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NO MAS: Pacquiao makes De La Hoya quit!
No doubt about it: Pacquiao, is boxing’s undisputed pound-for-pound best; Juanma, Ortiz win early, win easily
Ringside report by Victor Perea & Andreas Hale
Photography by Chris Cozzone
- FightWireImages.com
While firmly stapling his place in boxing history Filipino phenom Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao, last night, a big nail into a golden casket, undoubtedly ending one hell of a career for the Golden Boy, Oscar De La Hoya. In front of a sold-out crowd of 15,001, what began as a partial De la Hoya crowd inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas watched as a Hall of Fame fighter whose done nothing but great things for the sport get soundly beaten to the point of quitting.
The Olympic Gold medalist and six division former champion entered the bout admittingly towards the tail end of a wonderful career, looking to finish strong by taking on the pound-for-pound best fighter in the sport.
 To make this “Dream Match” a reality Pacquiao, who started his professional boxing career at the tender age of 16 fighting at 106 pounds, moved up two weight classes from where he last fought, at lightweight, in order to meet the legendary De La Hoya.
A heavy media and considerable sportsbook favorite, De La Hoya, who won his first title before Pacquiao ever stepped inside the ring, entered the bout with the pressure of being expected to win a fight against the much smaller man.
De La Hoya threw the first punch, shortly after the two clinched temporarily and just as Pacquiao stepped back, the “Golden Boy” swung and missed a very mean looking left uppercut. Surely, Pacquiao noted the bad intentions with which the uppercut was thrown, but he made it clear he was unimpressed. Answering with a straight left-right jab, the southpaw slugger from General Santos City got an immediate rise out of the crowd. De La Hoya went to the body with hooks, then a flurry that fell on deaf ears as Pacquiao covered up and calmly backed away.
Pacquiao landed the first of many straight left hands that split De La Hoya’s guard. Pacquiao made it clear that while De La Hoya had a four-inch height and six0inch reach advantage, it was speed that would make the difference. A left hook and straight right landed for Pacquiao, who quickly moved out of the way before De La Hoya could counter and the first round ended.
 De La Hoya came out shooting across the ring throwing a big right hand to start the second stanza. Pacquiao countered, with a left jab-straight-right landed for the “Pac Man” who switched from southpaw to orthodox early and often. Pacquiao’s signature straight left again tagged De La Hoya as ringside observer Juan Manuel Marquez surely watched in disgust as the punch that put him down thrice in his meeting with Pacquiao was now giving De La Hoya fits. De La Hoya came forward again attempting to work the body, digging in with a right with the left missing. The trigger pulled too slow for De La Hoya.
Pacquiao continued to break away with speed tagging, De La Hoya with a straight-left right-jab combination and a swift “get out the way” side step. Double right-jab, straight-left and right hook to the body land in succession for Pacquiao, who now threw and landed punches in bunches as he won the second.
The third was more of the same, as the usually slow starting (at least on the scorecards) Pacquiao, continued the clinic, landing another straight-left double right jab.
De La Hoya began to chase Pacquiao with clobbering left hooks, but nothing landed. For the umpteenth time, Pacquiao answered with a straight left hand directly between the uprights. Pacquiao was now clearly comfortable inside the ring with the bigger man, and he tagged his opponent with a right hook downstairs followed by one upstairs for good measure. De La Hoya countered, or at least tried, but  missed and continued to get worked by another straight left, this time to the body of the veteran.
Entering the fourth round it was clear that De La Hoya was not coming anywhere near executing his game plan. Then a light at the end of the tunnel, a hard straight right hand to the body landed for the “Golden Boy,” then another—by far the two best punches for De La Hoya thus far in the bout. Exacting his revenge, Pacquiao answered back with flurries, first landing a three, then a two-punch combination.
The sweet science was proving brutal for De La Hoya who has dedicated his life to the sport.
After tagging his opponent with a right cross the MGM Grand Garden Arena erupted in favor of Pacquiao, as they were now officially witnessing a clinic. Pacquiao turned up the heat throwing nine in a row as the crowd stood on its feet, with many of the voices that started the evening cheering for De La Hoya now chanting “Manny-Manny”. A right hook to the body landed with a thud for De La Hoya. With the opening, he held Pacquiao behind the head with his left hand and unloaded a rapid rat-tat-tat-tat of short right hands as his fans get back in the action. The flurry was De La Hoya’s best, but not nearly enough to win the fifth round.
 Clearly bigger and stronger De La Hoya attempted to stage a comeback in the sixth, but was unable to do much as he was tagged with a left hook to the body and double right hook upstairs. His face now beaten and his spirits clearly not far behind, a frustrated De La Hoya continued through the round.
Entering his most dominant round, Pacquiao was pitching a shutout on two of the three judges scorecards.
More right hooks to the body landed for Pacquiao, he cornered Oscar who with clearly crumpling before our very eyes. A flurry from Pacquiao saw no answer from Oscar. A double straight left and an answer was had from the “Golden Boy”. Unfortunately the answer may as well have been a white flag as Oscar was clearly hurting.
