Pacquiao Will Not Be Glove Shy Against Rios, That’s A Sure Bet

Published

11 years ago

November 20, 2013

Ever since welterweight and former eight division title holder Manny Pacquiao 54-5-2 (38) was knocked out face-first in his fourth bout versus Juan Manuel Marquez last December in the sixth round, there’s been a plethora of questions regarding what Pacquiao has left as a fighter both physically and psychologically. Most of the doubts cast over Manny regarding his upcoming bout against the tough and talented but pretty wild and undisciplined Brandon Rios 31-1-1 (23) ask the following: A) is Pacquiao (looking calm and ready to rock in Chris Farina-Top Rank photo) still hungry and focused enough to compete with today’s elite welterweights; B) has he eroded physically and is he on a rapid decline as a fighter and: C) how much, if at all, will he be scarred and damaged by the devastating defeat he suffered at the hands of Marquez in his last fight almost a year ago?

The answer to A). In regards to Manny’s hunger and focus it is pretty easy to deduce. Brandon Rios will go after him like no other fighter he’s ever faced. Rios will carry the fight and be looking to get Pacquiao out of there with everything he launches at him. Having seen Pacquiao on the canvas face first and being counted out the last time he was in the ring no doubt escalates Brandon’s confidence and belief that he can put him in the same predicament as Marquez did. On top of that Rios throws more punches than Marquez and hits harder. Pacquiao knows that however long he is in the ring with Rios, it’ll be a very hard fight physically, and he’ll need to be laser focused and in supreme shape. I’m willing to bet that Pacquiao shows up in great condition and is desperate to get a win and once again be thought of as one of the elite fighters in professional boxing. If two consecutive losses hasn’t ignited his hunger for this fight, it’s all over but the shouting for him.

In order to glean the answer to B),as to whether or not Pacquiao still posses the physical tools to dominate at the championship level,one only has to go back and watch him against Marquez in his last fight. Manny came out fast throwing some buzzing left hands and exhibited a little more head and upper body movement and feints than he had in their previous fight. For the first two rounds he had Marquez fighting in retreat as Juan was trying to figure out how to stabilize Pacquiao’s early momentum. A fighter must be in great condition to apply constant head movement and feints as they’re pushing the fight, and Pacquiao was doing that beautifully when he got caught and knocked down with a terrific right hand high on the head by Marquez in the third round. Pacquiao recovered quickly from the knockdown both physically and psychologically.

In round five Manny dropped Marquez with a straight left and by the end of the round Marquez was hurt and looked like a beaten fighter. By the end of the sixth Pacquiao was in complete control and was freezing Marquez in his tracks with his head feints before getting caught and knocked out by Marquez’s desperation right hand seconds before the bell rang to end the round. The reason he got knocked out by a punch he didn’t see was that he was so committed to finally getting the emphatic knockout win over Marquez that would erase the question of who was the better fighter that he got careless. Nine times out of 10 that would never happen with Pacquiao. Maybe 99 times out of 100 it wouldn’t. It was the warrior in him that got him knocked out that way.

Other than getting hit with two big right hands over the course of six rounds, Pacquiao did not look like a fighter on the decline. He just got caught, it’s boxing and that happens. Had time stopped half way into the sixth round, there isn’t a single person who was watching the fight who would’ve taken Marquez to pull it out even if you gave them 10-1 odds. That’s how convincingly Manny was in control. So the answer as to whether or not Pacquiao still has it as a fighter physically is yes. Granted, he may have eroded during the past year but that’s something no one can say with certainty until after the fight. Heading into the bout with Rios this Saturday night, it’s safe to assume Pacquiao lost because he got caught with a punch he didn’t see, more so than him being finished as a fighter.

