Manny Pacquiao KO's David Diaz in the 9th round!

Sorry for my long absence, college, you know? Anyway, I'm back and as a treat I will be providing a link for you guys to download the Manny Pacquiao vs. David Diaz fight at the end of this post. On to the results:

In a very exciting fight, Manny Pacquiao knocked David Diaz out in the 9th round earning the WBC Lightweight Championship belt and the record of being the only Asian fighter to win world titles in four weight divisions. As a Filipino, I have to say I am really proud he is my countryman. David Diaz fought a good fight and I thank him for trying his best. Unfortunately for him, PacMan, on his move up to lightweight, also brought with him his agility and punching power. Diaz was no match for PacMan as he got hit a lot and obtained a cut on his right eyebrow. It was a bloody fight for Diaz. (Pic from FightNews.com, by the way, and here's more pics from MannyPacquiao.ph.)

What's next for Manny? Rumour is that he plans to move to 140 lbs and fight Ricky Hatton. Probably sometime in November... I think he should stay in lightweight before moving up again so suddenly.

You can download the fight here, although it starts in round 2. If it doesn't work then try VLC Media Player, although Windows Media Player should work. It's in Chinese so sorry about that, but hey, it's free, right?

Philippines wins the Boxing World Cup against Mexico 5 to 1

Turns out that the fight wasn't on pay-per-view and I don't have HBO so I can only read news about it and Fightnews.com has the early results which shows that Philippines is ahead of Mexico by 3 - 0. The first win was a unanimous decision by Diosdado Gabi against Jose Angel Beranza, the second was from Michael Domingo via unanimous decision over Miguel Roman, and the third was a third round knockout of the Mexican Jorge Cardenas by the hands of Filipino AJ Banal. The Filipinos are doing really well so far, but I'm not going to get my hopes up until this is over because I know Mexicans are also very well-prepared for this event.

Philboxing.com says that it's now Z Gorrez and Eric Ortiz in the ring. Gorrez keeps hitting Ortiz with big lefts and is winning the early rounds. Doctor stops the fight in the eight due to a swelling from Ortiz, Z Gorrez wins and it's 4 - 0 Philippines. Good job Gorrez!!

I actually got a software to watch the fight from the advice of the forum guys at Philboxing.com and watched the next fight with Gerry Penalosa against WBO champ Jhonny Gonzalez. Gerry Penalosa was the attacker while Gonzalez did the counter-punching hitting Penalosa occasionaly. It was like this throughout the rounds with an occassional burst of action from both fighters until the seventh... During the seventh, Gerry hit Jhonny with a beautiful left hook to the body which sent him on his knees. The referee immediately started the countdown, but eventually stopped the fight because Jhonny wasn't able to stand up. Philippines 5, Mexico 0.

The last fight, I regret to say for my fellow Filipinos, was a disappointment. Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista was annihilated by Daniel Ponce De Leon in the first round via a left hand. In my opinion, it was just a punch that got lucky and Bautista wanting to attack right from the start because of what the other Filipinos showed through the night. I doubt that there will be a rematch, but if Bautista recovers from this and fought his way up again, he definitely should have one with De Leon again. Losing is not a bad thing and maybe Rey will learn from it and be better than ever. The greatest boxers in history also have losses and that's what makes them stronger. I will still watch Boom Boom's fight no matter what and congratulations to my country, the Philippines, for winning the World Cup by a landslide 5 to 1!!!

The Boxing World Cup looms over the horizon...(Update!)

Photo courtesy of Philboxing.com.

Mexico has been long known for its world-class boxers and it has produced many throughout boxing's history. One could say that the country of Mexico dominates the lighter divisions of boxing. However, one country has been quietly challenging Mexico's long time domination of the lighter weight classes. Queitly pouncing not only on its best fighters, but also on other country's fighters. Every fight fan knows what country I am talking about and they have seen one of the major upsets caused by this country's emerging fighters.

