Wrestling

Some couple of days ago, i wrote a blog about the much awaited match which took place yesterday between Balla Gaye 2 and Modou Lo. Gaye 2 was able to finally confirm to fans and pundits in Senegal, Africa and the World over, his supremacy over a long term adversary, Modou lo. Right from the beginning of the preliminary ring preparations, Gaye dominated the entire drama in the show of superior paraphernalia’s of totems, substances, amulets and in the usual braggadocious chants of mysticism. The 20 minutes or so was characterized with both fighters entertaining the crowds by trying to outmatch each other in the mystical casting of spells, burying of objects, bathing with assorted liquid substances, breaking and countering physical moves. The crowd roars each time a move is done or countered by an opponent. The marabouts and the Islamic mullahs are not left out of the drama, for they are also seen on the sides, holding their charms and rosaries performing spiritual battles. The less than 6 minutes bout commenced with the monotonous flapping of hands used by fighters to size, ready and attack an opponent. It is Balla Gaye 2 who obviously was in a hurry to finish his opponent that threw the blow which met its mark. What follows are rains of successful punches wildly thrown at Modou. It was however, not too good for Modou who tried to hit back at his bigger opponent. His diminutive figure could not contain the distant combination of punches which sent him sprawling to his hands and knees momentarily. After stumbling back up, the well trained Modou sought refuge in the real time wrestling style of huddling against his opponent to try his skills. However, the locking of horns was his first and final mistake, for it gave him just but little time to take a breather, because it did not stop Gaye 2 from launching successive close quarter’s upper cuts which were laced with intermittent rapidity. Shortly after that, Gaye 2, who had a better reach, gripped Modou’s loincloths and with sheer brute strength, pinned his opponent down. This move enabled him to lift Modou’s two legs into the air before knocking him down and make sure that he is flat back down on sand. With this second victory, Balla Gaye 2 has confirmed his supremacy over his long term enemy of the arena. It will be naive it not foolish for any die-hard fan or professional pundits out there to still consider Modou as an equal to Gaye 2. There is a marked difference between the two; this is so because Gaye 2 clearly dominated the fight right from the start. Modou obviously didn’t stand a chance. Also, it was clear that Modou lo has not trained enough; reason being that, it was obvious that he lacked the strength and especially the stamina to lift his opponent despite being at an advantageous position. Towards the final seconds of the match, his hands were seen to have lost their strength when he let go of his grip on Gaye 2’s legs. Modou lo may be counted among the top tier or A list fighters in Senegal, but his performance in this encounter gives room for one to question his rating. We have seen his videos learning and practicing the craft of boxing, but his inability to showcase what has been learned in months of training in Europe makes it all a waste of time and money. In my opinion, he should have stayed back to be trained in the conventional and traditional way. Perhaps that would have made the fight a little bit difficult for his opponent and more entertaining for the spectators. The much hyped ‘revenge of the decade’ has turned into the ‘defeat of the decade’. Granted, Modou Lo has improved over the years, considering that his first loss to Gaye 2 in 2010 took less than 1 minute, while the present loss took less than 6 minutes. This however, has proven that Gaye 2’s win over him was neither a fluke the first time nor a fluke the second time. So Modou and his camp should forget about the dream of a rematch, if I were Gaye 2, I will not consider and agree to any appeal for a rematch, not now not in the future. Finally, here is to congratulate the Lion of Guédiawaye who fought a fight expected of a Lion and the champion of the arena. QUESTION. From the YouTube video below, is it safe to say that Balla’s win was due to his gigantic figure and flattering form over Modou? That maraboutage and mysticism did not play any role in the win or loss of the fight? ALL IMAGES ARE GOOGLE SOURCED Thank you as usual for stopping by. Sincerely @izge.