Lastly, in part C),will Pacquiao be glove shy versus Rios this Saturday night? Will he fight more measured and cautious than he would’ve had he stopped Marquez in the sixth round instead of the opposite last December? The answer to this is an emphatic no! Pacquiao will go after Rios with the same intensity, vigor and confidence that he would as if he was coming off his stoppage win over Miguel Cotto. I think Pacquiao is fearless and believe he never doubts that he’ll win any fight he’s in. I’d be willing to bet that Pacquiao will be affected just as Roberto Duran was by being knocked out by Thomas Hearns, in other words he wasn’t and was the same tenacious fighter he’d always been in his subsequent bouts.

Recently Pacquiao was asked if he was under extra pressure to win coming off consecutive losses in high profile fights. He said there was “no added pressure on him because if you don’t wanna lose, don’t fight!” That tells me he’s fine psychologically and will harbor no trepidation once the bout with Rios starts.

His statement “if you don’t wanna lose, don’t fight” may seem innocuous to some but it’s telling to me. That’s because losing destroys some fighters mentally, so much so that they become paralyzed by the thought of getting beat. There are fighters who run and train everyday that you’ll see in the gym sparring but they never fight. They’ll always have an excuse like they hurt their ankle or they’re just getting over a cold and couldn’t run. And the best is the one where they say their opponent pulled out so they are not fighting. Those guys want to fight and say that they are a fighter but the thought of losing or having to tell their friends or girlfriend that they lost causes them to become a deer in front of headlights when it comes time to step up and actually fight. Manny Pacquiao got over the fear of losing a long time ago. He’s mature and self confident in who he is, so that winning or losing doesn’t really define him.

To anyone who is the least bit concerned about whether Pacquiao will show up as a damaged fighter when he confronts Brandon Rios, rest assured, that will not be the case. If Manny was concerned about how he’ll react under fire during the heat of battle, he wouldn’t have agreed to take on perhaps the roughest and toughest fighter out there weighing between 140 and 147 pounds. Rios will be on top of Manny like a wet t-shirt from the moment the fight starts. Pacquiao will have a fighter in front of him that will make him answer to himself inside if he really wants to fight, if he minds getting hit and if he’s willing to walk through hell in a gasoline suit in order to win. Manny knows this and more than that, he asked for this kind of a fight being that he could’ve signed to fight any marquee fighter in the world between 140 and 147 not named Mayweather.

Manny Pacquiao will fight and rumble with Brandon Rios as if he were coming off the best and most impressive showing of his stellar career. If he loses to Rios, it’s not because he’s psychologically damaged and harbors trepidation as a fighter because he was knocked out in a devastating fashion in his last fight, it’ll be more so because he doesn’t have it anymore as a world class fighter at almost 35 years old after 20 plus years fighting as a pro.

Frank Lotierzo can be contacted at GlovedFist@Gmail.com

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Floyd Schofield Wins a Banger and Gabriela Fundora Wins by KO

Published

3 days ago

November 3, 2024

David A. Avila

Floyd-Schofield-Wins-a-Banger-and Gabriella-Fundora-Wins-by-KO

Floyd Schofield Wins a Banger and Gabriela Fundora Wins by KO

LAS VEGAS-Shades of Henry Armstrong and Baby Arizmendi. If you don’t know those names, look them up.

Floyd Schofield battled his way past Mexico’s super tough Rene Tellez Giron who walked through every blow the Texan could fire but lost by decision on Saturday.

It was a severe test and perfect matchmaking for Schofield who yearns for the big bouts against the lightweight giants roaming the world.

Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) remains undefeated and won the war over thick-necked Mexican Tellez Giron (20-4, 13 KOs) who has never been knocked out and proved to be immune to big punches.

In the opening rounds, the Texas fighter came out firing rapid combinations from the southpaw and orthodox stances. Meanwhile the shorter Tellez Giron studied and fired back an occasional counter for two rounds.

Tellez Giron had seen enough and took his stand in the third stanza. Both unleashed blazing bombs with Schofield turning his back to the Mexican. At that moment referee Tom Taylor could have waved the fight over.

You never turn your back.

The fight resumed and Schofield was damaged. He tried to open up with even more deadly fire but was rebuked by the strong chin of Tellez Giron who fired back in the mad frenzy.

