10.06.07 – By Ron Hansen: WBC # 2 ranked junior lightweight Humberto Soto (42-5-2, 26 KO’s) stopped Bobby Pacquiao (27-13-3, 12 KO’s), the younger brother of Manny Pacquiao, in the 7th round on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden in New York city. From the start, Soto, 27, who appeared considerably larger, attacked Pacquiao viciously, landing big left hooks to the body, one of which hurt Pacquiao. Towards the end of the round, Soto knocked Pacquiao down with a left hook to the back of the head, although it appeared more like Pacquiao had been knocked down due to the shot catching him off balance.
In the 2nd round, it was more of the same with Soto dominating Pacquiao, 26, backing him up and landing hooks to the body and head. Unlike his brother, Manny, Bobby Pacquiao showed little of the handspeed that his brother if famous for. Indeed, Soto, a fighter not known for his hand speed, was in fact the quicker fighter of the two. Pacquiao, a southpaw, did little this round this round other than landing an occasional jab.
In the 3rd round, Pacquiao despite being out-punched for the majority of the round, he was able to land a number of excellent jabs, which snapped Soto’s head back. However, as the round was closing, Soto landed two left uppercuts in a row that hurt Pacquiao.
In the next round, a cut opened up over Pacquiao’s right eyebrow, causing the action to be briefly halted so that the ringside doctor could take a look at it. However, the action continued but the cut remained a problem for the rest of the way due to the blood dripping down into Pacquiao’s eye and blurring his vision. Soto appeared to be firmly in command in the round, when suddenly Pacquiao landed a right hand shot to the head, hurting Soto and causing his knees to buckle briefly. However, Soto fired back and fought even harder, though he was still badly hurt. Later in the round, Pacquiao hurt Soto again with a right hand, but he was unable to finish him as Soto fought back well.
In rounds five and six, the cut over Pacquiao’s eye become more of a factor, as his face was a mask of red blood and he constantly dabbed at it with his gloves. Soto essentially used the cut as target practice, landing jabs and hooks that seemed to slow Pacquiao down. However, Pacquiao still was able to land an occasional hard shot but they were becoming more infrequent. On the other hand, Soto’s punches seemed to be losing steam, which gave Pacquiao a faint glimmer of hope.
At the start of the 7th round, both fighters exchanged a few shots and the action slowed briefly, with jabs being thrown. However, Soto suddenly landed a huge right hand to the head of Pacquiao, badly hurting him and causing him to stagger backwards towards the ropes. Soto quickly moved in and landed a pulverizing left hook to the ribs, causing Pacquiao to drop to the canvas. The left hook probably wasn’t needed, because Pacquiao was badly hurt from the right hand. Nevertheless, the left hand finished the job, sending Pacquiao on all fours. The referee moved in and counted Pacquiao out.
With this win it sets up a potential revenge match with Manny Pacquiao, who likely will want to avenge Bobby’s defeat against Soto by getting him in the ring for some payback.