By Jake Donovan

There were months worth of split opinions over the actual matchup. The press tour culminated with a fight week that saw controversial incidents and heated words between the camps. Even the hours and minutes leading up to the fight itself included a pre-fight debate that once again put the two camps at odds.

In the end, the headlining fighters put aside all of their petty differences, gloved up and just fought the damn fight.

As a result, Manny Pacquiao was able to add to his own boxing records. Bullying the larger man, Pacquiao delivered one of the most complete performances of his legendary career, scoring a virtual 12-round shutout over Antonio Margarito in their pay-per-view headliner Saturday night at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Scores were 120-108, 119-109 and 118-108 for Pacquaio, who picked up a vacant super welterweight belt to extend his own boxing record with titles now won in eight separate weight divisions.

The opening round saw Margarito, 150 lb, look to put his height and reach advantage to good use, using his jab in efforts to keep Pacquiao at bay. The problem was that he fought almost exclusively behind the stick, allowing Pacquiao, 144.6, to adjust and eventually work his way inside, where he was able to score with left hands upstairs and to the body.

Margarito opened up more in the second round, but it wound up perfectly playing into Pacquiao hands. Straight left hands upstairs scored for the insanely popular Filipino, with seemingly every landed punch sending the reported crowd of 41,734 into a frenzy.

Evidence of a sizeable Margarito fanbase in the crowd surfaced in the third, as chants of “Me-Xi-Co” served as a backdrop for the former welterweight titlist’s best sequence of the fight, with right hands pushing back Pacquiao. What it didn’t do, however, was keep the three-time Fighter of the Year out of his grill, as a late rally had Margarito under siege and forced to cover up to avoid full impact of the incoming.

The first sign of Pacquiao’s disregard for boxing weight classes came in the fourth, as he battered and bloodied the Mexican brawler, who had 17 pounds of natural weight over the Filipino by the opening bell. Pacquiao connected on more than two-thirds of his power punches in the round, leaving Margarito with a swollen right eye and a busted nose by rounds end.

Never one to rest on his laurels, Pacquiao continued the onslaught early in the fifth, repeatedly landing combinations upstairs. Margarito enjoyed a brief moment of success, scoring to the body, only to take a right hook and left hand upstairs for his efforts in a round that wouldn’t get any better.

The closest Pacquiao came to coasting was in the sixth, when he slowed down just enough to give Margarito the belief that he could punch his way back into the fight. There were moments where it held true, but the way the round concluded suggested that that the Filipino was playing possum, diffusing a potential Margarito by landing a right hook off of the ropes to pull momentum and the crowd back in his favor.

Any thought of Pacquiao falling behind or losing focus went out the window in a badly one-sided seventh round that saw Margarito rocked and previous wounds reopened. Adding insult to injury for Margarito was the fact that the beating came in a round in which he landed more punches than in any other to that point in the fight.

Refusing to wilt, Margarito targeted the body in the eighth round, giving Pacquiao and his corner a scare when he pinned the modern day legend on the ropes. Pacquiao immediately responded, landing blistering shots upstairs, but Margarito bit down and let his hands go, resulting in by far the best round of the fight.

Unfortunately for Margarito, it proved to be his last stand.

Pacquiao went to town in the ninth and tenth rounds, further busting up Margarito’s grill to where referee Laurence Cole expressed concern over the Mexican’s vision possibly being compromised. A monster right hook towards the end of the round busted open Margarito’s facial cuts, in addition to his dealing to both eyes nearly swollen shut.

Amazingly, his corner set him out for the 11th round, though head trainer Roberto Garcia seemed hesitant to allow his fighter to continue before giving in and believing in his fighter’s heart.

“Tony’s a warrior,” stated Garcia, a former super featherweight champ and now one of the game’s fastest rising young trainers. “He would’ve never allowed me to stop the fight.”

Sometimes, it’s best to go with your gut instinct.

Pacquiao spent most of the 11th round alternating between battering a near defenseless Margarito and repeatedly staring at Cole, wondering when the third man planned to step in and save his battered foe.

