LAS VEGAS, NV ? ?Will to Win? was the event?s promotional tagline, but ?Will to Survive? was more accurate.
Marco Antonio Barrera survived his final prizefight. Much more than that cannot be written about how things went for Barrera (63-6, 42 KOs) in his long-anticipated rematch with Manny Pacquiao (45-3-2, 34 KOs), Saturday night in Mandalay Bay?s Events Center.
Judges were unanimous, and correct, in awarding the fight to Pacquiao by scores of 118-109, 118-109 and 115-112. The 15Rounds.com scorecard saw things the same way, scoring the fight for Pacquiao, 118-110.
Though the opening stanzas were fought at Barrera?s pace, slow and uncharacteristically methodical for a Pacquiao fight, even that pace was too much for Barrera. After splitting the opening two stanzas with Pacquiao, Barrera returned to his recent fighting style ? jabbing, circling, keeping his hands raised and fighting little more than 10 seconds of each round.
There were heated exchanges ? making the fight closer to good than bad, but definitely not great ? which often came when Barrera found himself perilously close to the ropes. Then, and only then, Barrera would trade straight power punches with Pacquiao for as long as it took him to swim his way to a clinch.
Interviewed after the fight, Barrera made few excuses and did not argue the judges? decision. He ended things his way, though, with a last, defiant ??Viva Mexico!? shout.
STEVEN LUEVANO VS. ANTONIO DAVIS In a technically proficient but less than enthralling performance, Steven Luevano (34-1, 15 KOs) successfully defended his WBO featherweight title against Antonio Davis (24-4, 12 KOs) in Saturday?s final undercard bout, winning a unanimous decision by scores of 119-108, 119-108 and 118-109.
As a southpaw who throws all his punches correctly and employs good defense, Luevano is not easily unsettled. But it may have been Luevano?s choice to settle for a decision victory, rather than pressing for a knockout, that occasionally displeased his Mandalay Bay crowd.
At various unprompted moments throughout the fight, the Events Center filled with impassioned chants of ?Pacquiao! Pacquiao!? and ?Barrera! Barrera!? ? two fighter who were still warming-up in the dressing room and 45 minutes from entering the actual ring.
LIBRADO ANDRADE VS. YUSAF MACK Librado Andrade just can?t help himself; he loves the contact too much. It was another all-action and no-defense battle Saturday night when Andrade (26-1, 20 KOs) went to work on Yusaf Mack (23-2-2, 14 KOs) in a USBA super-middleweight title scrap that was great while it lasted ? which it did till 2:34 of round 7. Andrade?s punch tally and Mack?s fatigue then combined to give Andrade his 20th career knockout.
Andrade?s evening, however, was not without its travails. In the fight?s first 90 seconds, Mack caught him, hurt him and dropped him. In the second round, too, Mack landed the more effective punches. But soon after that, Andrade?s strength, and obscene willingness to receive massive shots from an opponent he?s pursuing, brought an end to the carnage.
In fewer than 21 minutes of action, Andrade managed to throw 596 punches and land 209. That work rate, when combined with Andrade?s chin, has been, and will continue to be, simply too much for any but the world?s very best super-middleweights.
?The champion came out of me,? Andrade said in the ring after the fight. ?It?s such a beautiful, sweet feeling.?
For Andrade, a sweet person with a style that is anything but beautiful, then, a lucrative career as a prizefighter continues to be fashioned. And such couldn?t be happening to a better guy.
FRANCISCO BOJADO VS. STEVE FORBES Saturday night also brought the latest installment in a saga called ?Panchito?s Squandering of Bojado?s Talent.? After failing to come within three pounds of the junior-welterweight limit of 140 pounds at Friday?s weigh-in, Francisco ?Panchito? Bojado (18-3, 12 KOs) entered the ring in his latest attire ? a skeleton mask taken from some unlucky trick-or-treater ? and a lot of excess weight. Then he got outhustled and outboxed en route to a split-decision loss: 96-94, 94-96, 93-97.
Steve Forbes (33-5, 9 KOs), meanwhile, came in with a serious expression on his face, a serious plan and serious conditioning to back it up. From the second round onwards, two things were apparent: Bojado was the more talented prizefighter, and Forbes was the more professional. Before the third stanza was a third complete, Bojado?s red and white and green mouthpiece was visible ? proving the lack-of-conditioning hypothesis launched at Friday?s weigh-in.
Probably no single round served as a better metaphor for Bojado?s career than the sixth did. In the opening 30 seconds of the stanza, Bojado tore out of his corner and threw one amazing combination after another. His feet beneath him and his punches properly leveraged, Bojado was a joy to behold. Then he was winded. His mouthpiece thrust all the way out his mouth, Bojado next ate seven unreciprocated right uppercuts and ultimately lost the round.
Afterwards, an elated Forbes would say, ?I was landing the uppercut all night long, and it felt great to land that shot.? Forbes was right about the uppercut, and it was right for him to win the match.
UNDERCARD In off-television action, bout number three saw Golden Boy Promotions junior-lightweight prospect Vicente Escobedo (15-1, 11 KOs) square off with Mexico City?s Miguel Angel Munguia (15-7-1, 13 KOs) in an eight-round junior-lightweight tilt that Escobedo won easily, and unsurprisingly, by unanimous-decision scores of 78-74, 78-74 and 80-72. Despite continuing under the tutelage of legendary Mexican trainer Nacho Beristain, Escobedo has thus far failed to develop into all that Golden Boy Promotions hoped he?d become. His reign of ordinariness continued Saturday night.
The second match of the evening, Filipino southpaw Michael Farenas (18-2, 16 KOs) versus Tijuanese Arturo Valenzuela (19-9, 17 KOs), was a featherweight mismatch that found Farenas looking much like his countryman and main-event phenomenon Manny Pacquiao, as Farenas easily ran through Valenzuela. Farenas had quickness and power on his side, and Valenzuela showed early and often that he had no solution for Farenas? straight left hand ? getting himself stopped at 0:59 of round 2.
Saturday night?s action began at the Mandalay Bay Events Center round 4:15 PM local time and featured California featherweight Alejandro Perez (11-0, 6 KOs) and Mexico?s Jaime Villa (5-3, 2 KOs). Despite some initially effective flurries by Villa, Perez was possessed of too much class for the outgunned Mexican, stopping Villa with a body shot at 0:27 of round 5 ? after dropping him with a similar left hook at the end of round 4.
For full coverage of the post-fight press conference, check back with 15Rounds.com on Monday.
