By Chris Johnson: Undefeated super featherweight contender Urbano Antillon (22-0, 15 KOs) stopped Bobby Pacquiao (28-14-3, 13 KOs) in the 1st round of a scheduled 10-round bout tonight at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Late in the first, Urbano, 25, hurt Pacquiao with a left uppercut to the head, and then finished him off with a crushing left hook to the kidneys which dropped Pacquiao to the canvas. He was unable to get up and was counted out by referee Joe Cortez at 2:49 of the 1st round. Pacquiao, 27, stayed down for a long time afterwards trying to recover from the huge body shot from Antillon.
Pacquiao, the younger brother of super featherweight Manny Pacquiao, was controlling the round at the time of the stoppage. In fact, Pacquiao looked good as he moved around the ring shooting jabs and hard body shots. Antillon, ranked #2 in the WBC super featherweight division, kept the pressure on him throughout the round. Eventually Antillon’s constant pressure paid off when he cornered Pacquiao against the ropes late in the round and tagged him with a hard left to the body and a right to the head, causing Pacquiao to stumble away from him.
Antillon quickly pursued Pacquiao and almost immediately landed a perfect left uppercut that snapped Pacquiao’s head back in a gruesome manner. Antillon then followed with a left hook to Pacquiao’s right kidney, and a parting right hand shot to the head as Pacquiao was falling to the canvas. Pacquiao didn’t even try to get up, instead wincing in continuous pain from the devastating body shot.
The loss is particularly disappoint for Pacquiao, for it was his third defeat in his last four fights, and may signal his last fight in the United States according to reports. His power is still quite good, but he never had a chance to show it against Antillon due to the abrupt ending of the fight. As for Antillon, this fight opens doors for him to make a future shot at the WBC super featherweight champion, currently Juan Manuel Marquez. After Saturday night, the title may end up in Manny Pacquiao’s hands, which would set up a perfect revenge of the brother scenario if Manny was so inclined.