Madison Square Garden undercard report
Humberto Soto KO7 Bobby Pacquiao... Before the year is out promoter Arum apparently intends to send Humberto Soto after the entire Pacquiao family. The Mexican lightweight took care of the first half of his brief Saturday night, dispatching Manny’s less talented brother Bobby via a 7th-round KO, after which he called out the 2006 Fighter of the Year.
Pacquiao went down in the first round from a left hook to the body followed by a right to the head, and by the fifth he was bleeding profusely from a cut above his right eye. In the seventh, Soto nailed him with a straight right that buckled his knees, and when Soto followed it with a left to the body, Paquiao went down again, and, his head seemingly resting on the turnbuckle, took Gary Rosato’s count on all fours.
“I thought Bobby fought very bravely,” said trainer Freddie Roach, “but he caught a couple of good shots. Soto is just too strong for him.”
Soto did not disagree. He already seemed to be thinking about Bobby’s brother, whom he will tentatively face on Oct. 6.
“Bobby is a real warrior,” said Soto, “but Manny is much busier. Manny throws a lot more punches, and he hits harder.”
He will find out soon enough. Soto improved to 42-5-1 with the victory, while Pacquiao fell to 27-13-3.
Julio C. Chavez, Jr. KO Grover Wiley... Saturday night’s card did allow for one instance of family revenge, as Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. knocked out Grover Wiley, the man who had retired his illustrious father, in the third round.
Wiley (30-10-1), an Oklahoma journeyman, was never really in this one. In the opening round Chavez caught him with a hard left to the body that sent him sliding to the floor. Another body shot put Wiley down again in the third, and after yet another, Wiley pitched forward and took referee Eddie Claudio’s count on his knees.
“He caught me with a liver shot in the first round,” said Grover. “And he must have hit me there 20 more times. I had no chance.”
Chavez, 32-0-1 after the win, now gets to sit back and see how Arturo Gatti handles Alfonso Gomez next month. If Gatti prevails, his next fight will likely be on HBO against Chavez in November.
Yuri Foreman W10 Anthony Thompson... Yuri Foreman had promised he would be at the top of his game for his bout against Anthony Thompson, which opened the PPV telecast, and he had to be. After ten rounds Thompson had thrown more punches (527-480) and landed incrementally more (144-136), but the Belarus-born New York middleweight withstood Thompson’s late rally to prevail by split decision.
There were no knockdowns, but an apparent clash of heads in the ninth left Foreman bleeding from a scalp wound. Thompson drew a warning from referee Charlie Fitch for a low blow in the same stanza.
Judges Ron McNair (97-93) and Frank Lombardi (96-94) favored Foreman (now 23-0), while Tony Paolillo scored it 96-94 for Thompson (23-2).
“I came to fight, but he didn’t really want to fight,” said Thompson, who appeared stunned by the decision. “I fought the fight. He just grabbed and made it look real ugly out there.”
Peter Quliin W8 Jamaal Davis... Peter (Kid Chocoate) Quillen failed to put away his opponent for just the second time in 13 pro fights, but the New York middleweight did post a comfortable decision over Philadelphian Jamaal Davis (7-2) to remain unbeaten. Paolillio and Robin Taylor both scored it An 80-72 shutout for Quillen (13-0), while Joe Ware gave Davis a round at 79-73.
Wayne Johnsen W10 Anthony Bartinelli... New Jersey middleweight Wayne Johnsen (16-1) floored Anthony Bartinelli (19-10-2) with a straight right early in the first, but the game Arizonan got up and battled for six more rounds. One judge, McNair, saw the knockdown as the only difference between the two, scoring it 57-56, while Lombardi (60-59) and Paolillo (59-54) saw it as a runaway for Johnsen.
Jesus Rojas W6 Torrance Daniels... Puerto Rican junior featherweight Jesus Rojas (7-0) won a unanimous decision over resilient Coloradan Torrance Daniels (9-3-1). There were no official knockdowns, although Daniels was down on three occasions, all ruled slips by Rosata. Rojas prevailed by scores of 59-55 twice (McNair and Ware) and 58-56 (Paolillo).
Algenis Mendez TKO1 Bobby Campbell... Unbeaten Dominican junior lightweight Algenis Menez required just over a minute to dispose of his Long Island opponent Bobby Campbell in their scheduled six-round prelim. Mendez floored Campbell with right hands twice before the first minute was out, and then decked him again with a left to the body, prompting Rosada to stop it at 1:46 of the first. Mendez is now 4-0, Campbell 2-3-2.
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X-PLOSIVE!
MADISON SQUARE GARDEN
NEW YORK CITY
June 9, 2007
WELTERWEIGHTS: Miguel Cotto, 146 1/2, Caguas, Puerto Rico TKO’d Zab Judah, 145, Brooklyn, N.Y. (11) (Retains WBA title)
MIDDLEWEIGHTS: Yuri Foreman, 156 1/4, Gomel, Belarus dec. Anthony Thompson, 156 3/4, Philadelphia, Penn. (10)
Peter Quillen, 160, New York dec. Jamaal Davis, 161, Philadelphia, Penn. (8)
Wayne Johnsen, 161, Newark, N.J. dec. Anthony Bartinelli, 161, Phoenix, Ariz. (3)
JUNIOR MIDDLEWEIGHTS: Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., 150, Culiacan, Mexico KO’d Grover Wiley, 149 1/2, Omaha, Neb. (3)
LIGHTWEIGHTS: Humberto Soto, 131, Los Mochis, Mexico TKO’d Bobby Pacquiao, 131, General Santos City, Philippines (7)
JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHTS: Algenis Mendez, 129 1/2, San Juan, D.R. TKO’d Bobby Campbell, 130, Bethpage, N.Y. (1)
JUNIOR FEATHERWEIGHTS: Jesus Rojas, 120 1/4, Caguas, P.R. dec. Torrance Daniels, 121, Colorado Springs, Colo. (6
ZZ
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