Manny
Paquiao (46-3-2, 34 KOs), of General Santos City, Philippines, and his country’s
No. 1 boxing hero, battled it out with Manuel Marquez (48-4-1, 35 KOs) from
Mexico City, Mexico. They fought a 12-round WBC and Ring magazine
featherweight title bout. The fight, held on Sat. March 15, before a crowd of
over 11,000 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on the Las Vegas Strip, had boxing
fans on their feet.
It was a true battle between two champion fighters and resulted in a much closely scored fight than the prior one in 2004. The crowd favorite, Paquiao, won in a surprise split decision following a solid performance by both contenders.
Pacquiao scored a third-round knockdown with a right jab and a left to Marquez’s chin.
This was a major point of Paquiao winning the championship away from defender Marquez.
Marquez, on the other hand, scored effective punches, especially in the fifth and sixth rounds.
In round 7, Paquiao then scored a powerful left hook to Marquez, who had a cut over his left eye from an earlier head butt. Marquez came back in the eighth round, reopening the cut over Paquiao’s right eye from the fourth round. Marquez also delivered some hard body blows hurting his opponent in the same round.
But in the ninth and 10th rounds, Pacquiao regrouped scoring a strong left to Marquez, continuing the action through the end of the 10th round.
Judge Duane Ford scored it 115-112, while Tom Miller had it 114-113 both for Paquiao. Jerry Roth, however scored it 115-112 for Marquez.
A
humble Paquiao stated, “It was a tough fight. I wasn’t sure I was ahead, but I
always treat the final round as the most important.”
Marquez did not see the scoring that way. “I feel I am still champion,” he said. “It’s not about one round. I connected with more punches, more jabs, and I feel like I won.”
When Paquiao was asked if he would fight Marquez for a third time, he said exhaustedly, “I don’t think so. This business is over.”
And over it is, as Pacquiao will now move up a weight class to fight David Diaz for the WBC lightweight title, yet unscheduled, but anticipated for later this year.
The promoters, Top Rank and Golden Boy, provided yet again another stupendous night of sports broadcast on HBO for fans worldwide.
Top Rank Club Fights at Hard Rock Hotel Scores Big:
Fields Topped Willis
Big Tye Fields (40-1-1 ND, 36-KOs) of Las Vegas, Nev., is a strong 275-pounds and he once again proved that he has outstanding boxing skills. He fought a 10-round heavyweight fight at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino against Roderick Willis (14-3-1, 8 KOs) of Dallas, Texas, knocking him out in the first round.
Fields,
33, is ranked No. 5 by the NABF. He is a nine-year professional record, and he
is a natural southpaw.
The club fights, promoted by Top Rank on Versus Network, are popular with the majority of the fight cards featuring Mexican fighters. But you can rest assured that Bob Arum’s fighter Tye Field’s is one who will be on every club card. When Arums congratulated Fields on his win, Thurs, March 13, he stated, “I know how he looked a year ago. He pushed his punches, but the kid can punch now.”
Arum added that “deep down in his guts” he feels that Fields has a chance to become a world champion. Currently, Top Rank’s Bruce Trampler is looking to match Fields with Hasim Rahman sometime near the end of June.
The co-main events had Bobby Pacquiao (29-14-3, 13 KOs) of General Santos City, Philippines, and the brother of Manny Pacquiao get knocked out by Urbano Antillon (22-0, 14 KOs) of Maywood, Calif., who was the aggressor with the stronger punches.
Pacquiao just couldn’t break through his defenses.
Another fight had a surprising Anna Julaton (3-0, 1 KO) of Daly City , Calif., fight and prevail in a hard, four-round super bantamweight fight against Clara De La Torre (1-4, 1 KO) of Santa Fe, N.M. (look it up). Julaton has the legendary Freddy Roach training her.
In the super featherweight, Diego Magdaleno (3-0, 2 KOs) of Las Vegas, Nev., fought a four-rounder against Jose Gomez (1-2, 0 KOs) of Kent, Wash., knocking him out in just under a minute in the first round.
Big Tye Fields, a southpaw, throws awesome straight right, dazing Roderick Willis in Top Rank on Versus Network’s club fight.
Bob Arum congratulates Tye Fields for victory over Roderick Willis in a Top Rank on Versus Network club fight at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV.
Photos by Chris Farina - Top Rank
