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04/16/2007 Archived Entry: "A distant view from the Alamodome"
A distant view from the Alamodome
By Karl Hegman
Photo courtesy of www.wbcboxing.com
Manny Pacquiao
SATURDAY evening from San Antonio, I finally got my first look at Super Featherweight killer Manny Pacquiao in person, albeit from a vantage point that was far from the action. Largely newspapermen and writers from the Philippines evidently filled in the press row at ringside, but I couldn’t complain, as I was so excited about seeing Manny in action and I had my credentials from the good folks at Top Rank.
I arrived after driving in from Houston and then trekking around the Alamodome, getting my roadwork in for the day looking for the media entrance. Once again the lovely Elena was present to hand out my pass and direct me to my seat.
The first fight I saw was Edgar Sosa winning the WBC Light Flyweight title by majority decision from Brian Viloria in a good and hard fought affair that saw Brian start well, but he faded late down the stretch and the hard charging Sosa was able to outwork him for the verdict. The tough Sosa soaked up some hard shots throughout the bitterly fought affair that would have dropped a lesser fighter, but he was immaculately conditioned and out punched the “Hawaiian Punch” in most of the brisk exchanges.
Christian Mijares was up next and retained his WBC Super Flyweight Title over the charismatic and exciting Jorge Arce. Mijares was just too big for the game little gladiator from Mexico, and knew how to use his height and reach to his advantage in keeping Arce on the end of his shots and seldom allowed him in close to do any real damage to his body. Arce was cut badly on the nose and suffered facial swelling while Mijares was relatively unmarked in comparison, and I was very impressed with his ring generalship and in moving and punching off of angles.
Manny Pacquiao, the world’s most exciting fighter was the Main event and it was a very exciting fight to be sure. Pacquiao seemed to lack his usual zip and that most likely came from the absence of trainer Freddie Roach in his training camp, though Roach flew in for the fight from Puerto Rico where his is training Oscar De La Hoya for his showdown with Floyd Mayweather May 5th.
The unbeaten Jorge Solis came to fight and he did just that, boxing effectively and stopping at times to trade with the assassin from the Philippines and handling himself well in the exchanges.
Manny dug in hard lefts to the body and head at times, and though often off balance and out of his boxing stance, one couldn’t help but admire the determination and ferocity of him.
Solis put in good counters and drove Manny once to the ropes in the sixth round where he raked him with a nice salvo of shots to the head and body. A head butt in the stanza cut Pacquiao, and the predominantly Mexican crowd was cheering wildly for Solis.
Pacquiao came out determined to turn the tide in the seventh and punished Solis with renewed vigor and brutality. This was the Manny Pacquiao the world was waiting to see, and he did not disappoint his rabid followers around the globe.
Poor Solis was really hammered here as he tried but just could not keep this pocket Hercules off of him. He must have felt like he was in the ring with five fighters and punishing shots rained in from all angles. Pacquiao ended matters in the eighth as he dropped the spent Solis twice with heavy right uppercuts, straight left hands, and fierce right hooks, the final one sending him to the floor for the full ten count.
Well wishers, fans, friends and relatives, and media personnel all wanted to touch their hero after the fight and get his autograph if they could.
I posed the question to the great promoter Bob Arum if he would like to pit Manny against Juan Diaz providing Diaz whips Freitas as expected on the 28th, and he said that would be a great fight and he would like for Manny to move up and fight the undefeated WBA Lightweight King from Houston.
I astonished nice guy Freddie Roach for mentioning his ESPN war with tough David Capo back in 1981, and he also mentioned that Oscar is in great shape and ready for Mayweather.
It was late and time to go, and I had a late night urge for some of the wonderful Mexican food that San Antonio is famous for and decided to head out into the cool Texas evening. On the way out of the stadium, the lovely and renowned make up artist Cynthia Triano Hancevic asked me to carry her heavy working case out to her car for her, and I simply couldn’t refuse a request of that nature from such a lovely and classy lady, and I loaded it into her vehicle for her and she gave me a peck on the cheek for my troubles.
Can you fight fans think of a better way to end an evening covering the art of the “Sweet Science” that we all know and love?
* * *
Karl Hegman
Note: This is my final piece for Cyberboxingzone.com and my writings and videos will now be featured exclusively on fightbeat.com. I would like to take this opportunity to express my thanks to all of the staff and posters here for your kind words and support throughout the last couple of years, and I mean it when I say you guys are the most knowledgeable and articulate fight folks on the Internet.
Keep punching and best of luck in the future!
Your friend;
Karl Hegman