Pacquiao unleashed a barrage of punches that battered the heralded veteran. Referee Tony Weeks stood very close and watched even closer as the crowd stood on its feet in anticipation of a stoppage. Pacquiao battered De La Hoya coming within inches of a stoppage before the seventh round ended, scored 10-8 on all three judges’ scorecards.
Without the assistance of the HBO cameras, ringside observers could only assume that the battered and beaten De La Hoya was being advised by his corner that the fight would soon end if he did not make something happen.
 After a touching of gloves, De La Hoya tried to comeback. Hard hooks to the body from Oscar weren’t thrown fast enough to reach the practically untouched pinoy fighter. De La Hoya explodes, throwing six hooks to the body in succession, but to no avail. Pacquiao shook it off and finished the round with a barrage of punches, possibly breaking a Golden spirit and will to fight.
Having torn through a total of nine weight divisions since his first bout Pacquiao sat in his corner awaiting the ninth stanza only to see Oscar leave his stool and cross the ring during the break to congratulate him as Tony Weeks waved off the bout.
The “Dream Match” had become a very tough reality to swallow for the storied De La Hoya (39-6, 30 KOs) as he had just been thoroughly defeated by the shorter, less experienced, younger, faster and strong enough fighter in Manny Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 K)s).
“You’re still my idol,” said Pacquiao to De La Hoya after the victory. The humbled hall of famer simply answered, “No, you’re my idol.”
While it is widely believed that Pacquiao may have beaten De La Hoya into retirement on this evening, it is yet to be officially announced as De La Hoya, who has nothing to be ashamed of after taking on the sports toughest fighter, missed the post fight press conference in lieu of cautionary medical examinations. – Victor Perea
 Juanma destroys Medina in 1:38
In what was supposed to be a battle for Juan Manuel Lopez to retain his WBO super bantamweight title, the Puerto Rican took the fight right out of his opponent, burying challenger Sergio Medina with only nine total punches in less than two minutes.
Although Medina was blown out of the water, by no means was he an unworthy opponent. Entering the bout Medina road the coattails of a five fight win streak since his last, and only loss in 2007, a decision loss against then undefeated and heavy handed Rey “Boom-Boom” Bautista.
Medina barely managed to get introduced by Michael Buffer before he made his first crumbling trip to the canvas, taking a knee merely 30 ticks into the contest. The quick exchange before the knee went so quickly, this writer couldn’t tell you whether it was a body shot or a karate kick that hurt Medina.
After making it to his feet Medina was met with a barrage of hooks that only saw the Argentine fighter cover up and put his back to the ropes. Lopez threw with bad intentions but appeared only to  hit arm and glove. Nonetheless after the first batch of bombs Medina again took a knee, down for the second time in just one minute.
Referee Joe Cortez was fair and firm in his assessment of Medina’s condition and allowed him to continue his quest to take Lopez’ title.
Lopez would have none of that, coming out eager to finish his opponent before he could break a sweat, the Puerto Rican unloaded and once more pinned Medina to the ropes. This time after opening up his defenses with a slew of punches, Lopez finished Medina with a punctual right uppercut that put the 26 year-old down for a third and final time. There would be no Juan Manual Marquez unbelievable comeback in this fight, as Cortez waived off the finished fighter at 1:38 of the first round.
With his third straight first round stoppage against worthy opponents, Lopez continued to show he is growing into the monster in the closet.
Lopez (24-0, 22 KOs) was I hook away from fighting a punching bag as Medina (33-2, 18 KOs) managed to land only a single punch during the “contest”. – Victor Perea
 Victor Ortiz Demolishes Jeffrey Resto
As the night of early knockouts continued, WBA/WBO No. 5 junior welterweight Victor Ortiz kept the trend going as he blitzed and pulverized Jeffrey Resto en route to an easy 2nd round TKO.
Ortiz dropped Resto – who falls to 22-3 - twice in the first round. Ortiz’ first knockdown coming from a blazing straight left that seemed to catch Resto by surprise, while the second came from yet another straight left hand that yielded the same results.
Resto would survive the initial scare but it wouldn’t matter much going into the second round. Ortiz went right back to work as a right uppercut began the end before a series of thudding punches – including a ripping left hook to the head – took down Resto for good at 1:19 TKO.
The affair was significantly one sided as the overwhelmingly aggressive Ortiz landed a hearty 61% of his power shots while Resto could only land eight punches in two rounds. The dominant performance was the third of the year for the rising Ortiz.
Upon closer inspection, one would have to look back over two years to find an Ortiz fight that made it to the scorecards. This certainly places Ortiz on the short list of fighters to watch in 2009 and should also put him in line for some huge fights as many expect him to carry the Golden Boy torch once Bernard Hopkins, Shane Mosley and Oscar De La Hoya eventually call it quits. –Andreas Hale
 Another night, another Jacobs one-sided affair
Highly touted prospect Daniel Jacobs again made short work of another opponent as he smacked around Victor Lares en route to an easy 2nd round TKO in a matchup of super middleweights.
