Mexico City - March 23, 2005.
From WBC President Jose Sulaiman:
“I am very proud of the whole show that was presented on March 19 in Las Vegas, and especially the extraordinary fight between Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao. Morales showed that he is, without question, one of the the very best fighters pound-for-pound in the world.
“I would like to pay respect to the courage and bravery of Pacquiao, as well, who I feel did not lose. To the contrary, I think he won prestige with his outstanding performance.
“This was a war between two great warriors. With this win, Morales won the WBC International championship and became the one and only official challenger for super featherweight world champion Marco Antonio Barrera, as was approved by the WBC Board of Governors before the fight.
“I believe that Erik became the psychological and mental winner right in the first round. Manny drove him back to the ropes with five or six consecutive hard punches, but Erik immediately came back and took Manny back to the ropes, where he connected with six or seven even harder punches. To me, that set the tone for the rest of the fight, where Erik showed the steel of which he is built.
“Jorge ‘Travieso’ Arce, who was one of the most popular and distinguished ‘Big Brothers’ on the hit television series last year year in Mexico, proved with his knockout win against Hussein Hussein to be an even better fighter than a Big Brother. With the heart of a Mexican lion, courage, and determination, Jorge overcame a severe cut to win. I would like to congratulate and applaud Jeff Fenech for his coming into the ring to stop the fight in a humanitarian action, and I hope that his example will be followed by managers around the world. With the win, Arce becomes the official challenger for the next title defense of the great flyweight world champion Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, who has made 11 successful title defenses over his four-year championship reign.
“Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. proved that he is filling the shoes of his famous father, and is earning the respect and affection of the public.”
Upcoming World Championship and Final Elimination Fights:
April 2 - Worcester, Massachusetts - Cruiserweight World Championship
WBC champion Wayne Braithwaite (21-0, 17 KOs, Brooklyn, New York) vs
WBA champion Jean-Marc Mormeck (30-2, 21 KOs, Rosny, France)
April 4 - Osaka, Japan - Strawweight World Championship
Champion Isaac Bustos (24-6-3, 13 KOs, Mexico City, Mexico) vs
Katsunari Takayama (WBC No. 13, 14-1, 7 KOs, Osaka, Japan)
April 9 - El Paso, Texas - Super Featherweight World Championship
Champion Marco Antonio Barrera (59-4, 41 KOs, Mexico City, Mexico) vs
Mzonke Fana (WBC No. 2, 22-2, 8 KOs, Cape Town, South Africa)
May 7 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Lightweight World Championship
WBC champion Jose Luis Castillo (52-6-1, 46 KOs, Mexicali, Mexico) vs
WBO champion Diego Corrales (39-2, 32 KOs, Sacramento, California)
April 16 - Tokyo, Japan - Bantamweight World Championship
Champion Veeraphol Nakhonluang (47-1-2, 33 KOs, Nakhon Ratchaseema, Thailand) vs
Hozumi Hasegawa (WBC No. 4, 17-2, 5 KOs, Hyogo, Japan)
May 14 - Las Vegas, Nevada - Welterweight World Championship
Champion Zab Judah (33-2, 24 KOs, Brooklyn, New York) vs
Cosme Rivera (WBC No. 10, 28-7-2, 21 KOs, Huatabampo, Mexico)
Plus Middleweight Final Elimination Bout
Felix Trinidad (WBC No. 1, 42-1, 35 KOs, Cupey Alto, Puerto Rico) vs
Winky Wright (WBC No. 2, 48-3, 25 KOs, St. Petersburg, Florida)
May 21 - Chicago, Illinois - Vacant Light Heavyweight World Championship
Paul Briggs (WBC No. 1, 23-1, 17 KOs, Queensland, Australia) vs
Tomasz Adamek (WBC No. 4, 28-0, 19 KOs, Zywiec, Poland)
Plus Super Welterweight Final Elimination Bout
Ricardo Mayorga (WBC No. 2, 26-5-1, 22 KOs, Managua, Nicaragua) vs
Alex Garcia (WBC No. 15, 23-1, 22 KOs, Tijuana, Mexico)
June 25 - Atlantic City, New Jersey - Super Lightweight World Championship
Champion Arturo Gatti (39-6, 30 KOs, Jersey City, New Jersey) vs
Floyd Mayweather (WBC No. 1, 33-0, 22 KOs, Las Vegas, Nevada)
WBC Results:
March 19 - Las Vegas, Nevada - WBC International Super Featherweight Championship
Erik Morales (48-2, 34 KOs, Tijuana, Mexico) W12 Manny Pacquiao (39-3-2, 30 KOs, General Santos City, Philippines)
It was the most highly-anticipated fight of the year so far, and it was boxing at its best. No. 1 ranked Morales won by unanimous decision against No. 3 ranked Pacquiao at the MGM Grand in front of an announced capacity crowd of 14,623. It was a ferocious battle that repeatedly brought the fans to their feet. Pacquiao started fast and won the first and third rounds on all three scorecards, but Morales weathered the early storm and rallied in the middle and late rounds. Morales won the fourth, fifth and sixth rounds on two scorecards, then the eighth, tenth, and eleventh on all three. Pacquiao won the seventh round on two scorecards, and swept the ninth and twelfth. Both stood toe to toe in the final round, and punched nonstop until the bell. All three judges scored the fight 115-113. Joe Cortez was the referee.
WBC Flyweight Final Elimination Bout
Jorge “Travieso” Arce (39-3-1, 29 KOs, Los Mochis, Mexico) TKO10 Hussein Hussein (26-2, 20 KOs, Sydney, Australia)
Former light flyweight world champion Arce won by TKO against No. 3 ranked Hussein. It was a very exciting, fast paced fight, and a worthy prelude to the main event. Arce staggered Hussein early in the first round, but Hussein came back strongly in the second and several of the following rounds were close. Arce was severely cut on the bridge of his nose in the fifth round, but continually battled back and wore down Hussein, who was penalized one point in the eighth for repeatedly pushing down Arce’s head. Arce scored a knockdown in the tenth round, Hussein’s corner climbed onto the ring apron to signal the end, and referee Vic Drakulich stopped the fight at 2:07. After nine rounds, all three judges scored 88-82.