The beauty and pride of all the Philippines, Emmanuel Pacquiao, reigns so dominant in the first lightweight, that now to create at least a minimum intrigue in the fight with him is already a merit. After the victories over Eric Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera, as well as an ambiguous draw with Juan Manuel Marquez, it is difficult for Pakman to find full-fledged opposition without resorting to revenge. Manny’s tangible problems can only be created by Edwin Valero and Umberto Soto.
Promoter Manny Bob Arum directed his efforts in a different direction and organized a duel between Pacquiao and the previously losing Mexican Jorge Solis, which upset Pacman's trainer Freddie Roach, who expected that a more experienced and venerable fighter would be put up against Pacquiao. Justifying his decision, the cunning Arum did not argue that Solis could annoy Pacquiao, while calling Jorge “a great boxer” and promising a beautiful fight.
Solis was in no hurry to replenish the collection of Mexican scalps Pacman. The Mexican felt the distance well and the whole first round wisely tearing it apart, avoiding Pacquiao's cavalry attacks. Manny was not as accurate as usual, firing a lot of hits “in the milk” or in passing on defense. A little bolder, Solis even tried to organize several counterattacks at the time Pacquiao's combinations were completed, but he did not particularly succeed.
In the second round, Pacquiao showed an advantage in speed, but Solis left the ending for himself, punishing Manny for the right side. In the third, Pacquiao was again faster, and it became noticeable that Manny’s constant jerks to the enemy would rather tire out Solis.
In the course of the fourth round, it was striking that Solis slowed down, preferring to “swing the pendulum”, rather than keep the distance. Pacquiao was building up pressure, his net hits forced Solis to clinch.
Feeling that the thing smells like turpentine, in the fifth round Solis gave Pacquiao a real fight, connecting his legs and capturing the center of the ring. Without missing a single punch, Solis thrilled Manny three times with direct and side kicks to the right, once even pressing the Filipino to the ropes.
Perhaps the sixth round would have passed in a similar vein, but an accidental clash of heads dramatically changed its course. Pacquiao began to pay more attention to the attack, which resulted in several missed shots for him, and for Solis ... in the first knockdown after the left side Manny. The Mexican was not shocked, but Pakman already tasted the blood and, under the roar of the auditorium, began to bombard his opponent with medium-range strikes. In the actions of Solis, who had lost his sharpness, there was less and less thought and more and more confusion.
You can’t refuse courage to Solis - in the seventh round he did not become a living pear for the opponent and fought in a collision course. I just missed the Mexican while more and more both in quantitative and qualitative terms.
The denouement came in the eighth round. Pacquiao calmly sent Solis to the ropes with two furious combinations, ending in precise lateral ones.
The Mexican was enough to rise, but after another 20 seconds, Manny finished the job, adding one more to his collection of victories over the Mexican boxers.
Akbar Murataliev