Jacobs scored his 12th knockout in 13 fights to remain undefeated as Lares – who falls to 14-4 - couldn’t put up much resistance to the Brooklynites superior speed and power.
After working Lares over with a variety of punches in the first round, Jacobs picked up where he left off at the start of the second. What started with a menacing uppercut, led to a barrage of punches that forced Lares to take a knee and the required count. Referee Jay Nady took a hard look at Lares as he rose at the count of 8 but decided that he no longer needed to sustain any more punishment and called a halt to the bout at 2:44.
This was yet another Jacobs wipeout of an opponent as he recorded his 10th stoppage within three rounds. The only question for Jacobs now is when he will be set up with some real competition. –Andreas Hale
 Mepranium bests Lopez in pillow fight
Two very ready and willing flyweight fighters faced off before a much larger crowd than they expected as the swing bout took center stage after the televised portion got off to a blistering start.
The 25 year-old Cesar Lopez of El Paso, Tex., looked to win his first fight since 2006 while Richie Mepranum made his stateside debut having already won four fights this year. Both fighters came out eager to trade, with Mepranium landing the harder shots.
With only seven total knockouts in 43 combined contest, the two mighty little warriors traded bombs like they were in a pillow fight. Mepranium gave the crowd a few thrilling exchanges but never came close to dropping Lopez who hung tough but only managed to win a combined three rounds from all three judges scorecards in a unanimous decision loss.
Scorecards read 58-56, 59-55 and 60-54 all for Mepranium (15-2-1, 3 KOs). Lopez (20-7, 4 KOs) has now lost his fourth straight bout. – Victor Perea
 Beranza upsets Rojas
In what can be considered an upset, Jose Angel Beranza defeated previously undefeated Jesus Rojas by unanimous decision. Throughout the eight-round junior featherweight bout, Beranza – who improves to 31-14-2, 25 KOs - would be the aggressor early and surprised Rojas as his left jab and uppercut split Rojas’ guard constantly. Rojas (13-1, 10 KOs) would never recover from the initial onslaught and didn’t seem motivated enough to mount much offense.
By round four, Rojas looked to bring the fight into close quarters but Beranza remained unfazed by Rojas’ sudden aggression and managed to tame his opponent with his uppercut. From that point on, it was all downhill as Beranza maintained his aggressive approach and coasted to the surprisingly easy victory. The three judges scored the bout 78-74, 79-73 and 80-72 for Beranza. –Andreas Hale
 Garcia outpoints Lugo
A junior welterweight contest scheduled for eight rounds went the distance with an undefeated prospect taking on an unheralded challenger. Philadelphia’s Danny “Swift” Garcia outworked the game Luis Alfredo Lugo of Los Mochis, Mexico for 24 minutes, using a sharp jab, and a reach advantage.
The 20 year-old Garcia represented Philly well slowly but surely yet soundly defeating Lugo. Garcia was first to the punch controlling the pace with a nice jab, and punctuating his control by tagging the game Lugo during exchanges.
Lugo fought hard and remained in the contest, however fighting well would not be good enough to win against the up and coming prospect across the ring. Garcia (10-0, 7 KOs) took a unanimous decision over Lugo (10-6-1, 5 KOs) via scores of 80-72, 80-71 and 79-73.
– Victor Perea
 Another first round finish for Broner
In a scheduled six-round Lightweight bout Cincinnati’s Adrien Broner made quick work of a less than promising Scott Furney. Right off the bat a straight right-left hook jack hammering from Broner left Michigan’s Furney looking for a bailout.
Referee Robert Byrd felt obliged to intervene and give Furney a standing eight count. After staying coherent during the count Byrd allowed Furney to continue only to see him endure a drubbing for what seemed like eternity but in actuality was only about 30 seconds. Broner unleashed a barrage of left hooks to the body that made ringside observers cringe.
Furney guarded up and made an effort to stay upright. Meanwhile Broner continued to deliver a beating that surely had the completely shelled up Furney wondering how 3 other men got in the ring helped Broner beat him up.
Unfortunately for Furney this was no gang initiation, it was simply Broner who beat him until Byrd stepped in and waived it off at only 1:14 of the first round.
With the victory the 19 year-old Broner (5-0, 5Kos) wins for the fourth time via first round stoppage in only five fights. Furney (3-7-1, 1Ko) heads back to Pontiac, MI a game opponent, surely looking to find that one guy he already knocked out. – Victor Perea
Welcome to Knockout Nation, Act I
In the night’s opener, 18-year-old prospect Roberto Marroquin made short work of Isaac Hidalgo after a vicious left hook to the body punch that put Hidalgo down and out at 2:46 in the 1st round of their 6th round junior featherweight bout.
Marroquin improved his record to 5-0 with his 4th knockout coming in spectacular fashion. Hidalgo (2-3) never saw the punch coming as Marroquin’s left hook to the body dropped him to the canvas like a sack of potatoes as he clutched his side in obvious pain. –Andreas Hale
Bonus photos
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