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HBO Championship Boxing
May 8, 2004 MGM Grand Las Vegas, Nevada
WBC International Jr. Welterweight Title Bout - (12 Rds) Miguel Cotto (20-0, 16 KO's) wins a unanimous decision (117-112, 115-113, 116-112) over Lovemore N'Dou (38-7-1, 24 KO's) - Cotto retains title
WBA / IBF Featherweight Title Bout - (12 Rds) Juan Marquez (42-2-1, 33 KO's) and Manny Pacquiao (38-2-2, 30 KO's) BATTLED to a draw (115-110, 110-115, 113-113) - Marquez retains title
Won't say much other than Pacquiao proved me wrong and didn't hit a brick wall like I thought he was going to. Pacquiao took his power with him up to his new weight class but his downfall was it looked like he was trying to win the fight on one punch. He almost pulled it off in the first round by knocking Marquez down three times but Marquez showed tremendous heart and finished the round on his feet. From the second round on - it was a slug fest. Pacquiao trying to land the left and Marquez countering. This could easily be fight of the year. And while there maybe controversy in the scoring as to how one Judge had it 115-110 for Marquez, I equally felt the same for the other judge who had it the same way only for Pacquiao. This was a close fight - I had it a draw. Now argue as you will, my feeling is that this is a fight that neither fighter deserved to lose. No matter what side you fall on, I'm not going to argue because I know a case could be made for both points of view. That's how close this fight was. You can't take away anything from these two fighters. It's the kind of non-stop action that boxing fans crave for but rarely get. All I can say is that I can't wait for the rematch.
SN
(5/8/04)
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