Friant, CA. (Table Mountain Casino)–
It would prove to be one of the stranger moments in professional boxing in 2005.
Carlos Navarro took a knee three times in the seventh round during his junior lightweight encounter with Bobby Pacquiao. After his third trip to the canvas and with blood smeared over the right side of his face, Navarro mimicked referee Jon Schorle’s count at 4 and in effect counted himself out at ten.
Navarro then got up, congratulated the winner Pacquiao and then returned to his corner contemplating a new career path. It went into the books with Pacquiao a knockout winner at 2:54 of the 7th, but it also signaled a return for Navarro to the ranks of fulltime electricians.
In a battle between two southpaws nothing would seem normal but fortunately the laws of gravity still applied. Before it was over the younger brother of Filipino hero Manny Pacquiao would prevail and the older brother of Jose Navarro would return to his role as a working man.
–Southpaw Serenade–
Navarro (26-4-1, 21 KO’s) looked sharp early in the bout and probably won the first three rounds while Pacquiao (23-11-3, 11 KO’s) struggled to stay upright after slipping repeatedly in a new pair of boxing shoes.
After struggling in ice skates over the first two rounds, Pacquiao’s corner finally began wrapping tape around the Filipino fighter’s shoes before the third round, with the sticky side of the tape out in an attempt to provide some type of traction. Pacquiao (129 ?) didn’t help his cause by firing wide sweeping right hooks and at the 2:03 mark of the 3rd, he executed a complete 360 degree rotation before stumbling to the floor. However, with 20-seconds to go in the round, Pacquiao, General Santos City, Philippines rallied and drilled Navarro with a barrage of leather before the bell.
What Pacquiao, 26, lacked in balance and accuracy he more than made for up with heart and a willingness to let his hands fly.
After the third stanza of a scheduled 12 rounds, Pacquiao’s corner applied more tape to their fighter’s feet and once again it seemed to help the lefthander’s grip. At the 2:13 mark of the 4th, however, Pacquiao was warned for low blows. With 1:22 remaining in the round, Pacquiao, 5’7″, connected with a hard right jab and a series of clubbing right hooks followed by a left cross that rocked Navarro (129 ?) back on his heels.
Late in the round, Pacquiao shifted his attack downstairs and blistered Navarro, Las Vegas, NV., with a salvo of body shots but with 37-seconds to go in the round, he drew his second warning from the referee for straying south of the border.
Pacquiao began drilling his opponent with sharp right jabs to the face in the 5th, and then connecting with stunning left crosses to the head that would eventually determine the outcome of the contest. Pacquiao continued to connect with his jab throughout the round and Navarro began bleeding from the nose. With 39-seconds to go in the 5th, both men traded shots but it was Pacquiao who landed the harder shots and Navarro began to fade.
–Full Moon Assault–
Early in the 6th, Navarro, 28, landed a solid three-punch combination to the head. With 1:55 to go in the round, Navarro, 5’8″, scored again with a whistling left cross to the jaw but Pacquiao returned fire and continued to blister his opponent’s rib cage.
The bizarre encounter heated up at the 1:17 mark of the 6th, when Pacquiao appeared to hit Navarro with a clean right hook to the body. After a delayed reaction, Navarro sank to one knee, however, the referee Schorle thought that the punch was low. Rather than registering a knockdown for Pacquiao, the referee mistakenly deducted a point for fouling. The California fight fans booed the confusion but with 8-seconds to go in the round, Pacquiao went low again twice more and on that occasion Schorle said nothing. As Navarro headed to his corner at the end of the round, the referee told him to quit pulling Pacquiao’s head down when the boxers were in close quarters.
Pacquiao kept the pressure on in the seventh round, as Navarro struggled to catch a second wind that would prove to be elusive. At the 2:22 mark of the 7th, Pacquiao nailed Navarro with a long left cross to the face. Navarro committed the time-honored mistake of retreating straight back and Pacquiao responded by landing more heavy artillery to the skull. With 1:59 to go in go in the 7th, Pacquiao scored with a solid left cross to the head and then appeared to push Navarro to the canvas after landing a flurry of punches.
Navarro dropped to the floor and almost refused to get up so the referee started counting. The reluctant Navarro slowly regained his feet but his will had been broken. Pacquiao kept firing punches and his next salvo pinned Navarro against the ropes. After a five-shot volley to the head Navarro dropped to his hands and his knees while Pacquiao simply kept swinging.
With the crowd cheering, once again Navarro seemed indisposed to get back up and the referee informed him that Pacquiao had hit him when he was down. Navarro milked the clock for extra time but his legs were shot, his air supply fading and his desire to box disappearing. Finally the referee told Navarro to get up and after another delay the action finally resumed.
Pacquiao was relentless and with 22-seconds to go in the round he tagged Navarro with two sharp right jabs but missed badly with a looping overhand left that was wide of the mark. That was it for Navarro and he sank to one knee. Schorle also dropped down in front of him and began counting Navarro out. With his left eye swollen and blood caked on the right side of his face, Navarro picked up the count at four and echoed Schorle’s final toll. The night was over and there wasn’t even a full moon.
Undercard: In a middleweight encounter set for eight, Brazilian Joilson Dos Santos (6-2, 4 KO’s) scored a fifth round TKO over outgunned Daniel Stanisavljevic (3-4, 1 KO). Dos Santos (160 ?) dominated the scoring and after landing a volley of unanswered body shots and a scalding left hook to that rocketed off Stanisavljevic’s (160 ?) skull referee Marty Sammon waved off the bout at the 2:18 mark. Super featherweight Abraham Esquivel (3-0, 1 KO) scored a four round majority decision over Danny Savala (5-3-2. 2 KO’s).
