Manny Pacquiao gave his opponent a bipartisan beating Saturday night. He hurt Jorge Solis with his left hand, then his right. Pacquiao’s knockout victory Saturday night enabled him to retain his WBC International super featherweight crown and his title as one of boxing’s best pound for pound.
The end came at 1 minute, 16 seconds of the eighth round when the Philippine phenom sent Solis to the canvas twice with right-left combinations.
Referee Vic Drakulich counted Solis out after the second knockdown, sending the crowd of 14,793 at the Alamodome into a frenzy.
Pacquiao (44-3-2, 34 KOs) turned it on after an unintentional head butt in the sixth round left a cut over his left eye and blood streaming down his face.
“I decided to pressure him after that, make it a faster fight,” Pacquiao said.
Pacquiao was hoping a landslide victory would provide a boost to his political future in the Philippines, where he’s running for Congress next month.
He got it but not without a fight.
For the better part of five rounds, Solis’ movement and quick combinations seemed to surprise the famous Filipino fighter.
Pacquiao has earned his reputation — and his living — by fighting on the inside, and he needed to stay there if he hoped to hurt Solis.
But Pacquiao couldn’t seem to get there — until the sixth.
The cut above the eye came as Pacquiao was lunging in with a left. Drakulich sent the two fighters to a neutral corner while Pacquiao regained his composure.
After that, he unleashed a torrent of punches over the next five minutes until the end came.
“I was surprised by how fast he was,” said Solis (32-1-2, 23 KOs), who fell from the unbeaten ranks with the loss. “It wasn’t that he was so strong, but he’s so fast, I couldn’t see his punches coming.”
Solis, of Guadalajara, Mexico, was behind on all three scorecards at the end.
It was the first fight of the year for Pacquiao. He was named “Fighter of the Year” in 2006 by Ring Magazine and the Boxing Writers Association of America based largely on two knockout victories over Erik Morales.
The last one came in November, when Pacquiao beat Morales in the rubber match of their thrilling trilogy. Pacquiao knocked down Morales three times en route to a third-round TKO in front of 18,276 fans at Las Vegas’ Thomas & Mack Center.
Saturday, he was less than satisfied with his performance.
“I’m not 100 percent happy,” he said. “Maybe 80 percent. I wasn’t 100 percent prepared for his style.”
Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s esteemed trainer, flew in for the fight and was in his corner after all. Roach has been training Oscar De La Hoya for his May 5 showdown against Floyd Mayweather Jr.
“After the cut, I told him to step it up,” Roach said. “He was just playing with him. I told him to quit fooling around and finish the fight.”
Pacquiao landed 140 of 516 punches to just 63 of 351 for Solis, who gave a good account of himself despite the knockout loss.
“No excuses,” Solis said. “He beat me.”
