Two sparring partners of ?Fighter of the Decade? Manny Pacquiao were beaten in a fight card at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas on the eve of Pacquiao?s WBO welterweight title defense against Timothy ?Desert Storm? Bradley at the MGM Grand Garden Area on Sunday, Manila Time.
Former sparring partner David Rodela, the 29 year old light welterweight dropped to 16-6-3 with 7 knockouts after he was dropped twice by undefeated 24 year old Terence Crawford of Omaha who improved his record to 17-0 with 13 knockouts with the win.
Rodela went down in the opening round after he was caught behind the head and was given time to recover but Crawford threw a flurry of punches and dropped Rodela towards the end of the round.
A solid left hook in round two dropped Rodela for the full count at 2:30 of the round.
34 year old Roger ?Speedy? Gonzalez, a crowd favorite who was in Pacquiao?s training camp at the Wild Card Gym and had a record of 27-5 with 18 knockouts entering the ring in a super featherweight clash with 30 year old Gerardo Robles of Kansas City who had a record of 15-10 with 7 knockouts was dropped in round one by a left hook and in round two by a body shot from Robles.
Gonzalez came back and had Robles in trouble in the fourth but couldn?t put him away and ended losing by an eighth round majority decision.
Judge Richard Houck and Patricia Morse Jarman both scored it 76-74 for Robles with the knockdowns in an even fight making the difference while judge Glen Trowbridge had it even at 75-75.
Top photo: Crawford downs Rodela.
Robles downs Gonzales.
Photos by Dr Ed de la Vega.
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