For the remainder of the fight Schofield tried every trick in his arsenal to inflict damage on the thick-necked Mexican. He could not be wobbled. In the 11^th round both opened up with serious swing-from-the-heels combinations and suddenly Schofield was looking up. He beat the count easily and the two remained slugging it out.

“He hit me with a good shot,” Schofield said of the knockdown. “I just had to get up. I’m not going to quit.”

In the final round Schofield moved around looking for the proper moment to engage. The Mexican looked like a cat ready to pounce and the two fired furious blows. Neither was hit with the big bombs in the last seconds.

There was Tellez Giron standing defiantly like Baby Arizmendi must have stood in those five ferocious meetings against the incomparable Henry Armstrong. Three of their wars took place in Los Angeles, two at the Olympic Auditorium in the late 1930s as the U.S. was emerging from the Great Depression.

In this fight, Schofield took the win by unanimous decision by scores 118-109 twice and 116-111. It was well-deserved.

“I tried to bang it out,” said Schofield. “Today I learned you can’t always get the knockout.”

Fundora

IBF flyweight titlist Gabriela Fundora needed seven rounds to figure out the darting style of Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz before firing a laser left cross down the middle to end the battle and become the undisputed flyweight world champion.

Fundora now holds all four titles including the WBO, WBA and WBC titles that Alaniz brought in the ring.

Fundora knocked down Alaniz midway through the seventh round. She complained it was due to a tangle of the legs. Several seconds later Fundora blasted the Argentine to the floor again with a single left blast. This time there was no doubt. Her corner wisely waved a white towel to stop the fight at 1:40 of the seventh round.

No one argued the stoppage.

Other Bouts

Bektemir Melikuziev (15-1, 10 KOs) didn’t make weight in a title bout but managed to out-fight David Stevens (14-2, 10 KOs) in a super middleweight fight held at 12 rounds.

Melikuziev used his movement and southpaw stance to keep Pennsylvania’s Stevens from being able to connect with combinations. But Stevens did show he could handle “The Bully’s” punching power over the 12-round fight.

After 12 rounds one judge favored Stevens 116-112, while two others saw Melikuziev the winner by split decision 118-110 and 117-111.

Super middleweight WBA titlist Darius Fulghum (13-0, 11 KOs) pummeled his way to a technical knockout win over southpaw veteran Chris Pearson (17-5-1, 12 KOs) who attempted the rope-a-dope strategy to no avail.

Fulghum floored Pearson in the first round with a four-punch combination and after that just belted Pearson who covered up and fired an occasional blow. Referee Mike Perez stopped the fight at 1:02 of the third round when Pearson did not fire back after a blazing combination.

Young welterweight prospect Joel Iriarte (5-0, 5 KOs) blasted away at the three-inch shorter Xavier Madrid (5-6, 2 KOs) who hung tough for as long as possible. At 2:50 of the first round a one-two delivered Madrid to the floor and referee Thomas Taylor called off the beating.

Iriarte, from Bakersfield, Calif., could not miss with left uppercuts and short rights as New Mexico’s Madrid absorbed every blow but would not quit. It was just too much firepower from Iriarte that forced the stoppage.

Photos credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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Results and Recaps from Turning Stone where O’Shaquie Foster Nipped Robson Conceicao

Published

3 days ago

November 2, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Results-and-Recaps-from-Turning-Stone-where-O'Shaquie-Foster-Nipped-Robson-Conceicao

Top Rank was at the Turning Stone casino-resort in Verona, New York, tonight with an 8-bout card topped by a rematch between Robson Conceicao and O’Shaquie Foster with the victor retaining or recapturing his IBF world junior lightweight title. When the smoke cleared, the operative word was “recapturing” as Foster became a two-time title-holder, avenging his controversial setback to the Brazilian in Newark on July 6.

This was a somewhat better fight than their initial encounter and once again the verdict was split. Foster prevailed by 115-113 on two of the cards with the dissenting judge favoring Conceicao by the same margin. Conceicao seemingly had the edge after nine frames, but Foster, a 4/1 favorite, landed the harder shots in the championship rounds.

