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Monday, July 03, 2006
Pacquiao wins, fails to KO Larios
By Rommel C. Manlosa
CUBAO, Quezon City -- There was no quick or sensational knockout. Still, the fight did not disappoint the 22,000 fight fans in the Araneta Coliseum, as well as the millions watching the fight on television, here and abroad.
Manny Pacquiao, the greatest sports hero of the country in recent years, pulled a unanimous decision win over challenger Oscar "Chololo" Larios to keep his WBC International super featherweight title.
Pacquiao did not meet expectations in the card that was compared to the epic "Thrilla in Manila" in October 1, 1975 between Muhammad Ali and Joe Fraizer at the same venue.
Even trainer Freddie Roach rated Pacquiao's performance on a scale of 1 to 10, to six because Pacquiao did not do what was expected of him -- a sensational knockout victory to prove his point.
"I believe Manny intentionally took the fight to the distance. He starts to fight (seriously) on the sixth. I had to rate him six for that performance," Roach said during the post fight press conference.
Roach wanted Pacquaio to end the fight quickly.
Not aggressive
"I was not aggressive in throwing punches...If I had been so aggressive, you know what would have happened. I just tried to give some entertainment since I controlled the fight from the start and I knew I was ahead on points all the time. I was not in a hurry," Pacquiao said.
For Pacquiao, Larios was too slow.
Thai judge Noppharat Sricharoen scored the fight 120-106; French Humbert Furgoni scored 117-110 and Belgian Daniel Van de Wiele tallied 118-108, all for Pacquiao.
Pacquiao sent Larios twice on the seat of his pants twice.
The first was on the seventh round when he connected a right-left-jab-straight combination to the chin. Larios was able to get up quickly at the count of four. The second knockdown was in the final round when Pacquiao set up a left straight to the head, less than a minute before the fight was over.
Larios also suffered a deep cut below his left eye caused by Pacquiao.
"I was not really hurt. Those knock downs happened the time when I was off-balanced. Manny is a great champion and he beat me with his speed. I let the opportunity to win when I tried to do it on my own," Larios said.
Rematch?
Larios is seeking a rematch and his promoter Golden Boy Promotions of Oscar de la Hoya, who was represented by its vice president Eric Gomez, will be pushing it to Pacquiao.
But for Pacquiao, there was no point of granting Larios a rematch.
The victory improved Pacquiao's ring record to 42 wins, three loses and two draws, with 33 knockouts, while Larios suffered his first back-to-back loses and slipped to 56-5-1, 36 KOs.
With the Larios fight done, Pacquiao is looking to his third meeting with Erik Morales on Nov. 18 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Sun.Star Cebu)
(July 3, 2006 issue)
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