Manny Pacquaio, the world’s toughest politician, took a break from campaigning for a congressional slot in the Philippines and got back to his day job at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, Saturday night, knocking out previously unbeaten Jorge Solis in the eighth round of a compelling, but somewhat sloppy super featherweight bout.
The pace was fast but sloppy in the first round, with neither fighter landing anything of note as they burned off nervous energy. Pacquiao (44-3-2, 34 KOs) started to score more in the second and third rounds, but Solis (32-1-2, 23 KOs) gamely stood in the pocket, despite not having the firepower to employ such a strategy consistently.
Throughout the fourth round, Pacquaio remained wild and aggressive, but he was also doing the bulk of the scoring, as Solis’ offensive retorts were sporadic at best.
The Mexican did have his best round in the fifth though, as he landed with both hands while Pacquiao downshifted until the final 30 seconds of the stanza.
In the sixth, a clash of heads caused a cut over the left eye of Pacquiao, but the ringside physician let the fight continue. Moments later, a left hand sent Solis to the canvas, but referee Vic Drakulich ruled it a push. Pacquiao had enough of a taste to keep pressing though, and while he tried to finish the fight, it was to no avail.
Midway through the seventh, two lefts to the head briefly hurt Solis, but the gutsy ‘Coloradito’ hung tough, even as the odds started to mount against him.
In the eighth though, Solis reached his Waterloo, as left hands put him down twice, the second one for Drakulich’s ten count, which was reached at 1:16 of the round.
With the win, Pacquiao retained his WBC International super featherweight title.
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In the co-feature, there was the obligatory blood from the battered visage of Jorge Arce, but this time there would be no victory, as fellow Mexican Cristian Mijares was brilliant from rounds one through twelve as he pounded out a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision over the former two-division champion to retain his WBC super flyweight title.
Scores were 119-109, 118-110, and 117-111 for Mijares.
Mijares boxed beautifully and did the bulk of the scoring in the first round, drawing a roar from the crowd, but little reaction from Arce, who kept trudging forward. And though Arce stepped on the gas aggression-wise in round two, he kept swinging and missing as the faster and more accurate Mijares put on a sharpshooting clinic, surprising many in attendance.
The third round was more of the same, with Arce’s only effective moments coming when he was able to pin Mijares in the corner and bang away to the body.
In the fourth round, most of the fight was being waged at close range, and ‘Travieso’ started getting closer with his wild haymakers, even though Mijares scored enough to keep his foe on his back foot. And by rounds five and sixth, the war really started to kick into gear as both fighters went toe to toe. But again, Mijares had the slight edge.
As the fight entered its second half, Arce needed to close the gap on the champion, and looking at Mijares’ bruised face, it was obvious that something was landing for the charismatic former champion. But he was unable to mount a sustained offensive attack, while Mijares continued to score with regularity and pile up the rounds.
By round nine, Arce was bleeding from the bridge of the nose courtesy of an accidental headbutt and starting to show signs of desperation. Mijares, whose eyes were swelling, kept his cool and stuck to his gameplan with Spartan discipline, and in the tenth he had Arce in trouble with a series of blows while ‘Travieso’ was pinned on the ropes.
Despite the result being no longer in doubt, Mijares refused to run out the clock in the championship rounds and he pressed and pressed on the game and bloody Arce, who only remained standing because of his heart.
Mijares improves to 31-3-2 (11 KOs); Arce falls to 46-4-1 (35 KOs).
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In a welterweight bout, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. remained unbeaten with an impressive second round stoppage of Anthony Shuler.
After a fairly uneventful first round, Chavez staggered Shuler with a left hook in the second, and seconds later put him on the mat with a right hand. Shuler gamely got up and fought back, but a single left hook to the head sent him back down, with referee Rafael Ramos halting the bout immediately at 1:32 of the round.
With the win, Chavez improves to 31-0-1 with 24 KOs; Indiana’s Shuler falls to 20-5-1 with 14 KOs.
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Unheralded Edgar Sosa arrived on the world scene in a big way in the pay-per-view opener, scoring a 12 round majority decision win over Brian Viloria to win the vacant WBC light flyweight title.
Scores were 115-113 twice and 114-114 for Sosa, 27-5 (14 KOs) who won his 15th fight in a row. Viloria falls to 19-2-1 (12 KOs) with 1 no contest.
The fighters traded jabs in the early going, with the more aggressive Viloria jarring Sosa briefly with a hard left hook midway through the opening frame. The 2000 US Olympian’s work remained steady in round two, and he looked much more focused than in recent fights. Yet Sosa was no sitting duck, and he got his licks in as he upped his output.
In the third round, Sosa started tagging the ‘Hawaiian Punch’ with flush shots to the head and was gone before any return fire came back, but Viloria settled down in the fourth, which was fought on mainly even terms, with both fighters having their moments.
Viloria opened the fifth with a hard left to the head, but after being stunned briefly, Sosa threw back with abandon, dousing his foe’s fiery attack. And by the end of the round, it was Sosa in control, and Viloria was relegated to showboating to show that he wasn’t hurt.
Sosa continued to press and score in the sixth and seventh, but Viloria’s solid retorts, especially in the seventh round, got the Mexican’s attention, and the fight settled into a familiar but entertaining pattern of give and take.
The eighth saw Sosa rock Viloria with a left uppercut, but as usual, the 25-year old former champion came back moments later and ripped hooks to the body in retaliation.
The pace didn’t slow in the ninth round, and late in the frame Sosa started to pull ahead with repeated combinations that went unanswered, and he kept the heat high in the tenth as Viloria’s right eye began to swell shut.
Looking to finish strong, Viloria got back on track in the 11th, but Sosa refused to go away, and some heated exchanges saw both fighters have their moments. The 12th was practically all Sosa though, and with under a minute left, he had the Hawaiian in deep trouble, jarring him a number of times as he chased him across the ring until the bell sounded.
