Mayweather Defends Title With Tko Of Manfredy
MIAMI (Ticker) -- Floyd Mayweather Jr. left no doubt about who is the best 130-pound fighter in the world as he hammered Angel Manfredy tonight, retaining his World Boxing Council super featherweight title with a second-round technical knockout.
The fight lasted just under six minutes and Mayweather was in control throughout. He immediately set the tone with his edge in hand speed, then showed that the "Pretty Boy" also packs a powerful punch.
The undercard featured a controversial heavyweight battle as David Tua -- helped by a damaging blow delivered clearly after the bell -- scored a 10th-round technical knockout of previously unbeaten Hasim Rahman.
Those who thought these fighters were meeting too early in their careers may have been right -- at least in the case of Manfredy, who carried his trademark devil's mask instead of wearing it, which turned out to be a bad omen.
Mayweather began scoring almost instantly with superior hand speed. He dominated the first round, although Manfredy did a better job of cutting off the ring later in the frame and scored with a couple of punches.
Mayweather maintained control through the second round and hurt Manfredy for the first time with an overhand right with about 40 seconds to go. Manfredy buckled against the ropes and Mayweather moved in for the kill, throwing a combination of left hooks and overhand rights.
Mayweather threw between 12 and 15 unanswered punches. After a long straight right, referee Frank Santore stopped the fight with 13 seconds left in the round.
"A right hand shook him up," Mayweather said. "I'm throwing shots and he's not coming back with nothing. I'm throwing combinations and uppercuts."
"Manfredy was taking punches and not answering back," Santore said. "He didn't throw any punches back and was in no shape to defend himself. I said `Angel, you got to fight back' and he didn't respond."
Manfredy was about the only one who saw things differently.
"He caught me with two good shots. I was not dazed at all," he said. "The referee did not tell me to start throwing punches. It was political. It was all rigged up for him. I was staying composed and still he could not stop me. He could not stop me. How could they stop the fight? That's not supposed to happen in true championship fights. He did not hurt me. I stayed composed. I was waiting."
A boxing prodigy, the 21-year-old Mayweather improved to 19-0 with 15 knockouts. He has the pedigree from father and trainer Floyd, Sr. and uncles Jeff and Roger, all successful boxers.
This was Mayweather's first defense after taking the title from two-time junior lightweight champion Genaro Hernandez. He has had a sterling pro career after settling for a bronze medal in the 1996 Olympics.
The 24-year-old Manfredy dropped to 25-3 with his first loss in four years. The heavily tattooed boxer was just 2-2-1 in his first five fights and headed for journeyman status until finding religion and rededicating himself to his craft.
For his entrance, Manfredy held the mask in his glove as he walked towards the ring. He was wearing a silver robe with angel wings and also had angel wings on his trunks.
Manfredy beat Arturo Gatti in January. In his last bout in September, he posted a hard-fought victory over John Brown.
Rahman was in control from the outset of the scheduled 12-round bout, outboxing Tua and dominating the action with his jab and an overhand right.
But at the end of the ninth round, the momentum shifted. Tua connected with his trademark left hook just before the bell. He then threw another left hook after the bell that caused Rahman to slump against the ropes. However, referee Telliz Assimenios did not deduct any points from Tua.
"I thought the bell had already rung," said Rahman, who had knocked out 24 of his first 29 opponents. "Maybe I'm mistaken."
The break between rounds was not enough for Rahman to recover and Tua jumped all over him. Rahman was hurt but was fighting back and had not gone down when the fight was stopped by Assimenios, who was subsequently shoved by an incredulous Rahman.
"The guy could not defend himself along the ropes," Assimenios said.
"You're not supposed to rob the champ. I was punching back," Rahman said. "I was not buzzed. The man's a puncher. I'm the champ. The man should not have jumped in there. I was defending myself."
Tua caught a break as he trailed on all three judges' cards. Through nine rounds, judge Mike Glienna had it 89-87 in favor of Rahman, while judges Rocky Young and Sheila Harmon-Martin had it 89-82.
"I knew sooner or later I would catch up," said Tua, who moved to 33-1 with 27 knockouts and perhaps a step closer to a shot at the heavyweight title.
The fighters were scheduled to meet in September, but Rahman withdrew because of promotional problems, later claiming he was injured in training.
The bouts were televised by HBO.
Sun Dec 20 01:00:30 ET 1998