the People's Champ pushed for more action but Shane no longer had it in him. I watched the fight a second time when the replay was aired on TV5.

Written by

Jude Bautista

The punch flew so quickly and fast, ‘Sugar’ Shane Mosley hardly had enough time to evade it. His legs buckled and dropped him to the canvas. The TV cam zoomed in on his face which had a dazed look. Since the knockdown at the last 1 minute 20 seconds of the 3^rd round, Mosley felt the power of Manny Pacquiao. Sugar’s aggressiveness slowly ebbed as the fight wore on. From the knockdown Mosley had been back tracking, clinching and running.

Shane really kisses the canvas. Top shot angle reveals Shane sprawled. RP telco SMART’s logo is on upper right hand corner, Mexican beer Tecate on bottom.

Even without the 3^rd round knockdown, Manny Pacquiao out scored the challenger in nearly every round thus retaining his WBO Welterweight title which was on the line for the fight. Top Rank promoter and Pacquiao manager Bob Arum revealed that another contender for the ‘Fighter of the Decade’ is scheduled for November of this year. Apart from Juan Manuel Marquez, he was also considering Timoth Bradley and Zab Judah as possible opponents.

A rare photo of Shane actually throwing a punch on MP. The replay was aired on TV5.

Rich Marotta described the rounds from the 3^rd round on, “Shane is too busy defending himself to set anything off. He’s moving backwards not giving himself a chance.” Boxing sportscaster Marotta is an SCSB hall of Fame inductee and has won four Emmy awards. The action between the fighters has lulled to the point of the crowd booing.

Referee Kenny Bayless Jr. mistakenly called a legitimate knockdown and gave Pacquiao a 10 count.

On the 10^th round Mosley shoved Pacquiao which resulted in an accidental trip. Referee Kenny Bayless Jr. mistakenly considered it as a legitimate knockdown and gave Pacquiao a 10 count. Spurned and irritated, Manny chased Mosley around the ring even more. Apart from clinching and running, Shane also often complained about accidental head butts by the champ. Barry Tompkins said, “Mosley didn’t have another fight in him. He just looks like a tired man. He’s in full scale retreat now.”

Shane was clinching, running and complaining of head butts. TV5 aired the fight replay.

Two of the judges absolutely disregarded the knockdown erroneously given by referee Bayless for Mosley: Dave Moretti 120-108, Duane Ford 120-107. And even when Glenn Trowbrige may have agreed with the ‘fake’ knock down, Pacquiao still outscored Mosley: 119-108.

Pacquiao in the post fight interview said, “I expected him to go toe to toe, to make people who paid to watch the fight happy.” He revealed that by the tenth round he suffered cramps and even asked one of his trainers, Buboy Fernandez to massage his legs. His sportsmanship was once again displayed when asked about the mistaken knockdown call by Bayless, “Yes, I was surprised. But that’s part of the game.”

Filipinos dominated the crowd that night. Here’s a Pinoy fan with a flag.

Audiences at the MGM Grand and fans watching the telecast were noisily showing their displeasure with the call. The main difference with boxing ref’s point of view is that viewers have the benefit of instant replay in slow motion. The right call can be made with it. Boxing refs have to make a decision seeing the action a split second after it happens. Unlike the NFL and the NBA which have adopted a review of close calls with slow motion replay.

trainer and childhood friend Buboy Fernandez whispers to MP's ear in between rounds.

Arce wins WBO Super Bantam weight Belt

One of the liabilities for Mosley was his age, almost 9 years older than Pacquiao (39 to 31). But the age difference in the under card immediately before them was no hindrance at all for Jorge Arce. In some ways the action made up for all the running that Mosley did in his fight. Wilfredo Vazquez is a young WBO Super Bantam weight title holder with ‘only’ 20 fights but with 17 KO’s. Jorge Arce was a former champ but was in the cross roads of his career following his defeat from Vic Darchinyan in 2009. Arce considered retiring. Vazquez is a fresh 26 year old without an amateur career while Arce already has a 52 fight win record at age 31 (not unlike Pacquiao who has had more fights with tougher opponents).

Vazquez seemed the more technical fighter, choosing his spots, very efficient. Arce was the more aggressive brawler. There were a lot of frequent exchanges from beginning to end. Arce was pushing the pace always moving forward until Vazquez dropped him with a left hook to the jaw in the 3^rd round.

Instead of relenting, Arce kept up the attack. Even when he suffered a cut ear the bridge of his nose, he became even more aggressive. On the start of the 12^th round Arce had put together such a flurry, that Vazquez was on the ropes and could not answer back. His trainer and father Wilfredo Vazquez Sr., (a former boxing champ himself) threw in a water bottle (instead of a towel) to stop the fight. When referee Joe Cortez didn’t see it, Vazquez’ corner climbed the ring to save their fighter from needless suffering.

MP w Top Rank promoter Bob Arum at the post fight interview.