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The Thrillas in Manila
Alden "The Kid" Chodash - 7/3/2006
November 15 2003, Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines entered the Alamodome in San Antonio to face a fighter reminiscent of Julio Cesar Chavez fifteen years ago. Marco Antonio Barrera, a beloved Mexican figure was set to make the third defense of his featherweight crown in front of highly supportive Mexican crowd against a former flyweight and super-bantamweight champ who wasn't really given a chance to say the least. Despite a controversial first round knockdown, Pacquiao ambushed the Mexican legend dropping him in the third and dishing out horrible punishment to the proud warrior prompting Barrera's corner-man to save his fighter from the budding Filipino Superstar. Following the Barrera win, Pacquiao had a draw with Juan Manuel Marquez, dropped a hard fought decision to Barrera rival Erik Morales, and avenged the loss with knockout victories over a outclassed Hector Velazquez and a redeeming stoppage over Erik Morales setting Pacquiao up for an appearance in front of his beloved crowd in Manila against a lighter, former champion in Oscar Larios. The undercard featured two fellow Filipino pugilists facing off against Mexican underdogs.
The first bout of the televised card consisted of two journeymen, former champion Gerry Penalosa and southpaw Tomas Rojas. The bout started of with a bang with the two combatants going toe to toe virtually instantly, though it was apparent in the early going that Penalosa's punches appeared harder (not necessarily harder shots) and were flashier. Also the effects of his punches had Rojas' head snap back though surprisingly Rojas never looked as if he were ready to go down. Rojas' punches were less loud and flashy but the hit their mark and were always thrown in combinations. Rojas was also the combatant that was working the body. Gerry Penalosa and Rojas also displayed great beards as both never appeared badly wobbled after the tremendous punishment they dished out to each other. The tactical element that separated these great warriors was the fact the Penalosa was more consistent. After ten rounds of tremendous action, Penalosa was awarded a unanimous decision.
In the co-feature bout of the evening (or morning in the Philippines), Jimrex Jaca faced off against hard hitting Mexican journeyman Javier Marquez. About midway through the opening frame, an accidental head butt occurred and the un-cut fighter (Marquez) had a mandatory point removal of him. This bout, though exciting, was one-sided. Jaca was always a step ahead of the slower yet harder hitting Marquez during the course of the fight. Finally, late in the sixth Marquez, amounted a spirited comeback against Jaca plugging in his power into the Filipino. Early in the seventh it appeared as if a right and a left dropped Jaca but the referee ruled it a slip but still, Jaca was in trouble. Then midway through the round another head butt occurred deepening Jaca's cut and stopping the fight. The cards read 60-53 unanimously, awarding Jaca his twenty-seventh victory via seventh round technical decision.
So the stage was set for the main event, Pacquiao's second defense of his WBC International title. The bout started off slowly with Pacquiao stalking the careful challenger and occasionally taking a right hand and also occasionally dishing out a hard left hand. Early in the third Larios opened up pushing Pacquiao against the ropes with his right hand and landing a left hook that appeared to momentarily stun the Filipino star. Though buzzed, Pacquiao regrouped himself and took over the rest of the round with his left hand. Though Larios gave a spirited effort, Larios never really mounted an attack as spectacular as the one early in the third. Pacquiao's speed and power was a little too much for Larios, dropping him once in the seventh with a vicious flurry and again in the twelfth with a left and a right. The fact that the former 122 pound Larios was able to stand in there with the 130 pound fire-fisted Pacquiao was a truly amazing sight to behold. Although Pacquiao got the unanimous decision, Larios came to fight and pushed Pacquiao to the limit in front of his hometown of the Philippines.
What a night (really morning) at Manila. We saw a fight of the year candidate between Gerry Penalosa and Tomas Rojas. A very interesting bout between Jimrex Jaca and Javier Marquez. And the star of the Philippines, Manny Pacquiao fight twelve hard rounds en route to a hard fought decision over former champion Oscar Larios.
Alden "The Kid" Chodash is the newest and youngest member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, as well as webmaster of AldenBoxing.com
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