PRELIMINARY CARD * Zach Underwood vs. Hunter Worsham * Josh Schockman vs. Cale Yarbrough* * Dustin Ortiz vs. Justin Pennington* * Andrew Uhrich vs. Dustin West* * Chris Hawk vs. Ovince St. Preux* * Thomas Campbell vs. Cody Floyd*
Oscar De La Hoya vs. Manny Pacquiao, also billed as The Dream Match, was a professional boxing welterweight superfight. The bout took place on December 6, 2008 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Pacquiao defeated De La Hoya via technical knockout when De La Hoya decided not to continue with the fight before the start of the ninth round. The card was a co-production of Bob Arum's Top Rank Boxing and De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions and was aired live on pay-per-view (PPV) on HBO PPV. The fight is notable for propelling Manny Pacquiao to full-blown superstar status in much of the western world (mostly in The United States), as Oscar De La Hoya symbolically "passed the torch", so to speak, to Pacquiao.
Despite no title belts being disputed, the bout received a lot of publicity since the two boxers were decorated, with Pacquiao being the current number one pound for pound boxer in the world as judged by The Ring, and a five-time world champion in five different weight divisions (Pacquiao was the reigning WBC lightweight champion at the time of the bout). Meanwhile, De La Hoya was an Olympic gold medalist and past holder of 10 world titles in six weight divisions.
Pacquiao had to step up two weight divisions (from lightweight), and De La Hoya had to go down one weight division (from light middleweight), to be eligible for the bout's welterweight division.
Pacquiao pursues De La Hoya's body but was warned by referee Tony Weeks to "keep them up" (keep punches above the belt). De La Hoya's right connects, but Pacquiao's combo pins De La Hoya in the corner. Another left by Pacquiao dazes the Mexican-American. Another combo wobbles De La Hoya. Pacquiao throws another combo as De La Hoya goes for the body. The Filipino unleashes a four-punch combo to end the round.
The fight is stopped before the start of the ninth round to award Pacquiao the victory.Pacquiao was ahead on all three judges' scorecards before the stoppage, with two judges scoring the fight at 80-71 (Pacquiao won all rounds) and one scoring it at 79-72 (Pacquiao won 7 rounds and lost 1). After the bout trainer Freddy Roach stated, "We knew we had him after the first round. He had no legs, he was hesitant and he was shot." Confirming Roach's pre-fight predictions that he'd grown too old, De La Hoya crossed the ring to Pacquiao's corner after the bout was stopped and told Roach, "You're right Freddie. I don't have it anymore." When asked by reporters whether he would continue fighting, De La Hoya responded, "My heart still wants to fight, that's for sure", De La Hoya said. "But when your physical doesn't respond, what can you do? I have to be smart and make sure I think about my future plans."**
Miguel Cotto and Shane Mosley fought on November 10, 2007 at Madison Square Garden in a card made possible by a legal settlement between Top Rank Boxing, Cotto's promoter, and Mosley's promoter, Golden Boy Promotions.The fight was broadcast on HBO Pay-Per-View and was won by Cotto via unanimous decision. During the course of the fight Cotto pursued Mosley who was reacting in a slow fashion. Late in the fight Mosley displayed more aggression at one point becoming the aggressor. Cotto's performance was described as "a rare moment in sports when a sudden star rises from what is categorically termed as goodness, to the cusp of greatness."**
Yuriorkis Gamboa Toledano is a Cuban professional boxer who, as an amateur boxer, won an Olympic gold medal in the flyweight division at the 2004 Summer Olympics and the current Unified IBF and WBA Featherweight champion. Gamboa's younger brother is fellow professional boxer Yoelvis Gamboa. On March 27, 2010 at Hamburg Germany Gamboa dominates Argentinian boxer Jonathan Victor Barros in twelve rounds to retain the WBA Featherweight title with a unanimous decision.**
Manny Pacquiao Vs Manuel Marquez II March 15, 2008 Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
Manny Pacquiao Vs Manuel Marquez II Full length replay video
On November 29, 2007, Márquez announced that he would defend his championship title against Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, whom he fought to a controversial draw in 2004. On March 15, 2008, Juan Manuel Márquez lost his Super Featherweight Championship to Manny Pacquiao via split decision. Márquez suffered a knockdown in the third round that proved to be the difference in the decision as the remaining rounds were scored dead even. Compubox scoring had Juan Manuel Márquez landing 42/201 (21%) more jabs to Pacquiao's 43/314 (14%) jabs, it also had Márquez scoring 130/310 (42%) more power punches to Pacquiao's 114/305 (37%) power punches. Richard Schaefer, Golden Boy Promotions CEO, offered a $6 million guarantee to Pacquiao for a rematch. Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, said, “I’m not saying they’ll never fight again, but you have to let it bake for a while”. Pacquiao said: "I don't think so, this business is over" as he plans to move up to the lightweight division. **
Currently, Pacquiao is the WBO Welterweight World Champion (Super Champion) and is rated as the number 1 pound-for-pound best boxer in the world by several sporting news and boxing websites, including The Ring, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, NBC Sports, Yahoo! Sports and About.com.
Aside from being a boxer, Pacquiao has participated in acting, music recording, and politics. In May 2010, Pacquiao was elected to the House of Representatives in the 15th Congress of the Philippines, representing the province of Sarangani. He is the first active boxer to become a congressman in the Philippines. **
After the defunct much awaited Mayweather vs Pacquaio Megafight, Ghana's "the Hitler" Joshua Clottey is ready to step up replacing the full of "Excuses" Money Mayweather Jr. Pacquaio had enough on the Mayweather negative press attacks to postpone and eventually derail the Megafight. Clottey, brave enough to square-off against the Philippine pride "speed..speed..speed!" Pacquiao now have the chance to prove his worth, Clottey is given the opportunity to put his name on the boxing map once he scores an upset. Pacquiao the Boxing number 1 pound for pound stated that Clottey is not an easy opponent.
Fighter Factors: Speed:Pacquiao A+ Clottey A Power: Pacquiao A+ Clottey B+ Defense:Pacquiao A Mayweather A+ Intangibles:Pacquiao A+ Mayweather A-
Undercard: * Antonio Margarito Vs. Carson Jones (24-7-1, 15 KOs) * Alfonso Gomez (21-4-2, 10 KOs) Vs. Jose Luis Castillo (60-9-1, 52 KOs) * Roberto Marroquin (11-0, 8 KOs) Vs. TBA
"Strikeforce: Nashville" on CBS
