Pacquiao retires Barrera
Filipino icon too strong, fast for Mexican legend, in rematch

Ringside by Victor Perea
Photos by Chris Cozzone
- FightWireImages.com

The highly-anticipated rematch, four years in the waiting, between Filipino national icon Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao, and legendary Mexican champion Marco Antonio Barrera began, and ended, as many predicted—with a second win for Pacquiao.

Although there were several classic exchanges, the bout, overall, did not live up to expectations. The explosive speed and power that enabled Pacquiao to dismantle Barrera four years ago in San Antonio, Texas, did not show itself though last night’s 12-round WBC International jr. lightweight title defense; nor did the Barrera that schooled Prince Hamed and went toe-to-toe with Erik Morales in three classic battles. Instead, we saw a retiring champion unwilling to exchange in what was, for the most part, a technical fight.

On the other hand, at least two of the three supporting bouts airing on the Top Rank/Golden Boy co-promoted, HBO-PPV-televised card made up the difference in action, giving subscribers and the 10,112 in attendance their money’s worth.

After an absolutely rabid crowd gave the two fighters an electrifying welcome, the battle between two of the most respected super featherweights began their rematch inside the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. 

Notorious for giving up the early rounds, Pacquiao worked wisely around Barrera who seemed happy to counter when the opportunity came. In the opening rounds Pacquiao released his talents in controlled efforts, going to the body of the 70-fight veteran.

Pacquiao did not give Barrera time to counter, but failed to make the most of his speed in its most effective form with multiple combinations. As the fight wore on, it became apparent that Barrera was being too patient to counter, and although he was making Pacquiao come after him, he failed to provide any notable sustained offensive attack.

As the rounds passed it became clear that Barrera was falling behind on the scorecards due to his inability to exchange. The crowd grew impatient as the legendary Mexican seemed content to simply not get knocked out. Meanwhile, Pacquiao landed his improved right hand with good accuracy while still sneaking left hands into the mix behind his trademark left jab. Working left hooks to the body and back upstairs, Pacquiao battered Barrera who was, at least, successful in his counters when his back was to the ropes.

Barrera managed to win the eighth round on two of the judges scorecards using a trio of straight right hands that landed in succession.

While Pacquiao lacked in his trademark ferocious approach, the smarter fighter had no trouble during the contest from a back-pedaling Barrera unwilling to trade.

The two traded heavily in the eleventh, with Pacquiao landing a right hand to the body and a big left upstairs, opening a gaping cut under Barrera’s right eye while clearly weakening his knees. Landing a right uppercut and straight left, Pacquiao could feel a knockdown coming, but before he could finish his opponent, the two tangled and referee Tony Weeks stepped in to break the two. A frustrated Barrera shamefully landed an overhand right after the break, prompting a point deduction from Meeks.

Heading into the final round, Barrera was undoubtedly heading full speed toward a loss, but still failed to dig in and make a last stand. Barrera raised his arms in victory as the bout came to a close, ending an incredible career filled with legendary performances, this not being one of them.

Judge Tom Schreck scored the bout 115-112 while judges Jerry Roth and Glenn Trowbridge scored the contest the same as Fightnews, 118-109 all for Pacquiao.

“I thought he was going to box me and hold,” said Pacquiao, now 45-3-2, 35 KOs. “He kept his distance. He did not want to trade with me. I am satisfied with the win. He is still a good fighter so I was careful throughout the fight.

“I tried to give people a good show and I hope people like this fight. We did our best tonight and nobody got hurt.”

As promised Barrera, 63-6, 42 KOs, announced his retirement at the post-fight press conference.

“Honestly this is my last fight,” said the Mexican legend. “I lost my head in a couple of those rounds. I got too caught up and shouldn’t have stayed in those exchanges. I should have boxed more. I think I boxed him very well and I dominated the fight with my left hand.”

CompuBox showed that Pacquiao landed more than double the power punches, and total punches, than that of Barrera.

“In the later rounds my corner was telling me I have to go after him and fight,” said Barrera. “But it was very hard because he had such a strong defense and it was hard to break through it.

“I’m sad because I lost the fight, but he never hurt me and he never landed any punches. I thought I controlled him with my left hand all night.”

Luevano makes first defense

WBO Featherweight Champion Steven Luevano pitched a near shut-out over Atlanta, Georgia’s Antonio Davis in a 12-round title defense.

Luevano stayed patient while Davis opened the bout with a quick pace, eager to exchange. Although willing to exchange, Davis had trouble hitting the slick southpaw, who used a stiff right to keep Davis away, nearly knocking him off balance.