Once again, Margarito not only survived the round, but also convinced his corner to let him go out there for three more minutes. His heart can never be questioned, although it’s conceivable that Margarito will never again be the same.

After unleashing an unmerciful beating for eleven rounds, Pacquiao exuded good sportsmanship in coasting in the final round. He had a proverbial dead man standing in front of him, but instead eased off of the gas and settled for a whitewash victory.

It was suggested by the broadcast crew that Pacquiao carried his battered foe for the sake of allowing him to cross the finish line. Pacquiao dismissed such notions, insisting he was just looking to be smart and win the fight.

“I felt pity towards my opponent,” stated Pacquiao, who scores his 13th straight win, as he improves to 52-3-2 (38KO). “His eyes and bloody face… I wanted (Cole) to take a look at that. In the 12th round, I wasn’t looking for a knockout, I just wanted to finish the round. My corner told me take it easy and just be careful.”

The win caps a crazy journey into the year’s biggest event, with too much of the pre-fight conversation centered around the negative aspects and not enough on what each fighter brought to the table.

Concerns were aired over Margarito not deserving the fight in the wake of last year’s hand wrap scandal, and whether or not Pacquiao was properly focused now that his time is split between boxing and serving as Congressman in his native Philippines.

In the end, it all proved to be nonsense as the sport was once again treated to the best fighter of this generation – and continuing to creep up on the very best of all time.

“I really did my best to win the fight,” Pacquiao said in the moments after . “I didn’t expect him to be as strong as he was.”

There’s certainly no question that the opposite held true.

“Things were going well until I got caught,” insisted Margarito, who falls to 38-7 (27KO). The fight was his first in the United States since last January’s scandal, which preceded a previous career-worst beating at the hands of Shane Mosley.

Saturday night was much worse, even if Margarito was able to make it to the final bell this time around. But according to the veteran of nearly 17 years, his heritage disallows him to fight any other way

“I’m a Mexican, I fight to the end. This time, I failed Mexico (by not winning), but I fight to the end.”

On the flip side, Pacquiao’s win once again is one for the history books, his nation and – as long as his only competition in the pound for pound polls continues to treat boxing as a part-time job – the sport itself.

Thankfully for boxing, the pound-for-pound king/Congressman believes he has plenty of fight left in him – whether that fight is against Floyd Mayweather Jr or anyone else.

“For me, I’m not scared to fight anybody, as long as there aren’t any problems with my promoter. I am still strong and will continue to fight.”

TELEVISED UNDERCARD

Welterweight contender Mike Jones saw his moment and went for broke. It nearly cost him the fight, but perhaps cost him considerable momentum.

The undefeated Philly prodigy punched himself out early but rallied late to eke out a hotly contested majority decision over divisional gatekeeper Jesus Soto-Karass in the chief support Saturday evening at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Scores were 94-94 even and 95-94 and 97-93 in favor of Jones.

Jones, who is being groomed by Top Rank as a future welterweight superstar, came out with both guns blazing in the early round.

His big moment to make a major statement came in the second round, when Soto-Karass was rocked by several right hands and momentarily defenseless along the ropes. Jones unloaded, throwing nonstop in hopes of scoring an early knockout and sending a message to his welterweight peers.

Instead, Soto-Karass weathered the storm, leaving Jones to battle fatigue as well as a rejuvenated opponent.

The tempo of the fight dramatically changed, with Soto-Karass pressing the action for many of the middle rounds while Jones struggled both to gain his second wind as well as rediscover his punching rhythm.

Where Jones presumably pulled out the fight in the eyes of the judges came in the bout’s final three rounds. The lean boxer-puncher outworked Soto-Karass over the final nine minutes, though overcoming shaky moments of his own as there was plenty of two-way action to be had in what was easily the best undercard fight of the night.

Heading into the final round, Jones’ corner – who struggled to keep facial cuts and swelling under control – insisted that the fight was on the table for their fighter to take if he wanted it that bad.

Jones did. And they were right in their insistence that the round would determine the fight. That Jones was able to finish the strong proved to be the difference in a majority decision that would’ve otherwise went  the other way.

