Keep coming back here for running updates of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley undercard on HBO pay-per-view. It probably will be no good, but always exciting Jorge Arce is in action, as is supremely talented Guillermo Rigondeaux, and there’s a potentially competitive fight between Mike Jones and Randall Bailey. P.S. The main event won’t start until after the Miami Heat-Boston Celtics game, at the earliest, but most likely you won’t see Pacquiao-Bradley until around midnight either way. We’ll write a separate blog post about the main event afterward.
Guillermo Rigondeaux-Teon Kennedy was a ritualistic slaughter on paper and ended up that way in three dimensions. Kennedy is an honest pug, and a fun brawler, but someone who loses to journeymen sometimes. Rigondeaux is an all-time great amateur and one of the most purebred men in the sport. Do the math. I thought it would last one round; Rigondeaux put Kennedy down in that round but Kennedy survived. Rigondeaux is a cold man, uninterested in finishing his opponent off on any time frame because he knows it’ll happen eventually. Four rounds and four more later, Rigondeaux’ speed, power and skill convinced referee Russell Mora to halt the mismatch. I can’t say I know what the point of this fight was — was it to make Rigondeaux look exciting? What is Top Rank doing with this fighter, a junior featherweight in whom they’ve shown little interest? Do they have some kind of contract for minimum fights per year and that’s why he was on this undercard? Anyway, Rigondeaux is a specimen, and I like him, and this didn’t change my view of him. He’ll be exciting when he feels like it, and he’ll beat most anybody he faces. We’ll see if he doesn’t face someone with more of a pulse in his next fight. Kennedy should return to fun brawls against similarly-skilled opponents next, one would assume.
Welterweight Randall Bailey cemented his reputation as one of boxing’s great active power punchers — I’d say THE best — with a one-shot uppercut KO of Mike Jones in the 11th, sending blood pouring out of Jones’ face for a couple minutes afterward. The fight had sucked hard, even horrendously, through the 10th, with Jones playing mouse to Bailey’s cat but Jones landing a few flurries per round and Bailey looking for one perfect shot, doing nothing along the way. Bailey changed that with his patented straight right that put Jones down toward the end of the round, the first knockdown of his pro career. Jones looked recovered in the 11th, but then Bailey again connected on a massive shot, a flush uppercut that whipped blood from Jones’ mouth and nose immediately. Jones appeared unconscious instantly, but eventually gathered the ability to try to rise — albeit unsuccessfully, and referee Tony Weeks halted the bout. As boring as the fight was, Jones showed why you have to fight Bailey this way if you’re going to fight him at all. Jones will have to redeem himself a bit after a loss like this, with skepticism mounting even prior to this loss, which had the double effect of rendering him less entertaining and giving him his first defeat. Bailey, meanwhile, is going to be who he is: a jaw-dropping puncher who looks for a single shot at all times and can etherize you with it in a Knockout of the Year-style shot like this one was. We’ll see if anyone wants to go after him now that he’s got a belt.
The 1st round of Jorge Arce-Jesus Rojas started hot: Arce knocked down Rojas, then Rojas got back up and slugged it out with Arce. We looked to be in for the first top-to-bottom exciting bout of the evening. Rojas had no resume but was proving worthy. The 2nd round? Rojas landed a three-foul combo, all probably unintentional — head butt, low blow, kidney shot — and as he moved away, a punch on the ear off a clinch. Referee Kenny Bayless tried to move in after the low blow, but no luck. Arce went down hard, unable to rise, complaining about his balance and not being able to hear anything. It was ruled a no contest, which was the right call. Strangely enough, none of the fouls by Rojas were intentional, by my eyes, so, yes, no contest. It’s too bad about this one. We ought to get a rematch. I’d sure watch, based on the this one and a half rounds. And Rojas saying Arce is a “coward” in the post-fight interview gives the fight a certain spice that the fight lacked coming in.
