Manny Pacquiao scored another definitive knockout win in San Antonio, Texas last Saturday night, April 14. Ace Freeman recaps the fight and looks ahead at what’s next for the Pacman. Only on FightFan.com!
April 18, 2007
With the Eric Morales chapter of his career finally behind him, Manny Pacquiao returned to action last Saturday as the headliner in a surprisingly action-packed card by Top Rank Promotions. This time his opponent was the relatively unknown and undefeated Jorge Solis of Mexico. As he has done so many times in the past, Pacquiao ended the night with a spectacular and brutal knockout win. But this time, he might just be relieved to put the fight behind him.
While Jorge Solis was not a monumental name in boxing like Marco Antonio Barrera, Eric Morales or Juan Manuel Marquez, there did seem a certain air of unpredictability surrounding this fight for Pacquiao. The danger did not emanate so much from his opponent, but from the ever-growing storm of distractions that surround the superstar fighter.
The effect of the absence of head trainer Freddie Roach for the duration of the training camp was compounded with the on-going turmoil surrounding Pacquiao as he looks to enter the political arena in the Philippines in the coming months. One Pinoy scribe even went so far as to assert that if Pacquiao were to have lost this fight against Solis, he would also lose the impending election.
Never one to let the drama of superstardom bog him down, Pacquiao looked to enter this fight and put all of that behind him in favour of doing what he does best: box. Looking surprisingly dry and melancholy as he warmed up in his dressing room, Pacquiao seemed to be going through the motions of hitting the pads with Freddie Roach. It wasn’t until the lovely Geneva Cruz began signing the national anthem of the Philippines that we saw the first glimpse of Pacquiao’s trademark smile.
Making his way to the ring, Pacquiao seemed lifted by the ovation of the crowd and when he finally stood face-to-face with Solis during the referee’s instructions he looked to have his game face on. The fight started out very slowly for both fighters as each man patiently sized up the other, trying to get a feel for the others rhythm. This went on for several rounds as Pacquiao looked to move forward and attack, and Solis attempted to use his height and range to make his stronger opponent miss.
Solis was able to effectively stifle Pacquiao in the first four rounds for the most part, but while he managed to avoid eating a big shot, he offered very little in resistance and was unable to mount much of an offence of his own. He averaged just seven punches landed per round over the course of the entire fight. As a result, a busier and more aggressive Pacquiao managed to sweep almost every round in scoring.
The fight picked up a bit in the fifth round as Pacquiao seemed to up the pace. Again Solis fought back and even forced the Pacman back to the ropes at one point. Always motivated by his opponent’s aggression, Pacquiao fired back and the crowd came to life.
The sixth round was the turning point in the fight. With each fighter looking to remain aggressive, an accidental clash of heads seemed to bother both men and caused a pause in the action. Pacquiao suffered a substantial cut in the exchange and that seemed to light a fire under him. He relentlessly attacked Solis for the duration of the round and seemed to be fighting with more urgency.
In the seventh round he kept up the busier pace and was finding his target with the big left hand much more frequently. A series of shots saw Soils’ legs weaken, and Pacquiao did not let up. At the end of the round, Freddie Roach was finally pleased with what he saw and asked the Pacman to begin throwing an uppercut after a hook. As it turned out, that was good advice.
In the eighth round Pacquiao rocked Solis with an uppercut and the ensuing barrage sent him to the canvass. He got up bravely but was quickly bludgeoned back down where he received a full ten count, in effect suffering his first professional loss via knockout.
Despite a slow start, Pacquiao seemed relieved and told the television audience, “He had good height and reach and head movement. It’s hard to fight a guy like that. When I was cut, I knew I had to start to pressure him and look for the knockout.”
Freddie Roach had hoped for a quicker start from Pacquiao stating, “Manny was playing around in the first half of the fight. There was no challenge that’s why he was playing with the guy and I told him to get serious.”
Despite making the curious assertion that Pacquiao didn’t hit as hard as his wife, Jorge Solis was gracious in suffering his first taste of defeat, “I did my best and gave everything but lost to a great champion. He’s very fast and comes with a lot of pressure. He was relentless.”
What’s next for Pacquiao will depend on many factors. As it is now, he will soon return to his homeland where he will subsequently run for election. His next opponent is very much up in the air at this point. As Top Rank continues to feud with Golden Boy Promotions, many of Pacquiao’s potential opponents remain unavailable to him due to the war of politics going on between the companies. Marco Antonio Barrera, Humberto Sotto, Juan Manuel Marquez and Joan Guzman have all been mentioned, but Golden Boy promotes all but Soto.