Instead, he escapes the Lone Star State with his undefeated record still intact as he improves to 23-0 (18KO). Soto-Karass, despite delivering his best performance in years, falls to 24-5-3 (14KO), now winless in his last three contests.

***

Two-time Olympic Gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux scored a unanimous decision over Ricardo Cordoba in their 12-round super bantamweight tilt.

Scores were in favor of Rigondeaux, who looked very impressive for a fighter taking on a legitimate Top Five opponent after just six pro fights.

Despite the accelerated rate, it was hardly a performance for the time capsule for Rigondeaux. Action was lacking in a bout of counterpunching southpaws, although both fighters were credited for a knockdown over the course of the first half of the bout.

Rigondeaux struck first, scoring with a left hand to Cordoba’s ribcage to cause a delayed reaction knockdown in the fourth. For whatever reason, the Cuban opted to put it into cruise control rather than capitalize on momentum.

This decision was prove unwise, as it actually allowed Cordoba back into the fight.  A right hand in the sixth round caused Rigondeaux’ knees to buckle and glove to touch the canvas, which referee Jon Schorle correctly ruled a knockdown.

It was perhaps the last notable moment of action in the fight, with Rigondeaux spending the back six rounds turning a fight into a boxing match. It proved to be the right call as far as the cards went, though did nothing to improve his marketability.

Cordoba wound up a 114-112 winner on Raul Caiz Sr’s card, but was overruled by scores of 114-112 and a far too wide 117-109 in favor of Rigondeaux, who advances to 7-0 (5KO) in his first pro fight beyond eight rounds.

A three-fight win streak is snapped for Cordoba, who falls to 37-3-2 (23KO).

***

Unbeaten lightweight Brandon Rios opened the show with a fifth-round stoppage over Omri Lowther.

The official time was 2:17 of the fifth round in a bout in which both fighters accepted on short notice.

Three months after making a big splash with his HBO-televised upset disqualification win over Anthony Peterson, Rios struggled to get untracked early on but still controlled the pace of the bout thanks to a committed body attack.

Lowther, 137 ½ lb, took the opening round on pure athleticism, as Rios was sluggish and fairly inactive. It would be only round in which such would be the case, though not to say that the fight was particularly action-packed.

Due to a training camp cut short, Rios, 140 ¼ lb, didn’t appear physically at his best. Still, the Mexican-American brawler gave 100% of whatever he had on this particular evening, and it turned out to be too much to handle for Lowther, who was functionally overwhelmed from the second round onward.

Rios unloaded in the fourth round, to where it appeared that Lowther’s corner was ready to call it a night in between rounds. They ultimately allowed their charge to continue, though it merely meant more punishment for the Toronto native to absorb.

A flurry of headshots along the ropes had Lowther in trouble late in the fifth, but was spared further punishment when veteran referee Raul Caiz Jr. used sound judgment in disallowing the onslaught to continue.

Rios improves to 26-0-1 (19KO) with the win, his third of the year and now having won his past seven fights inside the distance.

Lowther suffers his second straight defeat as he falls to 14-3 (10KO).

The matchup came about after former middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik withdrew from the card due to yet another injury (and rumored personal issues) suffered during training camp.

Rios was previously scheduled to appear on Top Rank’s independent pay-per-view show on December 4, but didn’t hesitate to take the opportunity to appear on arguably the biggest event of the year.

The decision forced him to cut short training camp by three weeks, which possibly had a direct result in his showing up heavy at Friday’s weigh-in.

That he had to pay a $5,000 fine capped what was a miserable fight week for the Oxnard (CA) resident. He, along with stablemate Antonio Margarito and trainer Robert Garcia, were forced to repeatedly apologize for a leaked YouTube video which had the group mocking the hand wrap scandal as well as Roach and the Parkinson’s disease from which he suffers.

Winning cures many things and Rios’ win was met with a round of cheers from the already huge crowd on hand, but it remains to be seen where he stands among the general boxing public while the incident remains fresh in everyone’s mind.

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of Boxingscene.com and an award-winning member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Contact Jake at JakeNDaBox@gmail.com .