Tonight was wonderfully entertaining. A great undercard, followed by a spectacular entrance and a fight with one athlete at the top of his game while his opponent looked past his best.
First the great, the final fight on the undercard was Vazquez Jr taking on Arce for the WBO Bantamweight title. There was a very large Mexican group sitting close by who were very vocal during what was a terrific fight with both boxers going for the win. There were two technically good boxers who were able to punch hard.
As the fight wore on Arce became more and more aggressive, something he needed to do after being knocked down in the 4th by a huge left hook. The later rounds were all about Vazquez counter punching to Arce’s aggressiveness.
It all came to an end in the 11th as Vazquez looked very unstable, but Arce could not find the punch to put the fight away. As the final round started Arce came out looking to end it and had the champion on the ropes a couple of time before his corner threw the town in and stopped the fight.
Vazquez gave a great defence of his title and it takes two good boxers to make a good fight, and this was a terrific match.
The main event was what wed come to see, the bookies in Vegas were clear that they felt this was going to be a Paquiao win with the odds on Mosley getting longer through the day.
One of the reasions I’ve wanted to go to a big match was for the hype around the fight itself, and tonight did not disappoint. There was Jamie Fox, LL Cool J (“I’m going to knock you out” as Mosley came into the arena), Jimi Jamison from survivor (singing “Eye of the tiger” as Pacquao entered) were all part of the build up in the ring. The entrances and everything prior to the fight was wonderful to behold, it’s a spectacle that really is made for Vegas. The noise from the full arena just added to the event. It really was something to behold.
The fight itself went the full 12 rounds and I don’t think there was any question who would get the decision.
Shane Mosley took a lot of hard hits from a great boxer, Pacquiao deserves the reputation he has. As the fight wore on it was Pacquiao who took over. In the third he landed a hard two punch combination that sent Mosley tumbling to the mat. To his credit he got up and managed to survive and get back to his corner, but from that point on he was unable to go after the champion in any meaningful way.
In round 10 the two men clinched and Mosley clearly shoved Pacquiao to the mat. Somehow it got scored as a knockdown and this missed call made Pacquiao look to get the knockout.
After the final bell in the 12th I don’t think there was much doubt as to who would get his hand raised. The guy in the row behind me put it best, Shane Mosley looked every bit of 39 years and was unable to put any control on the fight. Pacquiao’s lived up to his reputation for aggression, but the toughness of Mosley allowed him to survive the full twelve rounds.
It was a lot of fun, and I’m very happy I took the opportunity to go. It may have been where I we were sitting, but the crowd was very pro-Paquiao. He perhaps had the majority of the support, including a couple of young Philippine women in the row infront of us whose demure demeanor very entertainingly gave way to full on calls for blood the moment the fight started. It really was people watching at it’s finest.
The crowd really was Vegas at it’s very best, the hype was everything you would expect from a big fight and I had an absolute blast, thanks for the invite chaps, it was awesome. Today I fully get why people go to big fights, it’s really is one of the great sporting experiences I’ve been to.