LAS VEGAS –The chants were back.
But Manny Pacquiao wasn’t, at least not in the eyes of three judges.
The 46-year-old Pacquiao, who seemed to defy middle-age and perhaps the aches-and-pains that come with it Saturday, was left with a controversial majority draw with World Boxing Council welterweight champion Mario Barrios at the MGM Grand.
The controversial scorecards mean Barrios keeps the belt and Pacquiao was denied a chance to make history. The Filipino legend had hoped to become boxing’s second-oldest world champion ever.
“I thought I won,” Pacquiao (62-8-3, 39 KOs) said.
So did a crowd of 13,107 fans, who chanted the familiar “Manny, Manny” before and after every round. But those chants were supplanted by boos when the cards were announced. Max DeLuca had it 115-113 for Barrios (29-2-2, 18 KOs). Both Steve Weisfeld and Tim Cheatham had it, 114-114. The Boxing Hour scored 116-112 for Pacquiao.
Pacquiao, his worldwide celebrity still intact, suggested that his quest in the risky ring will continue.
“I need to continue my training for longer going into a championship fight,” Pacquiao said. “Because of the election I started late, but it’s okay. Of course, I’d like a rematch. I want to leave a legacy and make the Filipino people proud.”
Barrios said he would give Pacquiao another opportunity.
“I’ll do the rematch,” Barrios said. “Absolutely. This was huge for boxing. I’d love to do it again.”
Expect the controversy to linger. It looked as if Pacquiao was well on his way beating a man 16 years his junior in a tactical, patient execution of the sweet science. He wasn’t the explosive, Bruce Lee-like figure that once blew away Hall-of-Fame names like a force of nature. This was a former Senator, deliberative and still dangerous enough to be a world champion.
Pacquiao’s familiar footwork, including a stutter-step inside, was there. The punch that followed, however, missed more often than it had when Pacquiao’s power proved to be so lethal against Oscar De La Hoya, Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales and Ricky Hatton.
All the while, Barrios looked tentative, cautious perhaps because he was looking into the face of a legendary lion, or maybe because he didn’t want to go out like Hatton, who waa lifted so high by a Pacquiao knockout punch that you could see the bottom of Hatton’s shoes from ringside. The years have left some lines on that Filipino face. There’s gray in his facial hair. The punches travel at a slower rate. The explosive dynamic isn’t there anymore.
But the skillset is still solid, tempered by time yet improved by wisdom. Above, he still knows his way around the ring. That has changed. Then again, neither has the judging.
Welcome back, Manny, on a night full of cheers and boos.
Tszyu surrenders, Fundora wins TKO
Blood was expected. There was a trace. In the end, however, there was surrender.
The rematch ended abruptly with Tim Tszyu sitting on his stool after the seventh, perhaps his best round, Saturday night against Sebastian Fundora in front of an astonished crowd awaiting Manny Pacquiao’s comeback against Mario Barrios at the MGM Grand.
This was the same Tszyu who refused to quit after he suffered a gruesome cut at the top of his head in their first fight. Then, it seemed as though nothing could stop him from fighting on. This time, however, he didn’t lose much blood from a cut above his right eye. This time, he lost his will.
“That’s one tough m-effer,” Tszyu said as he pointed at Fundora after the surprising conclusion to a much-anticipated sequel.”And I tried to give everything.”
It was decided that everything was just not enough this time. The fight ended on the advice of his corner. His corner must have looked into his eyes and saw that there was no more blood to spill. Suddenly, they saw a fighter exhausted and unable to continue in a fight that raises doubts about the rest of his career
Tszyu’s challenge, a complicated mix of height and geometry, quickly became apparent. Tzsyu’s only path to victory is to step inside against the 6-foot-6 Fundora (23-1-1, 15 KOs), who has the wing span of a gigantic praying mantis. In the first round, Tszyu took that perilous first step. Boom, Fundora saw it and threw a counter-right that dropped Tszyu (25-3, 18 KOs) onto the canvas with a thud.
Emboldened, Fundora, still the junior-middleweight champ, took the initiative in the second, moving forward and forcing Tszyu into what looked to be a tentative retreat. Suddenly, blood appeared over Tszyu’s eye. For him, it had to be an uncomfortable reminder of the bloodletting he suffered in their first bout, won by Fundora in a split decision.
In the third and throughout the fourth, however, Tszyu became more surefooted and appeared to regain his aggressiveness. He also got a little quicker with his punches, effectively rocking Fundora with shots that seemed to take some of the edge and precision out his long punches. Tszyu capitalized. He began to circle , a wary predator. He also began to land throughout the fifth and again in the sixth.
In the seventh, the rematch began to settle into a brawl. It began with Tszyu rocking Fundora with a short right. But Fundora also began to re-employ his reach.
“We’ve been working on that all of the time,” said Fundora, who talked as if he wanted to use his incredible reach throughout the rest of the fight.
But Tszyu and his corner had already seen enough of it.
The seventh round was more than the beginning of the end.
It was the end.
