Pacquiao knocks out Solis to keep title

Apr 15, 2007, 8:50 GMT

San Antonio, TX - Manny Pacquiao retained his international WBC super featherweight title with an eighth-round knockout of Jorge Solis.

Pacquiao (44-3-2, 35 KOs), a congressional candidate in the Philippines, dominated most of the bout and ended it by flooring his Mexican opponent twice in the eighth round.

Solis (32-1-2), in his first world title fight, couldn't keep up with the fast pace of 'Pacman' Pacquiao.

Solis used a stunning right to the face in the fifth round, and Pacquiao sustained a cut above his left eye via a head butt. The cut was noticeably deep in the sixth and blood was trickling from near the left eye, but Pacquiao continued to pound away, and Solis was pushed to the canvas.

Solis landed a strong uppercut, but Pacquiao dominated the sixth round. The Filipino star continued to wince in pain from the cut near his eye in the seventh, but kept landing jabs and forcing Solis to retreat.

Pacquiao's aggressive boxing paid off in the opening minute of round eight, when he sent Solis to the canvas with a right uppercut. Pacquiao then used a solid left to floor Solis again, and referee Vic Drakulich counted out Solis at the 1:16 mark.

On the undercard, Edgar Sosa captured the vacant WBC light flyweight title with a majority decision over Brian Viloria. Two judges had the fight scored 115-113, while the other had it 114-114. This was Sosa's (27-5) first try at a world title and extended his winning streak to 15 matches.

Viloria (19-2), who claimed the belt last November after Omar Nino Romero failed a post-fight drug test, couldn't hold off a late charge from his opponent.

Cristian Mijares scored a unanimous decision over Jorge Arce to win the WBC super flyweight crown. Mijares (31-3-2) scored a surprisingly easy, 119-109, 118-110, 117-111 win over Arce (46-4-1), who was left with a bloody face.

Welterweight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (31-0-1, 24 KOs) scored a second-round knockout of Anthony Shuler (20-5-1). Chavez knocked down Shuler twice in the second round, and ended it with a strong left-right combination, ending the bout at the 1:32 mark.

© 2007 The Sports Network