The two featherweights exchanged relentlessly on the inside during the second round, bringing the near-capacity crowd to a roar. The third round saw Davis slip around Luevano and touch the canvas with his glove as referee Toby  Gibson acknowledged the slip and did not rule it a knockdown. Luevano worked the body heavily during the third, managing to stun Davis in the final 30 seconds.

Davis continued fighting with a lot of heart, but was beginning to show wear with a bulging left eye socket, as he was gaining little ground with his mighty efforts. Luevano stuck to his game plan and continued to patiently win the fight. Luevano landed jab after jab, connecting on his power shots, while Davis continued to crumble but not back down. Luevano managed to cut Davis with a straight right hand prompting referee Toby Gibson to have a ringside physician check the cut over his already grossly swollen left eye. After being allowed to continued Davis turned it up but failed to avoid the right jab from Luevano.

Although mathematically out of the running, barring a knock out, Davis continued to slug away when Luevano landed a monster left hand that dropped Davis as the bell rang. Davis beat the count to make it to the final championship round.

Knowing that his opponent needed and would look for a knockout Luevano used the ring and his jab to keep Davis at a safe distance.

A very game Davis did little to deny the judges scores of 119-108 twice and 118-109.

“I had problems picking up his right jab because of my eye,” said Davis, 24-4, 12 KOs.

“I thought I gave a great effort. I just had too many problems with my eye which was nearly shut.”

Davis only managed to land 30 out of 323 jabs during the contest.

“I controlled the fight with my jab,” commented Luevano, 34-1, 15 KOs.

“I had a very hard time with him in the first four rounds. He was very awkward. But once I started hitting him on the body, I knew I was on my way.”

Andrade survives Mack in thriller

Super middleweight Yusaf Mack set a blazing start to a scheduled 12 round championship bout when he landed a right hook to the body, followed by a wild left, that floored his opponent Librado Andrade.

The heavy, wide left haymaker looked more like a high five and nearly took the head off an unsuspecting Andrade. Andrade recovered and battled through the rest of the round.

The betting favorite Andrade closed the distance and battered Mack on the ropes for long moments before Mack could escape and take his beating elsewhere. Andrade effectively cut off the ring as Mack significantly lowered his offensive output. With a minute to go Mack complained of a low blow and Andrade got a warning from referee Jay Nady. Seconds later, Andrade received another warning for low blows with the crowd verbally expressing their disagreement with another warning. 

Mack continued to come out throwing in the third with varied output through the later rounds. Andrade was quick to smother Mack and press him against the ropes with a high punch output that won him points lost on the knock down. Mack landed the harder power shots while Andrade landed bigger volume. Mack began to look sloppy after Andrade received a warning to watch his head.

As the round wore on, Andrade used Mack as a punching bag, landing two dozen unanswered punches, some to the arm, some to the body. Mack blocked many of the strikes while not doing any countering of his own until finally throwing and landing two monster left hands that woke the crowd up.

Andrade continued to dominate with his virtual blanket of punches, save for three big left hands Mack managed to land midway through the fourth. A stray left hand earned Mack a warning and it appeared to be too little, too late, for the durable slugger. 

Andrade received a second warning to watch his head in the fifth, and Mack unloaded shots after the break. A big left hook from Mack snapped Andrades head back in the sixth round as Mack continued to land much fewer, but much harder, punches. Another left hand from Mack landed as Andrade slowed his pace once more to lose the round.

Andrade comes out hard and landed a big right uppercut in the seventh with Mack on the ropes, the biggest blow for him, thus far. A left hook hasd Mack worn down, bending over and touching gloves with the canvas, earning Andrade a knockdown. Andrade pounced on his tired opponent and earned another quick knockdown. Less than a minute left, Andrade battered Mack who, without absorbing a noticeably powerful shot, crumbled.

The bout was stopped at 2:34 of the seventh round. Andrade dominated the final round, landing 36 of 66 power shots thrown.

Andrade, now 26-1, 29 KOs, claims the USBA super middleweight title with the victory, while the tough Mack drops to a very respectable 23-2-2, 14 KOs.

Forbes outlasts Bojado

After stepping on the scale three full pounds over limit at Friday’s weigh-in, former Olympian Francisco “Panchito” Bojado started his ten-round junior welterweight contest on the wrong foot. Taking on Bojado was Portland-born Steve “2 Pound” Forbes who agreed to continue with the fight after Bojado managed to only lose a single pound on his second attempt to make weight.

Bojado came out firing on all cylinders, possibly hoping to finish the fight early, unwilling to take the chance at losing the later rounds on behalf of conditioning. Forbes gave as good as he took during the opening rounds, using the faster, crisper shots to outscore Bojado, who inexplicably seemed to take off.

