Weekend Wrap-up in Boxing (December 7-8)

On Saturday, HBO Pay-Per-View broadcasted four bouts from Las Vegas in which it may be said that eight fighters were matched up against the toughest opponent they had ever faced. Shortly after waking and having breakfast, millions of people in the Philippines tuned in to those fights taking place live that evening in Las Vegas. The rest of their day was an unhappy one as all three Filipino fighters scheduled to compete suffered losses in the ring, including national hero Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao in the main event. With former presidential candidate Mitt Romney in a ringside seat near Pacquiao’s corner, he was knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez with one second remaining in the 6th round. In their fourth meeting since 2004, Pacquiao appeared very aggressive and was the busier fighter throughout the fight, sometimes nearly rushing across the ring to attack Marquez when the bell sounded to begin a round. He connected more often than the Mexican fighter and was ahead on all three judge’s scorecards when the bout ended. Marquez seemed to have changed his game plan from previous fights with Pacquiao, preferring to avoid him as much as possible while looking for his chance to land the haymaker punch. That opportunity first happened in the third round when Marquez connected with a hard right hand that put PacMan flat on his back, but Pacquiao was up quickly and continued his assault over the following two rounds. A bloodied and face-swollen Marquez—now fighting with a broken nose causing breathing problems—was not deterred. Near the end of the 6th, Manny Pacquiao stepped in to land a right hand on Marquez, but he left the left side of his body unprotected. Marquez once again timed perfectly and connected a crushing right blow to Pacquiao's head. Pacquiao landed face down on the canvas and remained there several minutes as a doctor and his trainers attended to him. In the undercard, Cuban fighter Yuriorkis Gamboa got a 12-round unanimous decision win over rough and tough Filipino boxer Michael Farenas, and Mexican Miguel Vazquez got a decision over undefeated Mercito Gesta of the Philippines. The first PPV fight of the evening did not involve any boxers from the Philippines. It pitted two undefeated featherweights as Dominican boxer Javier Fortuna achieved a 12 round win over Irishman, Patrick Hyland, who resides in New York and is managed by a reality TV star known as Snooki. In Philadelphia, Bryant Jennings, who may be America’s next big hope for an American heavyweight champion, was knocked down early in the bout by his hard-hitting opponent, Bowie Tupou, only to bounce back and KO Tupou in the 5th round. Jenning’s knockdown was later ruled a slip by the referee. Jennings remains undefeated with a record of 16-0 and is listed in world rankings as fifth best in the division.

P. Rivera, GAR1680 Boxing Talk
Twitter: @GAR1680