The Pacquiao v. Thurman PPV from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, provided a night of knockouts, tough fights, and assorted amusements.
Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao v. Keith “One Time” Thurman
Pacquiao affirmed the notion that he is one of the greatest of all time and did it at the world-weary boxing age of 40. Thurman showed to be deserving of future big bouts and as a boxing media member in the future, if he so chooses. The fast and smooth talking Thurman was all class in his comments after the fight. Miss Universe was in Pacquiao’s entourage and towered over the eight-division champion and his lovely wife, Jinkee, with giraffe-like glamour. This was the marquee event, for the WBA World Super Welterweight Title.
After the fight, Freddy Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, commented on Fox Sports 1 that, if not for the first round knockdown and middle-rounds body-shot, both accomplished by PacMan on Thurman, the fight could have been a draw. This astute observation from one of boxing’s best trainers shows just how close One Time came to making the fight his. Chew on this (Thurman’s mouthpiece, Evander Holyfield’s ear, sweet victory, or sour grapes, your choice) boxing fans: If Thurman had somehow avoided the first round knockdown and instead had won that round, and the rest of the fight had gone per the judges’ scorecards, the corresponding changes to the scorecards in the first round would have resulted in an arcane boxing decision, a split decision draw. Do the math sports fans and tell me if I am wrong.
However, ifs and buts are used tape and bloody cuts, and the fight was won fair and square by PacMan with no one really complaining or in disagreement. Even though the CompuBox numbers favored Thurman, the memorable moments were made by the Filipino hero. Those included not only the knockdown and the body-shot, but also the last moments of round five where Thurman was clearly hurt and bleeding from the nose. The bleeding from the nose was present throughout much of the fight.
But, after round five, I had Thurman winning four straight rounds. Admittedly, I was hopelessly biased for Thurman in this fight, having jumped on his bandwagon during the pre-fight talk-up. I like his style. I also liked the fact that his trunks and gloves featured a USA flag-type theme and he was hand-over- heart for the national anthem. In this day and age, that was a fresh bit of air, ’cause ‘Merica.
But, I also like PacMan. I wanted him to beat Mayweather, thought he got robbed versus Horn, and I absolutely love the fact that he allows the general public to do some training with him. It is no wonder he is loved and revered by the entire Philippines. My admittedly and hopelessly biased scorecard had Thurman winning 116-111. The one judge who had it for Thurman had it 114-113. It shows what bias will do to your judgment and perceptions.
Remember, those boxing commentators, analysts, boxers, trainers, and media members have their biases, too. I knew the judges would have it closer than the announcers and commentators seemed to think after the fight. How much did Thurman have to overcome in that the MGM Grand is like PacMan’s second home. This was his 15th fight there. What goes unsaid?
A case can be made for One Time. The CompuBox numbers had Thurman ahead on punches landed, power punches, percentage of punches landed, and percentage of power punches landed. Thus, an argument can be made for Thurman, though few such arguments were heard. Like Lennox Lewis, I thought Thurman’s toe might have been stepped-on in the first round knockdown, it just had that look in that split-second, but no clear footage was ever shown. To his credit, Thurman had none of that in his post-fight comments.
One Time displayed tremendous sportsmanship in his post-fight comments and gave all due credit to Pacquiao. In the end, the questions Thurman had about Pacquiao were answered. How fast is he? See the first round knockdown. How powerful are his punches? See the body-shot. Pacquiao deserves all due credit, he got it done, fair and square, and he truly is a world hero. In this brutal game of heroes and villains, two men stood tall at the end of this one, not a villain in sight, heroes both. This was a great night for the sport of boxing.
Yordenis Ugas v. Omar Figueroa, Jr.
The Co-Main Event of the Pacquiao v. Thurman PPV, a WBC World Title Eliminator at welterweight, was somewhat painful to watch, as Ugas totally pounded Figueroa for 12 rounds. I scored this 119-107 for Ugas, the same as all three judges. It was 10-9 for the former Cuban Olympian all the way through, except for a 10-8 first round featuring a knockdown of Figueroa and a 9-9 fifth round wherein Ugas had a point deducted for holding after repeated warnings from the referee.