The country I am talking about is none other than mine: the Philippines. I'm not going to hide the fact that this article might be biased since I'm writing it, but I try to be an honest writer. Fight fans have seen and felt the big splash that Manny Pacquiao has been causing and he's not the only one doing it. Recently, other Filipino fighters have been making names for themselves and for their country. Manny Pacquiao vs. Marco Antonio Barrera 1 and his Erik Morales trilogy, Nonito Donaire vs. Vic Darchinyan, Florante Condes vs. Muhammad Rachman, Z Gorrez vs. Fernando Montiel, and Rey Bautista vs. Sergio Manuel Medina, those are just some of the most exciting fights we have seen. The Philippines continues to tighten its grip on boxing.

One such event that will finally showcase the competition of both countries in boxing is closing in on us all. The Boxing World Cup, Philippines vs. Mexico, is not far away and each country's boxing fans and fighters alike will be watching this event (that includes me, of course). The event will pit each country's best fighters against one another (too bad it doesn't include the fight between Pacquiao and Barrera, but both will be attending the event). Which country will win the cup? Well, Philippines, of course, seeing as it is my country. But seriously though, I will choose to avoid any single fight prediction in this one since getting the cup depends on which country will win the most fights and the competition is very high.

As my last and closing statement on this article, I just want to say: Good luck to the fighters from both countries and I hope to see them fight with all they've got! More info on the event on Philboxing.com (Philippine website in English, since I'm no good at reading Spanish).

Update: So I just called up my uncle in Folsom, CA and he told me he had breakfast with Rey Bautista, Z Gorrez, and the others. What the hell?! I told him: How did you know where they stayed? He said he checked MannyPacquiao.ph and saw the address there and then got driving directions for it. I mean, he just knocked on their door and straight up asked them for breakfast! Although being the good people that they were, they agreed and my uncle told me that they were really nice people. As for myself who is really far away from Sacramento right now, I just asked my uncle, who will be ringside, if I could have their autographs.

Miguel Cotto vs. Shane Mosley

So the internet boxing world is buzzing with the recent news of the Miguel Cotto vs. Shane Mosley fight becoming possible this November 10th. It is going to be held at the Madison Square Garden and both their titles will be up for grabs for whoever wins. This may offend those Mosley fans out there, but Shane is facing off against a fighter in his prime and still improving. He, on the other hand, is past his and has probably learned everything he can about fighting. Mosley has great boxing skills as he proved by beating De La Hoya and Vargas not only once, but twice. Miguel Cotto needs more high caliber opponents (not old guns) and his true test is still yet to come, in my opinion. Although Mosley may have experience and a good roster of opponents in his record, he is past his good years and Cotto might get the win on this one.

Rodel Mayol stopped by Ulises Solis in the eight!

Ulises Solis, brother of Jorge Solis whom Pacquiao knocked out on his last fight won against Filipino challenger Rodel Mayol. Rodel Mayol walked into Solis' big right and was stopped in the eight round. I think Mayol wasn't really ready for that fight, Solis' is a good fighter, maybe better than his brother, and he was more experienced than Rodel Mayol. Maybe Solis should try Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista next time...

David Diaz decisions Erik Morales

Pics and info from Fightnews.com.

It seemed a bad night for Erik Morales just like many of his fight nights, lately, as he lost to David Diaz via a unanimous decision which was pure BS, in my opinion. Morales was fighting in Diaz's hometown and he scored a knockdown against him during their first round in which the judges didn't even took notice. Morales boxed smartly tonight against Diaz and won the early rounds, but surprisingly, he lost the rest of the later rounds resulting in Diaz's victory. Sure Morales was getting old for boxing, but he was clearly better than Diaz. The post-fight presscon showed all the controversy Team Morales felt when his dad stated the facts I had just mentioned and Morales commenting on what dad said. Diaz retorted back on those issues by saying that that's what he always did: fight aggressively and come back in the later rounds and that's what he did tonight just like any other nights. Meanwhile the camp of Erik said that the referee and one of the judges ignored Diaz's rough tactics and illegal blows which caused them to lose. Because of this fight, Erik Morales has also decided to retire.

A bad outcome for the fight and I didn't expect Diaz to be that much of a rough fighter. I didn't think that hometown decisions would also be involved in this one, but it turns out that it might be. Nonetheless, one way or another I always thought that Morales was on his way to retirement and I just hope everything goes fine with his life after boxing. To read more info on the presscon click here.