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Three Rounds
By Dr. Howard Reynolds (At Ringside)-November 19, 2006
The third battle between the 3-Time Champion, Manny Pacquiao, 43-3-2, 33 KO’s, and Erik Morales, 48-5, 24 KO’s, ended early, with little suspense or drama, when Pac-Man knocked out Morales with a multiple punch flurry at 2:57 of the third round.
After a great night of boxing, again the shady business side of boxing reared its ugly head, with Bob Arum announcing that Pacquiao had signed a new four-year promotional deal with his company, Top Rank. The problem: Pacquiao had previously signed a deal and accepted at least $500,000 from Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.
“(Pacquiao) has since renounced that signing, and returned the money,” Arum proclaimed. However, contracts are not undone nearly so easily. Let the lawyers engage and the lawsuits begin!
The southpaw Pacquiao overwhelmed the Mexican Warrior, scoring knockdowns in the second and third rounds before dispatching Morales, who did not even attempt to rise from his seated posture on the canvas. Trainer Freddie Roach spoke of Pacquiao’s most potent weapon displayed this evening. “I’ve said several times that someday his right hook will be his best punch; that day is here.”
Morales provided a few opportunities for his fans among the 18,276 in the Thomas and Mack Arena to rally and chant: “Mexico, Mexico,” as he gamely countered Pacquiao in the first, at one time driving Manny to the ropes. But Pacquiao was never hurt, never even remotely in trouble, his greater hand speed allowing him to dominate.
Those who expected Morales to be more competitive must surely be disappointed. While in no way did he look like a “shot” fighter, nor did he show any ill effects from making the 130 pound weight limit by a full pound, Pacquiao easily overmatched the 30 year-old Morales.
Pacquiao must be considered on the short list for consideration of the “best pound-for-pound” boxer.
Miguel Cotto’s vacated WBO Light Welterweight Title was at stake in the primary prelim bout, and Ricardo Torres, 30-1, 27 KO’s, earned a split decision over Mike Arnaoutis, 17-1-2, 9 KO’s in twelve rounds.
Torres was sharper, more accurate with his straight punches to the head, and effective blocking most of Arnaoutis’s power shots in the early rounds. But Arnaoutis dropped the Colombian in the seventh with a two-one combination (left cross/right jab from the lefthander) and shift the momentum of the bout.
Torres then seemed timid about giving any more counterattack opportunities, and dropped his work rate in the eighth, ninth, and tenth rounds. By the eleventh, he had regained his confidence, and resumed landing straight shots to Arnaoutis’ face. Two judges leaned to Torres: 116-111 and 114-113; the third scored in favor of Arnaoutis, 114-113.
Torres was gracious with his tight win, admitting through a translator that “this was the first time I fought a left-handed fighter; it was difficult and confusing to me. But I look forward to fighting Arnaoutis again.”
Brian Viloria, 19-1-1, 12 KO’s, of Waipahu, Hawaii, failed to avenge his August surrender of the WBC Light Flyweight Championship to Omar Nino, 24-2-2, 10 KO’s, from Guadalajara, Mexico. Viloria’s two knockdowns of Nino, in the fifth and the ninth were only enough to earn a majority draw in their rematch. An incredulous Viloria posed the question on the minds of most observers: “What were the judges looking at?”
Nino, who retains the title with the draw, countered, via a translator: “The first one (knockdown) was a slip, and the second one was a knockdown, but he never hurt me.” Post fight, Nino insisted: “in my heart I believe I won.” Despite Viloria outworking the champion in the early and middle rounds, one judge gave Nino a 115-113 score, the other two tallying a 113-113 draw.
Juan Carlos Salgado, 16-0-1, 12 KO’s, handily defeated a fellow Mexico City featherweight, Marcos Licona, 24-9-1, 9 KO’s, in a six-round decision.
Salgado fatigued in the later rounds, and Licona was able to work inside and do some damage, but not enough to win the decision. Judges scored the bout 60-54 twice, and 59-54.
Junior featherweight, Fernando Beltran, 28-2-1, 17 KO’s, from Culiacan, Mexico, was awarded a victory by disqualification over Edel Ruiz, 27-16-4, 19 KO’s, Los Mochis, Mexico, for repeated low blows. Ruiz seemed not to be able to anticipate from where the southpaw Beltran would launch his combinations to the head and the body. Ruiz countered with a series of low blows in the fourth and fifth rounds, forcing referee Kenny Bayless to halt the fight. Bayless, after presiding over Bobby Pacquiao’s disqualification Thursday night must’ve been thinking it was déjà vu all over again. “I haven’t had to disqualified a fighter for low blows in over ten years, and now twice in two days.”
The taller Vanes Martirosyan, 11-0, 7 KO’s, used his height and reach to dictate the distance, and peppered Edgar Reyes, 10-6, 3 KO’s, at will en route to a fourth round TKO in supper middleweight action.
The Armenian, Martirosyan, who fights out of Glendale, California, had quicker hands than the Puerto Rican, Reyes, by way of Orlando, Florida, who’s corner ended the one sided match before the fifth round bell.
Bernabe Concepcion, 20-1-1, 11 KO’s, of Pizal, Philippines, and Joksan Hernandez, 11-1, 6 KO’s, Ensenada, Mexico, opened the evening with a great brawl, standing in front of one another, trading power punches for the full ten rounds. Concepcion, who earned the WBC Youth Super Bantamweight Belt with the unanimous decision, landed his uppercuts and crosses with greater frequency and power. But Hernandez never stopped fighting back. Despite being floored in the first and frequently being rocked by blows to the head, he never lost heart or passed an opportunity to counter and trade with the stronger Concepcion. Both these youngsters (Concepcion is only 18 years old; Hernandez is 20), should learn from the bout and provide fight fans plenty more exciting nights in the future. The scores were 96-93 twice and 98-92
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