The longer the fight went, the sharper Forbes appeared, with Bojado fighting only in spurts. After a lively first three rounds, work to the body by Forbes appeared to effect Bojado as the Mexican appeared to begin to unwind throwing his punches short and empty.

Bojado exploded in the sixth round, landing a pack of shots that had Forbes backing up, until he connected on a big left-right counter that stopped the charging “Panchito” in his tracks. Bojado recovered and managed to make a comeback in the most exciting round of the contest.

Forbes took back control during the following rounds, staying on his toes and wining exchanges using a smooth jab to set up his combinations. Bojado wore dull, and paid more attention to the clock in the tenth and final round, fighting sporadically to end the contest.

After ten rounds of action, the judges reached a split decision. Duane Ford scored the bout 96-94 Forbes, Chuck Giampa 96-94 Bojado, and Herb Santos, 97-93 Bojado.

“I was landing the uppercut all night long and it felt great to land that shot,” said Forbes, 33-5, 9 KOs, after the victory.

“I definitely think I won the fight. The cancellation of September 15th upset me a little bit, but I was back in the gym right away to get ready for whatever fight came my way.”

Francisco Bojado agreed, 18-3, 12 KOs, to disagree:

“I disagree with the judges decision. I think I did enough to win the fight.

“I hurt my right hand during the fight. I can’t remember which round but I know I hurt it.”

Undercard results
Escobedo wins with lackluster performance

In a scheduled eight-round junior lightweight contest, former Olympian Vicente Escobedo (15-1, 11 KOs), of Woodland, Calif., took on Mexico City’s Miguel Angel Munguia (15-9-1, 13 KOs).

Escobedo entered the contest a highly-touted prospect, but his performance over eight rounds left him looking short of par against a fighter who has lost eight out of his last nine bouts.

Munguia pressured Escobedo early with sloppy and slow punches that Escobedo could not avoid or counter effectively. Escobedo failed to find a rhythm that worked, throwing few shots and landing less, making a decent Munguia look better than he is.

After an even first four rounds, Escobedo began to listen to his corner and use his jab to his advantage as a sloppy Munguia was still managing to walk him down. Although outclassed on paper, Munguia was making Escobedo earn everything he got, as little as it may have been.

After a lackluster eight rounds for Escobedo and eight hard fought rounds for Munguia, the judges allowed the deemed Escobedo by a much wider margin than any other ringside observers, scoring the bout 78-74 twice and and 80-72. Fightnews scored the bout 77-76 for Escobedo.

Farenas successful in US debut

Hailing from Gubat, Sorsogan Province, Phillipines, featherweight Michael Farenas (18-2-2, 16 KOs) was the only accompanying Filipino on the card in support of Pacquiao—and the 23-year-old southpaw made sure to leave an impression, making quick work of Tijuana veteran Arturo Valenzuela (19-9-1, 17 KOs), who is now 1-6 in his last seven.

Farenas took the fight wisely to the 31-year-old Valenzuela who willingly exchanged early on with his opponent. A quick warning to keep his left hand up to Farenas was answered with a straight left upstairs putting Valenzuela sitting on the ropes, prompting a standing 8-count. 

After finishing the round, Valenzuela came out in the second with mistimed punches that left him open for several flurries from Farenas. A second warning was given to Farenas to keep his left hook to the body from straying southbound. Pursuing his back-pedaling opponent, Farenas looked to finish the contest until Referee Russell Mora stopped time to give the Pinoy a third warning to keep his hands up. Encouraged by the warning, Farenas unleashed himself upon the fading Valenzuela, pounding him viciously against the ropes until Ref Mora stopped the contest at :59 of the second round.

Perez batters game Villa

The opening bout of the evening featured Midland, Texas’ Jaime Villa (5-3, 2 KOs), brother to contender Tomas Villa, taking on fellow undefeated featherweight Aljandro Perez (11-0-1, 6 KOs), of Salinas, Calif., in a scheduled six-round fight.

Perez gave up much of the first round, eating triple left hooks to the body from Villa before being warned by referee Robert Byrd for low-blows.

Perez landed a short left hook to the body midway through the 2nd forcing Villa to clinch. Shortly after, Villa took a knee without taking a punch. After beating the count, Villa was caught with a left hook to the body, followed by right hand against the ropes, putting him down on a knee for second time in the round. Villa survived the round and recovered to battle his way through a tight third round, in which Perez was given a second warning for low blows, prompting the sparse crowd to call for a deduction. Perez then turned the heat up and dropped Villa a third time with only ten seconds left in the fourth round.

Although obviously physically beaten, a game Villa answered the bell for the fifth round, only to be dropped a fourth and final time by a left hook to the body, prompting Robert Byrd to mercifully save Villa at :27 of the fifth round.

Bonus Pics