SAN ANTONIO – Take it from Manny Pacquiao. His latest victim Jorge Solis was a tougher opponent than Oscar Larios whom he outpointed in a 12-round bout at the Araneta Coliseum last July.
It didn’t take long for Pacquiao to reply when asked who was tougher.
Solis, lanky and rangy, gave the Filipino boxing icon some anxious moments before capitulating in the eighth round. Larios was floored twice but survived the distance.
Pacquiao probably was to blame somewhat for allowing Solis to show up the 10-1 favorite. Instead of methodically breaking down Solis’ defense, Pacquiao charged into the Mexican – looking for an early knockout – only to find an extremely uncooperative customer.
Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach said the brash tactic was an indication of a lack of respect for the man called Coloradito.
It took a cut over his left eyelid to bring Pacquiao back to his senses in the sixth round. That was when Pacquiao began to throw punches in bunches, abandoning his plan of trying to score a sensational one-blow knockout. As Pacquiao found the range, Solis started to fold up. Then it was just a matter of time before the fatal ending.
Solis said Pacquiao’s barrage of blows was something he wasn’t ready to cope with. He claimed it wasn’t Pacquiao’s power but his blinding speed that left him dizzy in the head.
Solis, one of 11 children, comes from a poor family in Guadalajara. His father Aurelio, 65, sells tacos at a flea market in the Solis’ hometown. His mother Maria is a housewife. A sister lives in Bakersfield, California. Younger brother Ulises, nicknamed Archie, is the IBF lightflyweight champion.
“We’ve been best of friends since we were kids,” said Solis, referring to Ulises. “I go to all his fights and he comes to all of mine. We do everything together. We even train each other. When he wins, it feels like I win, too.”
Solis, 27, is married with two children Jorge Juan, 5, and Dominique, five months old. He was introduced to boxing by his father and started when he was 16. Solis posted a 33-3 amateur record and was a national lightflyweight amateur champion. Solis turned pro at 18 in 1998, three years after Pacquiao’s debut. * * * Legendary Argentinian trainer and cutman Miguel (The Magician) Diaz, who worked Solis’ corner, said Pacquiao was just too strong and quick for the lanky Mexican.
“I thought Solis did a good job in the first five rounds,” said Diaz. “He was making a fight out of it even if he was losing. But Pacquiao is Pacquiao. When you think you’re starting to make headway, he’ll suddenly explode and it’s over. That’s Pacquiao for you.”
Pacquiao led on the three judges’ scorecards when the fight was stopped. Judge Larry O’Connell saw it 69-65, Gale Van Hoy 68-65 and Oren Schellenberger 69-64. The three judges were unanimous in awarding the fifth round to Solis.
Diaz also worked Jorge Arce’s corner in the same card. Arce lost a unanimous 12-round decision to WBC superflyweight titlist Christian Mijares. Arce suffered a nasty cut on the bridge of his nose in the ninth round and blood spewed out from the gash until the final bell.
It wasn’t a total shutout for Diaz that night. A consolation was he was in Bernabe Concepcion’s corner when the Catanduanes prospect scored a unanimous 10-round verdict over Benjamin Flores to retain his WBC Youth superbantamweight crown in the curtain raiser.
Concepcion, 19, hurt his right hand in the second round and blamed it for failing to dispose of Flores. He seemed to lack the killer’s instinct and repeatedly let Flores off the hook.
Flores even won the last round in two of the three judges’ scorecards. Concepcion, however, won on a unanimous decision with scores of 97-93 (David Harris), 96-94 (Rick Crocker) and 97-93 (Roy Ovalle).
Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz, who arranged for Concepcion’s slot in the Top Rank card, said if the fighter is to progress, he has to sacrifice and train in the US. Concepcion arrived with manager Aljoe Jaro from Manila only a week before the bout.
Concepcion, the eighth of nine children, said he is determined to become a world champion. But he’s got to show a lot more than he did in his win over Flores to convince the boxing cognoscenti of his potential.
Concepcion has lost only once in a career that started three years ago. Veteran Mark Sales pounded out a majority 10-round decision over Concepcion in his ninth pro outing. Concepcion has been floored just once by Jae Chun Moon in the second round but got up to stop the Korean in the fourth in Baguio last February.
