgan Campbell correctly pointed out is a polished product outside the ring, the fight provided a lesson in the subtle skills of the sweet science.

Although Julaton had an impressive resume having been an amateur standout winning the San Francisco Golden Gloves, the California State Championships and also a Diamond Belt champion besides winning the silver medal at the US Amateur Championships, the IBA and WBO champion soon realized that the pro fight game demanded much more when facing a fighter of the caliber of “Bad News” Brown who was capable of taming the “Hurricane” Julaton.

Julaton is trained by Nonito Donaire Sr who, in an interview with Rob Cruz of philboxing.com before the fight said “ Ana has elevated her training overall with more intensity since she is fighting Lisa who has a lot more experience than she does. She (Ana) has been developing her offence with more combinations, power and speed. Ana has been an excellent boxer to coach and work with, she puts total dedication and gives it her all when she trains. She is a very intelligent boxer who is able to carry out all of my instructions thoroughly. Her time training with Manny Pacquiao has inspired and influenced the way she trains and learns. His unparalleled work ethics are Ana’s motivation and inspiration, definitely a positive influence for Ana.”