Review

Post fight weekend reactions have been mixed, and my predictions were 50/50, but here is a review of how I saw this weekend unfold.

The Hang Em Up Award: This goes to Shane Mosley. He came in in a great shape, talked constantly about how well he does with "come forward type fighters", and even was quoted saying "I love a good scrap"...well Shane you fooled me. Pacquiao came forward as expected, Shane ran away as unexpected, and certainly wanted no part of the "good scrap" that could have taken place. After Pac-Man rung his bell in the 3rd Round Sugar was anything but sweet. It seemed as though all he wanted to do was run, and touch gloves for 12 rounds as if it were a sparring session. Even the normally respectful Pacquiao had enough of the antics come the 10th round, when the boo's came from the crowd due to lack of action. He implored Mosley to fight by waving him in with his gloves, and giving him a "let's entertain them" type look. Mosley wanted no part of the Filipino dynamo, who fought past the 4th round with and injured left leg, and decide to survive instead of fight. To grade the performance from Manny I would give it a B at the best, but some of that has to do with his opponents decision to not fight, even though he was in a fight.

Fight of the Night: Easily Jorge Arce's upset KO of Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. was the fight of the night. Both men were hurt, both men were down, and both men fought like true warriors in the ring. This was an entertaining battle from start to finish, with Arce pulling off the upset and reclaiming a stake of the title. Excellent fight that had me on the edge of my seat.

Sobriety Award: Kelly Pavlik made his return to the ring Saturday night. Though he did not take out Lopez they way I expected him too, I can understand why. After a year of no fighting, and a few months with Betty Ford, it is totally understandable that "The Ghost" would be showing a great deal of ring rust. In the first few rounds it was quite obvious. His timing was off, and seemed to be getting hit a little too much. After that though, he started to find his range and connect of constant left hooks, rocking Lopez on many occasions. In the final rounds he closed the show by pressuring Lopez, and hurting him multiple times with left hooks, and straight rights. The only thing that bothered me was that when Kelly would back Lopez into a corner with the jab, he would not attack. This was the only major sign I saw that I'd be worried about if I were his trainer. If the Kelly Pavlik of 2.5 years ago had Lopez stuck in a corner the amount of times he had him Saturday, there is no way that fight would have made the final bell.