Several of the announcers wanted the Figueroa corner to throw-in the towel in the late going, such was the beating. I also felt this way, considering this should be sport and not death, especially in light of recent tragic events. In my view, there is rarely an early stoppage, as most should be justified for fighter safety, and this goes for boxing and MMA. However, I will say Figueroa had tremendous defense and many of the blows may have been more glancing than the commentators thought. This seemed to be borne out in the CompuBox numbers which the announcers also seemed to dispute.
As if to emphasize that his untimely demise was prematurely reported, Figueroa was bounding-about after the fight as if he had just stepped down from a band box, no worse for the wear, and not a 12 round thrashing. It was also reported that Figueroa is, or has been, a Texas A&M Aggie. Somewhere in this is an Aggie joke. Go figure …
Sergey Lipinets v. Jayar Inson
Inson was a late add from the undercard for this welterweight bout. Lipinets, suddenly facing a southpaw on short notice, was all business and tough-nosed, seemingly from the mold of the many fighters who are no longer hidden behind the Iron Curtain. He reminded me some of current stars Golovkin and Lomachenko.
In the second round, an Inson hook whistled over the head of a bobbing Lipinets and Sergey took advantage of a wide opening. Immediately he landed a left hook for the knockout. Inson gamely jumped up, eager to continue, but the referee apparently saw that, although the lights were on, no one was home. It was ruled a TKO win for Lipinets.
Even so, it appeared that Inson was one of the big winners of the night. After the fight, he posed for pictures with Lipinets, grinning from ear to ear. It was a happy moment for all concerned and it looked like Inson was elated to have been elevated to the exclusive main card in such a big event, the same event featuring his, no-doubt, homeland hero, Pacquiao.
This was beginning to look like a night of knockouts with Lipinets adding to the brutal business.
Luis Nery v. Juan Carlos Payano
This was an all-action, slugfest, as the 118 pound bantamweights traded shots through nine rounds. Nery landed a devastating body-shot on Payano in the ninth round and, although Payano gamely tried to get up, he could not, and suffered through a 10-count. The Nery knockout punch caused tremendous pain in Payano’s rib area and he was obviously hurt.
I had Payano up on my scorecard which was hopelessly biased. I had taken a liking to Payano in the press conference and weigh-in, admiring his business-like and humble attitude. The very quick Dominican fought well.
Nery, from TJ, was ultra-quick and took-over a couple of rounds before the KO (even on my tainted scorecard).
This was two very tough guys, in a very tough fistfight, and all that was missing was the knives. In this game of heroes and villains, this was very painful for me to watch. That being said, Nery has the look of an emerging star.
Caleb Plant v. Mike Lee
This was the main event of the undercard, for the IBF World Super Middleweight Title, but Lee’s pre-fight trash-talking was a feature event unto itself. It is noteworthy that Plant took it calmly with his only real counter-taunt being the comment that he would teach Lee a lesson Lee did not learn at Notre Dame.
School was definitely in session in this one between two Americans.
Plant cruised, smooth, fluid, and untroubled, while Lee, with tons of desire, was rough around the edges, and perhaps overly aggressive which might have been his only chance.
Lee looked like the former linebacker he was reported to be and did not live up to his big talk. He lunged around and attacked, getting knocked down once in the first round and twice in the third round. He did not take the stoppage well.
Plant won by KO and was never really threatened.
Efe Ajagba v. Ale Eren Demirezen
Lennox Lewis seemed to like Ajagba, and it was no wonder, considering the Nigerian’s technical, jabbing style. Both heavyweight competitors were 2016 Olympians.
Demirezen had a chunky, 247 pound, body-type and was effective with hooks, body-shots and a brawling style.
Ajagba was built as if sent from the heavens. His was a ripped and chiseled 242 pounds stretched over a 6’5″ frame. Scouts and coaches in several different sports would see a ton of raw material in this kind of physical specimen. It makes you wonder just how many guys like this are knocking around in African backwaters, never to see the light of day.
I had Ajagba winning a decision 97-93. One judge agreed and the other two had it even wider to make it unanimous.
That’s a wrap, fight fans, from Vegas, by way of my easy chair and the Pacquiao v. Thurman PPV. All in all, it was a thrilling and satisfying night of the sweet science.