Boxing Recap: Manny Pacquiao and Evander Holyfield Win, Librado Andrade Loses
The biggest event of the year was this past weekend's superfight between Manny Pacquiao (53-3-1, 38 KO) and Shane Mosley (46-7-1, 39 KO).
It resulted with the pound-for-pound star taking home a unanimous decision and a WBO welterweight title.
Pacquiao's training partner, Bernabe Concecpion, had a fight on Friday Night Fights, which was headlined by a super-featherweight bout between Diego Magdaleno and Gilberto Sanchez Leon.
Evander Holyfield also made a return to the ring at the age of 48 to face Brian Nielsen. Nielsen made a comeback attempt after being retired for nine years.
Middleweight top-10 boxer Sebastian Sylvester made a defense of his title against Daniel Geale in Germany.
Former title challenger Librado Andrade also made a return to the ring to face Aaron Pryor Jr.
No. 6: Koki Kameda Wins WBA World Bantamweight Title in Japan
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Koki Kameda got one of the biggest wins of his career after defeating Daniel Diaz in his first defense of the WBA World Bantamweight Title on Saturday. He is currently ranked ninth in the division by Ring Magazine.
Kameda (25-1, 16 KO) has now gone 3-0 since losing to Pongsaklek Wonjongkam last year, which was the first loss of his career.
Diaz (18-3) retired before the 12th round after being knocked down in the eighth and having his mouthpiece knocked out by a well-timed left hand in the ninth.
The 24-year-old from Japan will now look for bigger and better opponents to defend his title against, and they may come in the form of Yonnhy Perez, Vic Darchinyan, Abner Mares or top five pound-for-pound fighter Nonito Donaire.
No. 5: Aaron Pryor Jr. Upsets Librado Andrade by Majority Decision
2 of 6Former middleweight title challenger Librado Andrade (29-4) was hoping to obtain a second win in a row but came up short against Aaron Pryor Jr. (16-3) in a 10-round light-heavyweight bout.
The Hall-of-Famer's son, who was a 6-1 underdog, won a majority decision with the scores 96-94, 96-94 and 95-95.
It was a close fight but one that Andrade should have been given the victory. His lack of defense and ability to absorb punches looked bad in the judges' eyes, but he constantly moved forward and controlled the action for the majority of the fight.
Andrade's previous losses were only to former champions Mikkel Kessler and Lucian Bute, so this loss can be considered a big step back for him.
No. 4: Sebastian Sylvester Loses Title and Shot at Sergio Martinez
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Top 10 middleweight Sebastian Sylvester (34-4-1) lost his IBF title this weekend to Danny Geale (25-1) of Australia. Sylvester was ranked No. 2 in the division by Ring Magazine.
They fought a competitive fight to a close split-decision win for Geale.
One judge had it scored 118-110 for Sylvester while the other two had it 118-110 and 118-112 for Geale.
The top fighter in the division is Argentinian boxer Sergio Martinez, who is currently ranked No. 2 pound-for-pound behind Manny Pacquiao.
Geale will be defending his belt in Australia before making a mandatory defense to the No. 1 challenger. If all goes well for the 30-year-old, a potential bout with Martinez will be on his agenda.
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No. 3: Friday Night Fights Recap
4 of 6Undefeated prospect Diego Magdaleno picked up a TKO victory over Gilberto Sanchez Leon on Friday Night Fights.
Magdaleno (19-0, 7 KO) knocked down Leon (31-9-2) one time in the first round and two more times in the third round to earn the knockout win.
His younger brother, Jesse, also fought on the undercard and won a unanimous decision.
Bernabe Concepcion (28-5-1) lost a split-decision to Juan Carlos Martinez (19-12-1) in the co-main event. Cornered by Freddie Roach, Concepcion looked gun shy for the majority of the bout, which is probably a result of his loss to Juan Manuel Lopez last year.
No. 2: Evander Holyfield Overpowers and Stops Brian Nielsen in the 10th
5 of 6From Copenhagen Denmark, Evander Holyfield engaged in a heavyweight bout with former Mike Tyson opponent and 1992 Olympic Bronze Medalist Brian Nielsen. He stopped the 46-year-old in the 10th round.
Nielsen (64-3-0) hadn't fought since 2002 and hadn't lost since his bout with Tyson in 2001. Holyfield (44-10-2) is 48 and still competing frequently, although it is mostly against over-aged and overmatched opponents.
Holyfield is still in search of a heavyweight title, but his only hopes of obtaining one are against the winners of Vitali Klitschko vs. Tomasz Adamek or Wladimir Klitschko vs. David Haye.
It's safe to say a potential fight between Holyfield and any of those four boxers probably will never come to fruition. He may get one of the losers if he is lucky, if you can even call it that.
No. 1: Manny Pacquiao, Jorge Arce and Kelly Pavlik Pick Up Big Wins Saturday
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Manny Pacquiao (53-3-2, 38 KO) defeated four-time world champion Shane Mosley (46-7-1, 39 KO) over 12 rounds for the WBO welterweight title. It wasn't his best performance by far, but it was still a dominating victory.
Kelly Pavlik (37-2, 32 KO) also introduced himself to the super-middleweight division against the previously unbeaten Alfonso Lopez (21-1).
The former middleweight champion won a majority-decision in a good but not great performance against what many thought was an overmatched up-and-comer.
Five-time world champion Jorge Arce (57-6-2, 44 KO) achieved winning another world title in his back-and-forth brawl with Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. (20-1-1).
Vazquez went into the bout undefeated and as a favorite over the experienced veteran. It was a close fight throughout, and Vazquez even managed to drop Arce in the fourth round.
Arce returned with heavy firepower late to take out his opponent in the 12th and final round. The scores at the time of the stoppage were 107-102 Arce, 104-104 and 104-104.
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