It was the thirteenth victory in the last 14 starts for Foster who fights out of Houston. A two-time Olympian and 2016 gold medalist, the 36-year-old Conceicao is 19-3-1 overall and 1-3-1 in world title fights.

Semi-wind-up

SoCal lightweight Raymond Muratalla (22-0, 17 KOs) made a big jump in public esteem and moved one step closer to a world title fight with a second-round blast-out of Jose Antonio Perez who was on the canvas twice but on his feet when the fight was stopped at the 1:24 mark of round two. Muratalla, a product of Robert Garcia’s boxing academy, is ranked #2 by the WBC and WBO. A Tijuana native, Perez (25-6) earned this assignment with an upset of former Olympian and former 130-pound world titlist Jojo Diaz,

Other Bouts

Syracuse junior welterweight Bryce Mills, a high-pressure fighter with a strong local following, stopped scrawny Mike O’Han Jr whose trainer Mark DeLuca pulled him out after five one-sided rounds. Mills improved to 17-1 (6 KOs). It was another rough day at the office for Massachusetts house painting contractor O’’Han (19-4) who had the misfortune of meeting Abdullah Mason in his previous bout.

In a junior lightweight fight that didn’t heat up until late in the final round, Albany’s Abraham Nova (23-3-1) and Tijuana native Humberto Galindo (14-3-3) fought to a 10-round draw. It was another close-but-no- cigar for the likeable Nova who at least stemmed a two-fight losing streak. The judges had it 97-93 (Galindo), 96-94 (Nova) and 95-95.

Twenty-one-year-old Long Island middleweight Jahi Tucker advanced to 13-1-1 (6 KOs) with an eighth-round stoppage of Stockton’s teak-tough but outclassed Quilisto Madera (14-6). Madera was on a short leash after five rounds, but almost took it to the final bell with the referee intervening with barely a minute remaining in the contest. Madera was on his feet when the match was halted. Earlier in the round, Tucker had a point deducted for hitting on the break.

Danbury, Connecticut heavyweight Ali Feliz, one of two fighting sons of journeyman heavyweight Fernely Feliz, improved to 4-0 (3) with a second-round stoppage of beefy Rashad Coulter (5-5). Feliz had Coulter pinned against the ropes and was flailing away when the bout was halted at the 1:34 mark. The 42-year-old Coulter, a competitor in all manner of combat sports, hadn’t previously been stopped when competing as a boxer.

Featherweight Yan Santana dominated and stopped Mexico’s Eduardo Baez who was rescued by referee Charlie Fitch at the 1:57 mark of round four. It was the 12^th knockout in 13 starts for Santana, a 24-year-old Dominican father of three A former world title challenger, Mexicali’s Baez declines to 23-7-2 but has lost six of his last eight.

In his most impressive showing to date, Damian Knyba, a six-foot-seven Pole, knocked out paunchy Richard Lartey at the 2:10 mark of round three. A right-left combination knocked Lartey into dreamland, but it was the right did the damage and this was of the nature of a one-punch knockout. Referee Ricky Gonzalez waived the fight off without starting a count.

Knyba, 28, improved to 14-0 (8 KOs). A native of Ghana coming off his career-best win, a fourth-round stoppage of Polish veteran Andrzej Wawrzyk, Lartey declined to 16-7 with his sixth loss inside the distance.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 303: Spotlights on Lightweights and More

Published

4 days ago

November 1, 2024

David A. Avila

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Those lightweights.

Whether junior lights, super lights or lightweights, it’s the 130-140 divisions where most of boxing’s young stars are found now or in the past.

Think Oscar De La Hoya, Sugar Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather.

Floyd Schofield (17-0, 12 KOs) a Texas product, hungers to be a star and takes on Mexico’s Rene Tellez Giron (20-3, 13 KOs) in a 12-round lightweight bout on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada.

DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotion card that includes a female undisputed flyweight championship match pitting Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz and Gabriela Fundora.

Like a young lion looking to flex, Schofield (pictured on the left) is eager to meet all the other young lions and prove they’re not equal.

“I’ve been in the room with Shakur, Tank. I want to give everyone a good fight. I feel like my preparation is getting better, I work hard, I’ve dedicated my whole life to this sport,” said Schofield naming fellow lightweights Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta “Tank” Davis.

Now he meets Mexico’s Tellez who has never been stopped.

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes,” said Tellez.

Even in Las Vegas.

Verona, New York

Meanwhile, in upstate New York, a WBC junior lightweight title rematch finds Robson Conceicao (19-2-1, 9 KOs) looking to prove superior to former titlist O’Shaquie Foster (22-3, 12 KOs) on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, N.Y. ESPN+ will stream the Top Rank fight card.

Last July, Conceicao and Foster clashed and after 12 rounds the title changed hands from Foster to the Brazilian by split decision.

“I feel that a champion is a fighter who goes out there and doesn’t run around, who looks for the fight, who tries to win, and doesn’t just throw one or two punches and then moves away,” said Conceicao.

Foster disagrees.

“I hope he knows the name of the game is to hit and not get hit. That’s the name of the game,” said Foster.

Also on the same card is lightweight contender Raymond Muratalla (21-0, 16 KOs) who fights Mexico’s Jesus Perez Campos (25-5, 18 KOs).

Perez recently defeated former world champion Jojo Diaz last February in California.

“We’re made for challenges. I like challenges,” said Perez.

Muratalla likes challenges too.

“I think these fights are the types of fights I need to show my skills and to prove I deserve those title fights,” said Fontana’s Muratalla.

Female Undisputed Flyweight Championship

WBA, WBC and WBO flyweight titlist Gabriela “La Chucky” Alaniz (15-1, 6 KOs meets IBF titlist Gabriela Fundora (14-0, 6 KOs) on Saturday Nov. 2, at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. DAZN will stream the clash for the undisputed flyweight championship.

Argentina’s Alaniz clashed twice against former WBA, WBC champ Marlen Esparza with their first encounter ending in a dubious win for the Texas fighter. In fact, three of Esparza’s last title fights were scored controversially.

But against Alaniz, though they fought on equal terms, Esparza was given a 99-91 score by one of the judges though the world saw a much closer contest. So, they fought again, but the rematch took place in California. Two judges deemed Alaniz the winner and one Esparza for a split-decision win.

“I’m really happy to be here representing Argentina. We are ready to fight. Nothing about this fight has to do with Marlen. So, I hope she (Fundora) is ready. I am ready to prepare myself for the great fight of my life,” said Alaniz.

In the case of Fundora, the extremely tall American fighter at 5’9” in height defeated decent competition including Maria Santizo. She was awarded a match with IBF flyweight titlist Arely Mucino who opted for the tall youngster over the dangerous Kenia Enriquez of Mexico.

Bad choice for Mucino.

Fundora pummeled the champion incessantly for five rounds at the Inglewood Forum a year ago. Twice she battered her down and the fight was mercifully stopped. Fundora’s arm was raised as the new champion.

Since that win Fundora has defeated Christina Cruz and Chile’s Daniela Asenjo in defense of the IBF title. In an interesting side bit: Asenjo was ranked as a flyweight contender though she had not fought in that weight class for seven years.

Still, Fundora used her reach and power to easily handle the rugged fighter from Chile.

Immediately after the fight she clamored for a chance to become undisputed.

“It doesn’t get better than this, especially being in Las Vegas. This is the greatest opportunity that we can have,” said Fundora.

It should be exciting.

Fights to Watch

Sat. ESPN+ 2:50 p.m. Robson Conceicao (19-2-1) vs O’Shaquie Foster (22-3).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Floyd Schofield (17-0) vs Rene Tellez Giron (20-3); Gabriela Alaniz (15-1) vs Gabriela Fundora (14-0).

Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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