Angeles City-based New Zealand referee Bruce McTavish said yesterday Oscar Larios proved his mettle by nearly flooring Manny Pacquiao in the third round and surviving the distance in their Araneta Coliseum bout Sunday morning.
Angeles City-based New Zealand referee Bruce McTavish said yesterday Oscar Larios proved his mettle by nearly flooring Manny Pacquiao in the third round and surviving the distance in their Araneta Coliseum bout Sunday morning.
Pacquiao was staggered by a series of right hands along the ropes and for a while, it looked like he was on the way down. But he weathered the storm, shook his head and came roaring back with a vengeance.
Pacquiao’s adviser Rex (Wakee) Salud said two or three more punches from Larios would’ve surely decked the Filipino southpaw.
“All that talk about Larios not having a punch is rubbish,” said McTavish. “And all that talk about Manny not being fit is rubbish, too, because he wouldn’t have survived that attack in the third round if he weren’t in good condition. A lesser man would’ve been knocked down for sure.”
McTavish said he himself got hit by Larios in the back when he broke up the fighters in between the fifth and sixth rounds. “My back is still hurting,” he said. “It was the hardest punch I’ve ever felt.”
Salud said Larios earned the experts’ respect by pushing Pacquiao to the limit.
“Larios was well-prepared,” said Salud. “Manny knocked him down twice but he kept fighting back. Nobody expected the fight to go 12 rounds. The odds were 10-1 for Manny in the casinos and the bets were for how many rounds Larios would last. So a lot of bettors lost money.”
Salud said Pacquiao fought an intelligent fight and did what had to be done to win. While not giving excuses why Pacquiao failed to score a knockout, Salud said he had less time to prepare for Larios than Erik Morales, he was just beginning to peak in training and he came from being sick.
“Manny paced himself well and didn’t go for the kill in the early rounds like in his previous fights,” said Salud. “He showed he can box, not just slug. Maybe, it’s because he knew Larios was more prepared and in better physical condition. Larios started training two weeks ahead. Larios looked bigger than Manny so Manny didn’t want to take any chances. Manny used his head. In the late rounds, he still had enough power to knock down Larios. That’s because of his pacing.”
McTavish said if Pacquiao had two or three more weeks of training, he would’ve been in better physical condition and Larios wouldn’t have gone beyond five or six rounds.
“Manny’s too strong and too fast for Larios,” said McTavish. “During the fight, I noticed Manny didn’t hit with his usual power. He threw a lot of slapping punches—he looked impressive but Larios wasn’t getting hurt too much. But Manny’s two knockdowns were clear. The replays showed Larios went down from a punch both times.”
McTavish said he almost stopped the fight after the knockdown in the 12th round when Larios got up and turned sideways at the eight-count. “He was up at four or five and I counted to eight then I asked him to come forward but he turned away,” said McTavish. “I knew Larios doesn’t speak English but my instructions after the weigh-in were interpreted by his manager Mr. (Rafael) Mendoza so he knew what to expect in a knockdown situation. He wasn’t really on the verge of being knocked out so I let it continue.”
McTavish said in his unofficial scorecard, Larios won only two rounds, the third and 10th.
The three judges turned in different scores. Noparat Srichaoen of Thailand saw it a 120-106 shutout with two 10-8 rounds for Pacquiao. Humbert Fulgomi of France had it 117-110 with three rounds for Larios and one even. Daniel van de Wiele of Belgium scored it 118-108 with two rounds for Larios.
Noparat was reportedly a late substitute for an unnamed Filipino judge whose appointment was rejected by Larios’ camp.
McTavish said van de Wiele confided he would’ve scored the third round 10-8 for Larios if Pacquiao didn’t recover in time.
“Manny’s eyes were glazed and he wasn’t fighting back on the ropes,” recalled McTavish. “Then he came out of it, shook his head and started landing punches.”
McTavish, 65, said he wasn’t tired after the fight. “It was such a thrill working the bout because both Manny and Larios are true pros,” he said. “I think I separated them only four or five times the whole 12 rounds and that was when they were tired and got tied up. I’ve done over 140 world title fights and I haven’t seen a fitter fighter than Larios at his age (29). He was super-fit for the fight.”
After the fight, McTavish said he got positive feedback from the Larios camp.
“I was told that the Larios camp—Mr. Mendoza, trainer Jose Reinoso and cutman Miguel Diaz—was satisfied with the officiating,” said McTavish. “And that they called me the best referee they’ve seen. That’s a supreme compliment coming from the losing camp. There was no controversy in the fight at all because Manny won convincingly.”