Pitbull Cruz wins dominant decision
Omar Salcido was a late stand-in, which is another way of saying he probably doesn;t have a chance.
He didn’t.
Salcido, who replaced Angel Fierro Friday, did a lot of things. He endured. He even took Isaac “Pitbull” Cruz into the 10th and final round. But any chance at a huge upset was never really there. Cruz started slowly and then showed all the aggressiveness defined by his nickname with a bullish assault over the final three rounds of a live-streamed bout on the Pacquiao-Barrios card at the MGM Grand.
In the 10th, Salcido ((20-3, 14 KOs) went to his knees. He was also penalized, losing a point for an apparent attempt at an illegal blow.
In the end, it was more than a shutout on the scorecards. Cruz, an interim junior-welterweight champion, won 100-88 on one cad and 99-89 on the other two
After it was over, Cruz (28-3-1, 18 KOs) had kind words for Salcido, who suddenly became his opponent when Fierro was sent to the hospital after a futile attempt to make weight.
“I have ultimate respect for him taking the fight,” said Cruz, who had only contempt for Fierro, whom he called unprofessional. “He’s a good fighter. We’re both champions.’
Figueroa scores decision over Joet Gonzalez
Brandon Figueroa calls himself The Heartbreaker.
Figueroa did that and more Saturday. The heartbreak was suffered by Joet Gonzalez, who continues an up-and-down ride through a career that is 4-4 over his last eight bouts, including successive losses over his last two.
Figueroa (26-2-1, 19 KOs), a former champion at 122 and 126 pounds, appeared to have a slight advantage in size and strength against the star-crossed Gonzalez (27-5, 15 KOs), a Los Angeles fighter who was game yet just no good enough in a featherweight eliminator on the Pacquiao-Barrios card at the MGM Grand.
Throughout the middle rounds, it often looked as if Gonzalez was fighting Figueroa to a standstill. It looked to be close in the ring, but not on two of the three scorecards. Both favored Figueroa 116-112. The third had it 115-113, also for Figueroa, a Texas fighter still in the hunt for another bel
Gary Russell Jr. scores four knockdowns for stoppage win
Gary Russell Jr., more idle than active, still possessed enough power and poise to dominate, knocking down Hugo Castaneda twice in the second round and again in the sixth enroute to
Castaneda, a lightweight from Mexico, came roaring back in apparent desperation in the fourth, driving the 37-year-old Russell (32-2, 19 KOs) into the ropes. But a sweeping right hook from Russell, an ex-featherweight champion from Washington DC, ,dropped Castaneda in the sixth. Yet, Castaneda (15-3-1, 11 KOs), ever resilient, continued to march forward, all the while throwing a succession of punches.
Yet he could never hurt Russell, or even knock him off balance. In the end, Russell power was decisive, including a fourth knockdown in the 10th, ending the fight at 26 seconds of the round
Nothing artistic, but PIcasso wins majority decision
It wasn’t artistic, but Mexican junior-featherweight David Picasso did enough to win and perhaps keep himself in contention for a possible shot at Naoya Inoue.
Picasso (32-0-1, 18 KOs), who turned down a chance to fight Inoue months ago, struggled throughout a close 10-round fight against Inoue’s fellow Japanese fighter, Kyonosuke Kameda (15-5-2, 9 KOs), who appeared to mock him in the middle rounds. Kameda dropped his hands, stuck out his chin and shook his rear end.
The gestures proved to be an opportunity for Picasso, who applied fundamentals at MGM Grad., many of which scored often enough for him to escape with a 95-95, 97-93, 98-92 majority decision on the Pacquiao-Barios card.
Mark Magsayo wins one-sided decision
He had a little bit more experience. HIs feet were a little bit quicker. His hands were a little bit faster.
Little added up to a lot, allowing Mark Magsayo to score efficiently and repeatedly in a one-sided, yet otherwise uneventful decision over Jorge Mata in a junior-lightweight bout Saturday on the card featuring Manny Pacquiao’s comeback against Mario Barrios.
Magsayo (28-2, 18 KOs), a Filipino who briefly held the World Boxing Council’s featherweight title in 2020. began to take control of the bout in the fourth round when he backed up Mata (41-3-2, 13 KOs) with a body-to-head assault. Still, Mata, of Mexico managed to endure, but never much more than that, losing by a wide margin on all three cards — 100-90, 98-92,100-90.
First Bell: Filipino prospect drops the thunder, wins TKO
It opened with a Filipino beat.
Beat-down
Middleweight prospect Eumir Marcial warmed up the ring for fellow Filipino Manny Pacquiao with a heavy-handed stoppage of Bernard Joseph in a Saturday matinee, hours before Pacquiao would take the stage in his comeback against Mario Barrios at the MGM Grand.
Marcial (6-0, 4 KOs), a 2020 Olympic bronze medalist, dropped Joseph (11-3-1, 5 KOs), of Dorchester MA, in the second and again in the third. A succession of shots in the third thundered throughout the empty arena, ending the bout in a TKO at 1:55 of the round.
