Another great boxer embarrasses himself
Manny Pacquiao (right) versus Shane Mosley (left) WBO welterweight title fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, May 7, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Photo credit: Showtime Promotions
Saturday evening on Showtime PPV, the once great career of Sugar Shane Mosley went south after he gave one of the most embarrassing performances of his illustrious boxing career. For all the money spent on promoting it and all the hype, you would think the fighters would’ve put on a better show. Mosley’s performance was almost laughable. If it had not been for the superlative efforts of boxers on the undercard, I’m certain the 16,412 patrons at the MGM Grand Garden Arena would have been asking for a refund.
After a nondescript first round, the Pacquiao versus Mosley farce continued into round two. In round three, Pacquiao surprised Mosley with a left hand that caught him square on the chin and sent him to the canvas. Instead of getting up quickly, Mosley sat there looking perplexed.
Sugar Shane Mosley takes a seat.
The Spanish speaking color analysts at ringside kept things real and had a field day poking fun at the former champ.
Their running commentary:
“What’s happened to the guy who fought Margarito? He’s doing absolutely nothing.”
“He’s scared! Mosley’s sacred. He wants them to open the ring so he can run. He’s got no cojones!”
“This kind of crap happens when there’s too much hype for a fight. Mosley’s become the guy who everyone hates. He comes to work, then doesn’t do any work. And to think I bought this fight so I could tape it. If I decide later to watch it, it will only be as a sleep aid.”
The so-called knockdown was clearly a shove. Apparently, referee Kenny Bayless was the only one who didn't see it. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
In Round 10, Mosley clearly pushed Pacquiao to the canvas. Referee Kenny Bayless assumed incorrectly that it was a knockdown. Why, because he was not in the proper position to watch the action. When a referee finds himself in this situation, he’s supposed to ask the three judges for their help. He didn’t.
What made the fight even more sickening was having to watch the Love Fest between Mosley and Pacquiao especially while Mosley tried to kill time. After each pardon me, break between rounds, the boxers touched gloves like they were best buddies. That cordiality went bye-bye after Mosley received credit for the knockdown in Round 10.
On the undercard:
Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. (20-1-1, 17 KOs) lost his WBO super bantamweight belt to the veteran Jorge Arce (57-6-2, 44 KOs). As the fighters entered the final round, it appeared the outcome was still in doubt. Amazingly, Arce still had plenty of petrol in his tank and finished the bout with a furious, relentless barrage of punches beating Vazquez into submission.
As it turns out the crowd-pleasing Arce, a former world champion at 108, 115, 118 and now 122 pounds, was ahead by five points on one of the scorecards and even on the other two of what had been an action-packed bout before it was stopped at 0:55 in the final round when Vazquez’s father threw in the towel.
“I knew I could knock him out and I did,’’ said Arce. “My heart is too big. He’s a good, young champion with a big punch but my experience, my heart was too much for him.
I fought like a true Mexican warrior. I won it for Mexico. Now my name will forever be mentioned when you speak of Mexican fighters.’’
Mike Alvarado, of Denver, Colorado, improved to 30-0 with 22 KOs with his third-round TKO victory over “Sugar” Ray Narh (25-2, 21 KOs) of Accra, Ghana, in a scheduled 10-round super lightweight match. Alvarado was ahead on all scorecards by 30-27 twice and 29-28 when a weakened Narh could not answer the bell for the fourth round.
“I was sick all night and throwing up,’’ said Narh later. “I think I got sick after eating something after the weigh-in. I tried to get through it because I didn’t want to cancel the fight, but I had no legs and no snap on my punches.’’
Super middleweight Kelly Pavlik (37-2-0, 32 KOs) of Youngstown, Ohio won a mixed decision victory over the tough Alfonso Lopez (21-1-0, 16 KOs) of Cut and Shoot, Texas. For Pavlik, it was his first bout in just over a year following his unanimous decision loss to the current world champion Sergio Gabriel Martinez.
Jack Loew, Pavlik’s trainer, was proud of his performance. “We had two wins tonight,’’ he said. “The first win was going up the steps, walking in the ring and competing after all the rehabs and everything he has been through. The second win was getting the win itself. There was definitely ring rust. That was obvious.’’
Light welterweight Pier Olivier Cote (16-0-0, 10 KOs) of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada got a TKO victory in Round #4 to come out victorious over Aris Ambiz (15-2-1, 8 KOs) of Azusa, CA.
Pier Olivier Cote
Light welterweight, 18 year-old Jose Benavidez (11-0-0, 9 KOs) also from Freddie Roach’s Wild Card Gym stopped James Hope (6-7-1, 4 KOs) of Rock Hill, South Carolina in the fifth round of their schedule six rounder and finally lightweight Karl Dargan (9-0-0, 4 KOs) of Philadelphia, who’s related to and trained by Nazim Richardson, won a unanimous decision over Randy Arrellin (8-5-0, 4 KOs) of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
News from that other fight in Copenhagen, Denmark
Cecilia Braekhus of Bergen, Norway
Evander Holyfield (44-10-2, 29 KOs) had little problem defeating the 46-year-old Brian Nielsen (64-3, 43 KOs) at the Koncerthuset in Copenhagen, Denmark. He won with an eleventh round TKO. Throughout the bout, Holyfield was much sharper than Nielsen, who was making his return after a nine year retirement. Holyfield scored a knockdown in round three and went on to break down and bust up Nielsen to get the stoppage. Even though Super Brian wanted to continue, the referee thought better.
On the undercard, Celcilia Braekhus (18-0-0, 4 KOs) from Bergen, Norway defeated Chevelle Hallback of Tampa, Florida to win the WBC, WBO and WBA versions of the female welterweight title.
