By Jake Donovan
It was a night of strange endings on Telefutura's latest edition of Solo Boxeo. Former linear welterweight champ Carlos "Tata" Baldomir and fringe junior lightweight contender Bobby Pacquaio both benefited from lucky breaks – in Pacquiao's case, literally – in scoring victories in separate bouts at the Morongo Casino Resort and Spa in Cabazon, California.
If you went solely by his last three fights, you'd be hard-pressed to believe that it was just a year ago when Baldomir was regarded as the king of the welterweight division. Having entered the fight coming off of back-to-back lopsided losses against Floyd Mayweather and Vernon Forrest, Baldomir appeared tonight as the presumed showcase fighter, with journeyman Luciano Perez brought in to provide little more than a heartbeat with boxing gloves in their ten-round tilt.
Perez apparently forgot to read the script, seemingly dominating Baldomir in the early going. Baldomir attempted to get on track in the 3 rd round, only to get rocked and driven into the ropes courtesy of a Perez right uppercut from out of nowhere.
Frustration was more evident on Baldomir's face with each passing round. It also showed in his actions, with a chopping right hand landing on the side of Perez' face well after the end of the sixth round, though no warning was issued.
Perez continued to stay in Baldomir's face through the seventh and eighth rounds, though unclear whether it was enough to win them. In fairness, the same could be said of most of the rounds in the bout. It was all the more reason for Perez to finish with a bang. Right?
Nope.
For reasons he will most likely live to regret for a long time, Perez took his foot off of the gas in the final two rounds. Perhaps the crude Mexican believed he did more than enough to impress the judges through the first eight. And Baldomir didn't exactly put on a clinic down the stretch, but did enough to offer the perception that he regained control of the fight.
It turned out to be just enough once the final scores were tallied. The first card of 95-95 perhaps best reflected the action in the ring, or at least came the closest to telling the truth. This being California, the truth and the final scores aren't always one and the same. Tonight would be such an occasion, with scores of 96-94 and an absurd 97-93 making Baldomir the victor by virtue of highly disputed majority decision.
The win was Baldomir's first since stopping Arturo Gatti in nine rounds last July (sixteen months ago). The 36-year old Argentinean improves to 44-11-6 (13KO) with the win, snapping a two-fight losing streak after having enjoyed an eight-year, 21-fight unbeaten streak that became well documented throughout his 2006 campaign, with the highlight being his undisputed title win in a huge upset over Zab Judah in a battle pitting one of the sport's greatest overachievers against perhaps its biggest underachiever.
Perez drops his second straight, and is now 3-6-1 in his last ten, though he manages to raise his stock in defeat. The Chicago-based Mexican journeyman is now 15-7-1 (13KO).
The dubious decision came an hour so after another strange-but-true ending made its way to TV, as Bobby Pacquiao scored a fluke knockout in the 4th round over Fernando Trejo in the televised co-feature. Trejo was forced to retire after suffering a broken right arm during the middle of an exchange.
The fight ending sequence was a bad break (no pun intended) for Trejo, who was otherwise handling the younger and less famous of the fighting Pacquiao's heading into the round.
The injury came when Trejo caught an errant left hand on his right forearm about a minute into the 4 th round while looking to throw a right of his own. Trejo dropped his guard, grabbing his right arm in pain as Pacquiao nailed him with a flush left to the chin. Trejo took a knee and immediately bounced up, frantically walking to his corner to inform his handlers of the injury. The referee was left with no choice but to wave off the action.
The official time was 1:14 of round four.
Pacquiao improves – using the term very loosely – to 28-13-3 (12KO) with the win, which snaps a two-fight losing streak. The well-traveled Trejo dips to 30-13 (12KO) with the loss after having won three straight heading into the bout. The injury stoppage marks the first time Trejo suffered a loss inside the distance, even if the final verdict is misleading.
With time to kill, promising junior lightweight prospect Juan Garcia received some unexpected TV time as he scored a unanimous decision over late sub Juan Alfonso Figueroa in their six-round swing bout. Figueroa was tougher than his record suggested, but the well-schooled Garcia remained poised throughout, with the final outcome never in doubt.
Official scores were 60-54 (2x) and a far more accurate 58-56, all for Garcia who improves to 13-0 (5KO) with the win. Figueroa falls to 5-7-1 (3KO), now winless in his last six, including four straight losses against undefeated 130 and 135 lb. prospects.
The show was presented by Top Rank, Inc.
Jake "The Jake-of-All-Trades" Donovan is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, a licensed judge, manager and promoter, and presently serves on the Tennessee Boxing Advisory Board. His column runs every Tuesday on BoxingScene.