Questions remain
Pacquiao edges Marquez

Ringside by Andreas Hale
Photos by Chris Cozzone

Three epic fights and you would think we would have a clear winner in one of the most closely contested trilogies in the history of boxing.

Sorry folks, 36 rounds and we still don’t know who the definitive winner between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez is. What we do know is that Juan Manuel Marquez absolutely cannot catch a break from the judges.

Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez fought 12 hard rounds – despite the general consensus being that the Mexican was a huge underdog – and Pacquiao retained his WBO welterweight title whit a highly controversial majority decision that was lustfully booed by the packed MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, NV.

Most figured that after Marquez (53-6-1) was wiped out by Mayweather at 145 pounds that would mean Pacquiao would make short work of him at a catch weight of 144lbs. Freddie Roach predicted it, the oddsmakers had Marquez as a near 10/1 underdog at one point and fight fans cried mismatch. They were all wrong, terribly wrong. As we all know, styles make fights and Marquez and Pacquiao put together yet another thrilling chapter of boxing that saw the former lightweight champion constantly rip Pacquiao with counterpunches and brought Super Manny back to earth and made it look like the 2004 and 2008 meetings all over again. This time, many truly believed that Marquez did enough to finally take away a victory.

Too bad the judges didn’t see it that way. After a draw and losing a split decision, it would have been poetic for Marquez to walk away with the victory to make it 1-1-1. You can argue that he earned it with his performance. From the outset, Pacquiao couldn’t seem to figure out the Mexican rubix cube as both fighters circled each other and were rather timid. But Marquez quickly got Pacquiao to engage and did what he does best: counter. And counter he did. Marquez brilliantly turned back the heavy hitting Pacquiao advances with a crisp right hand, a sneaky lead left to the body and a rattling flurry of punches that had the congressman looking less like the world beater that tore apart Margarito, Mosley, Hatton, Cotto and Clottey and more like the guy who was in a 12-round dogfight with a crafty Mexican four years ago. Marquez allowed Pacquiao to come to him and then baited the Filipino into over committing in order to thrust one of his mighty counters into his face. It worked early and often. Pacquiao knew he had to make a drastic change or else he would find himself on the wrong side of the scorecards for the first time since losing to Erik Morales back in 2005. He came out more aggressive in the middle rounds and kept the crowd on their feet throughout. But it was Marquez that they were on their feet for.

However, it was the Filipino’s aggression that would be the difference on the scorecards. Whenever there were lulls in the action, Pacquiao would press forward and that was what the judges favored on this night. Pacquiao was able to land several blistering left hands of his own, but appeared more intrigued with trying to potshot Marquez rather than rifle off substantial combination. With the fight in the balance in the championship rounds, Marquez appeared to ease off the gas a little bit and was content with allowing it to go to the judges. Meanwhile, Pacquiao fought with a vigor that said he was well aware he needed those final rounds to upend his foe once again. He was right. Judges saw the fight 114-114, 116-112 and 115-113. When those scores were announced by Michael Buffer, they were followed by a cascade of boos and some flying objects as fans showed their disapproval.

Compubox had Pacquiao outlanding Marquez 176-138, but it certainly appeared that Marquez got the better of Pacquiao on several occasions. In the end, Marquez again walks away empty handed after putting on a performance that most in the arena felt was good enough to earn the decision.

"This was the second robbery and this one was the worst," Marquez said. "It's hard when you're fighting your rival and the three judges, too."

Team Pacquiao appeared a bit more relieved than enthralled with the decision.

"My fans are very happy because they thought I won," Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KOs) said as the boos from the pro-Marquez following nearly drowned him out. It was apparent that he wasn’t totally pleased with his performance but he managed to gut out the win.

It certainly makes things interesting when it comes to Pacquiao’s next fight. Although a megafight with Floyd Mayweather is the most commercially appealing, there is most certainly unfinished business left in the ring. Can Pacquiao confidently face Mayweather knowing that the dark cloud of Marquez still haunts him?

We’ll just have to wait and see.

