Gamboa and Jacobs win; Abraham gets DQ'd

Yuriorkis Gamboa of Joel B's Ready to Rumble scored a solid unanimous decision over challenger Jonathan Victor Barros, with a knockdown. Gamboa earns Option A: 1, Option B: 1, Option C: 16. Ready to Rumble moves to 12-1.

Daniel Jacobs, of Joel M's Hurricane Candlebox, annihilated his overmatched opponent, Jose Berrio, with a 1st round TKO. Jacobs scored 2 knockdowns. Option A: 2, Option B: 1.5, Option C: 18. Hurricane Candlebox is now 6-2.

In the night's most important fight, Andre Dirrell defeated Arthur Abraham of BWhit's Death is Forming by 11th round Disqualification. The slick-boxing Dirrell controlled the action with sharp combinations and high activity. Abraham stalked but found limited success, even getting floored in the 4th round by a big left hand. With Dirrell up on points, Abraham chased him into a corner in round 11, and Dirrell slipped. Abraham then fired a right to the chin while Dirrell was down, disqualifying himself and giving Dirrell the win. Dirrell was very emotional when he got up after a few minutes on the canvas. The Free Agent Dirrell moves to 19-1, while "King" Arthur Abraham moves to 31-1. BWhit's struggling team moves to 5-3.

Andrew creeps up on the league; Standings

Andrew's Sweet Chin Music moves to 4-0-1 with 3 KOs after Wladimir Klitschko's 12th round KO of Eddie Chambers. Klitschko moves to 54-3 with 48 KOs as he continues his dominance of the Heavyweight Division. Andrew earns Option A: 2, Option B: 3, Option C: 18.

STANDINGS:

1st.......Sweet Scientist (6-0, 3 KO) Option B: 9.5, Option C: 96

2nd.....Ready to Rumble (11-1, 7 KO) Option B: 16.5, Option C: 193

3rd.....Sweet Chin Music (4-0-1, 3 KO) Option B: 7, Option C: 73

4th.....Hurricane Candlebox (5-2, 2 KO) Option B: 4, Option C: 86

5th.....Head Hunters (5-2, 2 KO) Option B: 2, Option C: 85

6th.....Death is Forming (5-2, 1 KO) Option B: 6, Option B: 86

Joel M and Joel B grab victories; The Pacman dominates

In front of over 50,000 fans, Manny Pacquiao did his part to make his WBO Welterweight Title defense a quality display of boxing. According to Compubox, Pacquiao threw over 1,200 punches - of every variety, from every angle. His opponent, Joshua Clottey, blocked his face for 12 rounds and threw a punch or two every thirty seconds. The result was a one-sided decision win for Pacquiao, which left viewers wondering if Clottey was just content to get a payday and preserve his facial features. Clottey survived the offenses of Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto and now he can add Manny Pacquiao to that list. To his credit, Clottey is a very durable and cautious fighter. It's hard to imagine anyone ever knocking him out. Pacquiao proved again what he has shown before: amazing handspeed, combination punching, great movement and control of the ring and bravery. Let's hope his next opponent brings more to the table. Pacquiao earns Option A: 1, Option B: 2, Option C: 15 for Joel M's Hurricane Candlebox (5-2).

On the undercard, Humberto Soto won a competitive 12-round decision over former champion David Diaz. Soto is now the WBC Lightweight Champion. Diaz was the more brave man, while Soto was content to backpedal and land shots from far away. Soto did score 2 knockdowns, that were mostly about Diaz being off-balance. Joel B was not impressed with Soto and is considering dumping him. Option A: 1, Option B: 1, Option C: 17. Ready to Rumble is 11-1.

Pacquiao vs Clottey Prediction

To really understand the Pacquiao vs Clottey fight, I believe one needs to have seen Joshua Clottey in action. At welterweight, Clottey has battled for 33 rounds with 3 of the division's best: Zab Judah, Antonio Margarito and Miguel Cotto. Against Judah, Clottey found himself the slower of the 2 fighters, but with consistency and determination his strength was able to break down Judah. When the fight was stopped b/c of a cut after 9 rounds, Clottey won on the cards. Against Margarito, Clottey's performance made for a very difficult fight, landing solid shots on Margarito and staying on his feet throughout. He lost the decision, but I thought the scorecards were too lopsided at 118-109, 116-112 and 116-112. In his most recent outing against Miguel Cotto, Joshua Clottey won the fight, in my opinion, 115-112. However, the judges didn't agree, giving Cotto a 116-111, 115-112 win, while the 3rd judge scored for Clottey, 114-113. A postfight visual check would've indicated that Cotto was the man who received a beating. Blood and swelling covered his face. Clottey looked fresh and unharmed. But, the popular Cotto prevailed on the cards in what was probably a slightly political result.

Which brings us to tonight. Joshua Clottey, who is probably slightly better than Miguel Cotto, vs Pacquiao. Pacquiao had some anxious moments before proving dominance over Cotto by about round 6. In this fight, however, Clottey is not as likely to break down. He has no history of being badly cut or bruised and maintains a good defensive posture when he fights. I do NOT think there will be a knockout.

Who hits harder? I think the answer is Clottey. I may be proven wrong tonight, but I think if the 2 just traded hard shots, the man on the canvas would be Pacquiao. Let's not forget that Pacquiao was fighting at 130 lbs as recently as 2008. Clottey is a strong 147-lb welterweight. This is a dangerous fight for Pacquiao, if he gets too brave.

My final prediction....W 12 Pacquiao. Trainer Freddie Roach knows that the most important thing at this stage of Pacquiao's career is to win. I believe there is a clear path to victory for Pacquiao, which involves combination punching, staying away from Clottey's power and using his speed of both hand and foot. Being the showman that he is, I expect Pacquiao to mix in some exciting moments of trading power shots, but a knockout for either man would surprise me.

Mark moves to 6-0

Mark's Sweet Scientist team moves to 6-0 after Vic Darchinyan defended his 115 lb titles against Rodrigo Guerrero. Darchinyan dominated an action-packed fight but was unable to knockout the underdog Guerrero, who made the match more competitive than anticipated. Darchinyan earns Option A: 1, Option B: 0.5 and Option C: 15 with the win.

STANDINGS

1st....Mark (6-0, 3 KOs) 1.58 Option B Avg

2nd...JoelB (10-1, 7 KOs) 1.41 Option B Avg

3rd...Andrew (3-0-1, 2 KOs) 1.00 Option B Avg

4th...Jay (5-2, 2 KOs) 0.29 Option B Avg

5th...BWhit (5-2, 1 KO) 0.87 Option B Avg

6th...JoelM (4-2, 2 KOs) 0.33 Option B Avg

Also, Andrew is still down a fighter after dropping Fernando Montiel and not picking up a replacement.