Saturday will be another grand day for boxing fans
Pacquiao versus Mosley, Saturday, May 7, from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, N.V. Photo credit Tom Casino of Showtime
Saturday morning, local San Diego boxers will be competing in another big USA Amateur Boxing show. This time around it will be at The Compound in Oceanside, CA and then later that evening they’ll likely be sitting down with family and friends to watch the thriller from Las Vegas with Manny Pacquiao defending his welterweight crown against Sugar Shane Mosley.
Today in Las Vegas, the MGM Grand welcomed both Pacquiao and Mosley. The boxers, arriving in their custom-designed buses, were greeted by hundreds of excited, screaming fans hoping to get a glimpse or a snapshot of their heroes. The Mosley bus was the first to arrive at a little after 11 a.m., then, a few minutes after 1 p.m., the Pacquiao bus rolled onto the property. After the preset TV interviews in a makeshift ring in the lobby, the boxers met with the print and internet media.
Saturday, at the sold-out MGM Grand Garden Arena, eight-division world champion Pacquiao (52-3-2, 38 KOs), of General Santos City, Philippines, will defend his WBO welterweight title against the three-division world champion Mosley (46-6-1, 39 KOs), of Pomona, CA, in the main event of a four-fight telecast produced and distributed live by Showtime PPV beginning at 6 p.m. PT.
On the undercard of this telecast
Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. of Bayamon, Puerto Rico
WBO junior featherweight champion Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. (20-0-1, 17 KOs), of Bayamon, Puerto Rico, will make his Las Vegas debut and third title defense against five-time world champion Jorge “Travieso” Arce (56-6-2, 43 KOs) of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, México.
In 2010, the 31 year-old Arce, a real scraper, fought five times and went 4-0-1. He’s almost always fought as a bantamweight at 115 lbs. His opponent, Vazquez, who has always fought as a junior featherweight (122- 126 lbs.), fought just three times last year, scoring two TKOs and one KO. In other words, Vazquez should have the advantage.
Jorge Arce of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico
As a side note: Arce stands 5’7” tall. One of his six losses was to the diminutive 5’1½” Victor Burgos of Tijuana, the others were to Vic Darchinyan, Simphiwe Nonggayi, Cristian Mijares, Michael Carbajal and Omar Romero. Since the majority of Arce’s fights (27) have been fought in Tijuana, Baja California, locals have adopted Arce as one of their own.
Kelly Pavlik of Youngstown, Ohio
Next, the former middleweight champion Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik (36-2, 32 KOs) of Youngstown, Ohio, makes his return after battling his problems with drink. He’ll face undefeated WBC Continental Americas super middleweight champ Alfonso “El Tigre” Lopez (21-0, 16 KOs), who is from Cut and Shoot, Texas in a 10-round super middleweight battle.
Pavlik’s losses were to two of the best boxers in the sport, Sergio Martinez last April and Bernard Hopkins on October 18, 2008. Lopez hasn’t fought anyone of the calibre of Pavlik and this one resembles a walkover.
Alfonso Lopez of Cut and Shoot, Texas
To close out the fight card they have Mike Alvarado (29-0, 21 KOs), of Denver, Colorado taking on “Sugar” Ray Narh (25-1, 21 KOs) of Accra, Ghana, in a 10-round super lightweight match.
Narh’s opponent comes into the fight after winning 11 of his last 13 fights by knockout. Alvarado has not had a fight go the distance in two years. A boxer-puncher, Alvarado boasts knockout victories over former world champion Cesar Bazan, former world title challenger Michael Clark, and world-rated contender Emmanuel Clottey, Narh’s Ghanaian compatriot.
Narh is riding a seven-year 15-bout winning streak, with 12 of those victories coming by way of knockout. He returns to the ring fresh off a 10-round unanimous decision victory over former world champion Freddie Norwood in March.
“Sugar” Ray Narh of Accra, Ghana
Even though his win/loss record appears to be padded, he does have victories over Angel Hernandez, Francisco Campos, Luis Bolano and 2000 Turkish Olympian Ramazan Palyani, who entered their bout undefeated.
Mike Alvarado of Denver, Colorado