Bradley TKOs Casamayor

Timothy Bradley made his Top Rank debut a successful one – albeit not quite an entertaining one – as he scored an eighth round TKO over the weathered and worn Joel Casamayor and retained his WBO light welterweight title. It was a terrible mismatch from inception as Casamayor (38-6-1) is far removed from his peak when he was a champion in the 130 and 135 weight classes and Bradley put the exclamation point on that statement be easily outclassing his Cuban foe. Although the former lightweight champion tried his best to make this fight look like it would be a heated contest, all notions of something competitive flew out of the window when the opening bell rang. Bradley (28-0) consistently beat Casamayor to the punch and ravaged the 40-year-old’s torso with body punches. Even though Casamayor is no longer the crafty fighter he once was, his dirty bag of tricks were still as fresh as ever. The Cuban dug into that bag early as he repeatedly held Bradley and did his best to lead with his head. Referee Vic Drakulich was busy separating the two and docked Casamayor a point for holding in round four. The Palm Springs fighter wouldn’t let Casamayor’s dirty tactics deter him as he pressed forward and scored a knockdown in both the 5th and 6th rounds. With Casamayor clearly falling apart in the eighth round, Bradley would rip him with another combination to the body that forced Casamayor’s corner to throw in the towel at the 2:59 mark. No, it wasn’t the type of fight that would turn Bradley into a star overnight and many will still lampoon him for passing up Amir Khan for this, but in the grand scheme of things the exposure he received by fighting on the undercard of a Pacquiao fight is unrivaled.

Alvarado Pulls Off Spectacular Come From Behind TKO

Mike Alvarado looked like a battered and beaten man in the first five rounds of his light welterweight tilt with Breidis Prescott. But the undefeated fighter from Denver put together a remarkable comeback and scored a resounding TKO in the 10th and final round. Prescott -- who went to work early and shredded Alvarado’s face with an extremely effective display of boxing in the first four rounds. With blood leaking out of his mouth, nose and from a cut over his left eye, Alvarado (32-0, 23 KOs) needed to do a gut check in order to avoid losing for the first time in 32 fights. As he mounted a comeback in rounds six thru eight with strong inside fighting, Prescott (24-4) appeared to be losing steam on his punches. Despite the comeback, a relatively tame 9th round had most figuring that Alvarado didn’t have the sense of urgency to put away his foe. Those who thought that were all wrong. In the final round, Alvarado summoned the hammer of Thor as he put on a superhuman punching power display that featured uppercuts that nearly tore Prescott’s head from his shoulders. A savage series of punches floored Prescott midway through the 10th and an Alvarado uppercut that was eerily reminiscent of the uppercut Buster Douglas delivered to Mike Tyson smashed the Columbian as referee Jay Nady stepped in and rescued Prescott at the 1:53 mark. Compubox numbers show that Alvarado closed the show landing 27 of 38 power shots. Also, at the time of the stoppage, Alvarado was down on the scorecards 87-84, 87-84 and 86-85.

Burgos Hangs On Against Cruz

Juan Carlos Burgos started off quickly and had a left hand that couldn’t miss as he upended previously undefeated Luis Cruz via majority decision to take home the WBC Silver/WBO Latino Jr welterweight titles. Although one judge saw it even at 95-95 the other judges saw a wider margin with scores of 97-93 and 98-92. Reason being is that Burgos did most of his work early and continuously landed the left hook as Cruz was unable to adjust. By the middle rounds Burgos began to slow down and opportunities for Cruz to counter became available. The Puerto Rican appeared to pick up the pace but was cut off abruptly by the fight being a ten round affair. Although the compubox scores looked relatively even, the difference maker was the power punches landed by Burgos as compubox had the Mexican outlanding Cruz 112-84. Not to mention that Burgos power shots appeared to do more damage. Cruz falls to 19-1 while Burgos improves to 28-1.

Laurent Drops Bruce

The Philippines Dennis Laurente (41-4-5, 22 KOs) ended seven rounds of a relatively dull fight and lowered the boom on Ayi Bruce (20-5) with a devastating straight left that KOed Bruce in their scheduled eight round welterweight affair. Laurente was the aggressor throughout as Bruce couldn’t seem to muster up much offense. But a straight left ended all of that as Bruce crumbled to the canvas and remained there as referee Robert Byrd counted to 10. Time of stoppage was :57.

Benevidez Jr. Scores Four Knockdowns Remains Undefeated

Rising prospect Jose Benavidez Jr. put some more rounds in the bank as he scored a one-sided unanimous decision against Samuel Santana. Benavidez (14-0, 12 KOs) scored two knockdowns in the first round, another in the second with a blistering body shot and dropped Santana (4-5) yet again in the fourth. All three judges saw the fight 60-50.

Pasillas Wins Debut

Victor Pasillas made his professional debut a successful one as he outpointed winless Jose Garcia (0-4) and cruised to a unanimous decision. All three scores were 40-36.

Lumacad’s Knockdowns Seal Victory

In the evening’s opening bout, Fernando Lumacad (25-3-3) earned a unanimous decision victory over Joseph Rios (10-6-2). It was closely contested battle but knockdowns in the 2nd and 5th round proved to be the difference as judges saw the fight 77-73, 77-74 and 78-72.