Manny Pacquiao showed once again he can
bring in the crowds. His 14th straight win not only packed 16,412
fans into the sold out MGM Grand Garden Arena, but thousands more
watched in closed circuit venues located throughout the Strip. There
is no doubt that casino executives and hoteliers alike were smiling
all the way to the bank for this tremendous shot of dollars in their
collective arm.
The tone was set on Friday, as
thousands lined up early to attend the live weigh in set to begin at
3pm. The first person in line showed up at 5am to lead 6,000 rabid
boxing fans to see a couple guys in their underwear step on a scale.
Another 2,000 were denied admission. Both Shane and Manny looked to
be in excellent physical condition, coming in at 147 and 145,
respectively.
After the weigh in, there was a
reception and auction next door to the MGM at Smith and Wollensky to
benefit the newly announced Diamonds Love Foundation, created by
Shane Mosley. The foundation will be run by Shane’s sister, Cerena
Mosley, and will focus its efforts on child safety. Various sports
and Hollywood themed items were auctioned off, as the party
atmosphere of the weekend seemed to be swinging in full force.
The MGM casino on Friday night was
quite a bit busier than I’d seen in it recent fights in Las Vegas.
I’ve been told more than a couple times over the past few years of
this rough economy that no one brings in the high spending gamblers
anymore the way Manny Pacquiao does. Fight fans from around the
world packed into the bars in the MGM like Rouge and Zuri, and they
actually remained open until the wee hours, whereas they had been
closing around 2am. Folks need to have a place to party all night in
Vegas, so this was welcomed by all, most of whom certainly had no
idea that the bars had been closing earlier.
The Kentucky Derby on Saturday
afternoon provided warm up time for sports fans, and the party
continued into the evening with the Showtime PPV telecast. Mike
Alvarado got things started with a win after Ray Narh, who couldn’t
leave his corner to start the 4th, a result of falling ill the day
prior and having his energy sapped. “I was sick all night and
throwing up,’’ Narh said. “I think I got sick after eating
something after the weigh-in. I tried to get through it because I
didn’t want to cancel the fight, but I had no legs and no snap on
my punches.’’
Said Alvarado, “I was just getting
started. I think he took the easy way out. After the first round I
told my trainer ‘he doesn’t want to fight.’ He knew he didn’t
belong in the ring with me.’’
Next up was coming back former
middleweight champion, Kelly Pavlik (now 37-2, 32 KOs), campaigning
at super middleweight versus tough contender Alfonso Lopez (now 21-1,
16 KOs). The fight had the look of a rough sparring session, with
Pavlik emerging with a majority decision victory, by scores of 99-91,
98-92 and 95-95. “I had ring rust, but I did win the fight,’’
Pavlik said. “I don’t know what happened on that one scorecard
but I did win the fight.’’
Trainer Jack Loew was proud of his
charge. “We had two wins tonight,’’ he said. “The first win
was going up the steps, walking in the ring and competing after all
the rehabs and everything he had been through. The second win was
getting the win itself.
“There was definitely ring rust. That
was obvious.’’
Lopez felt he deserved better.
“At the worst I definitely think I
deserved at least a draw,’’ he said. “I think I connected with
a lot more shots than he did. I knew the rounds were going to be hard
to score but low blows affected me and I got tired at the end.’’
In the fight of the night, Mexican
brawler Jorge Arce (now 57-6-2, 44 KOs) showed once his very crowd
pleasing style with an action packed 12th round TKO over the heavily
favored, undefeated WBO titlist Wilfredo Vazquez, Jr. (now 20-1-1, 17
KOs). Moving up to bantamweight, Arce held titles previously at 108,
112, and 115, making him now the first Mexican to win titles in 4
different weight classes. After 11 hotly contested rounds fought
mostly in close quarters, Vazquez’ father and trainer stopped the
fight at 55 seconds of the final stanza.
“I knew I could knock him out and I
did,’’ Arce said. “My heart is too big. He’s a good, young
champion with a big punch but my experience and my heart was too much
for him.
“There was no other way than to bring
the fight to him. I fought like a true Mexican warrior. I won it for
Mexico. Now my name will forever be mentioned when you speak of
Mexican fighters.’’
Vazquez was upset that the fight did
not continue.
“I was fine,’’ he said. “They
should have never stopped this fight. I feel that I would rather get
knocked out and end up on the canvas than having it stopped the way
it did. My father stopped it. He never should have.’’
The tone was set for an all action main
event between 2 exciting fighters, but unfortunately we were in store
for a bit of a letdown. The production value inside of the arena was
great, with Top Rank once again using the circular jumbotron, DJs,
and all manners of lighting effects to keep the crowd engaged. After
video montages of both combatants, Shane Mosley (now 46-7-1, 39 KOs)
entered the ring as LL Cool J spit out his classic track, Momma Said
Knock You Out. Pacquiao (now 52-3-2, 38 KOs) would emerge from the
tunnel next, being serenaded by the Survivor smash, Eye of the Tiger.
Trust me, at this point the energy had reached massive levels, and
the anticipation was thick. It was somewhat underwhelming with what
ensued.
The first 2 rounds were your typical
feeling out process, with most expecting some fireworks at some
point. Shane Mosley felt the explosiveness in a short left hand of
Pacquiao in round 3 that sent him down hard, and decided he no longer
wanted much to do with it. Fighting a mostly defensive fight, Shane
looked to counter. Little success was to be found for Shane, as he
was simply unable to keep up with the speed and power of the Filipino
superstar. His best moment came in round 10, as he was erroneously
given a scored knockdown off of a push. It was a rare mistake by the
usually impeccable official Kenny Bayless, but it really didn’t
matter. It only served to enrage Pac as he aggressively stalked
Shane thereafter. However, when a man decides he is determined to
last the distance, he’s a tough out for anyone, even as the crowd
chanted ‘Knock him out!’ through the championship rounds.
“We tried our best,’’ said
Pacquiao, who is universally recognized as boxing’s No. 1
pound-for-pound boxer. “We both gave it our best effort. My legs
tightened up during the fight. I couldn't move. It’s the same thing
that happened to me against (Juan Manuel) Marquez. It’s been
happening to me more lately.
“Mosley is not slow. He’s fast and
I had to be cautious of his counter-punch.’’
Regarding a possible fight with Floyd
Mayweather, Pacman said, “For me, I don’t care about that fight.
I am satisfied with everything that I have done in boxing. I want to
fight because the people want the fight.’’
Mosley, who has never been knocked out
and is one of the great lightweight champions of all time, had
nothing but praise for Pacquiao afterward.
“You can’t blame age,’’ said
Mosley, who, at 39, is seven years older than Pacquiao. “Manny is
an exceptional fighter. He truly is the pound-for-pound king. He has
speed and power that I have never felt before.
“It’s amazing. He’s cut from my
cloth so I had to box tonight.
“He surprised me with that power,
with that knockdown. That's the most legitimate knockdown on me in a
long time.’’
With the experience of another dominant
Manny Pacquiao victory, the crowd very, very slowly made its way out
of the arena, and back to whatever it is people do late night in
Vegas.
