A roundup of the past week's notable boxing results from around the world:
Saturday at Las Vegas
Floyd Mayweather W12 Manny Pacquiao
Retains unified welterweight title
Scores: 118-110, 116-112 (twice)
Records: Mayweather (48-0, 26 KOs); Pacquiao (57-6-2, 38 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: After the five-year saga to make the fight, Mayweather-Pacquiao is finally over. Was it worth the wait? Absolutely not. Did it live up to the uber worldwide hype? Not even close. But then again, how could it possibly have? Anyone who buys a Mayweather fight -- and it is expected to crush the all-time pay-per-view records for buys and money -- believing they will see a classic action battle is just not paying attention. That is not Mayweather's game. If you realize that ahead of time, you won't be disappointed.
The reason why the fight was what it was is because Mayweather, a five-division champion, is just that great. He may not be "TBE" ("the best ever," as he calls himself), but he's way up there and he proved once again that he is the best of his time, a fighter so far superior to everyone in his era that he can basically do as he pleases and outbox anyone.
So, yeah, it was not a great, fan-friendly fight, but it was Mayweather at his master boxer best as he rolled to a fairly dominant win in the legacy fight of his career before a sold-out crowd of 16,507 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, which was overloaded with the rich and famous and seemingly every Hollywood and sports star one could think of.
Mayweather firmly established that he is the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world. His only true competition was Pacquiao, the 36-year-old Filipino legend and boxing's only eight-division titleholder. As it turned out, it wasn't really much of a competition: Mayweather, 36, of Las Vegas, lost some early rounds and got rocked in the fourth round, but otherwise made Pacquiao look silly swinging at air and missing and chasing him around the ring.
What was so disappointing was to hear Pacquiao, trainer Freddie Roach and Top Rank promoter Bob Arum make excuses after the fight (which, incredibly, they said they thought they won) for Pacquiao's poor performance, something they attributed to a right shoulder injury suffered about 2½ weeks before the bout. But it's very simple: If you're hurt, don't fight. If you do fight, do not make excuses. For what it's worth, Mayweather said he also had injuries to his shoulders and hands coming into the fight. It obviously did not impact him because he danced and moved and, oh yeah, also outpunched Pacquiao. Perhaps Mayweather's shots did not have the same kind of steam as Pacquiao's did, but he was the better offensive fighter and defensively brilliant as always. Pacquiao could barely hit Mayweather, and you can't win if you can't deliver the power.
The CompuBox punch statistics really tell the story here as Mayweather connected on 148 of 435 punches (34 percent) while Pacquiao, one of the most offensive-minded fighters in modern times, had an anemic offense. He landed only 81 of 429 punches, a horrible 19 percent. That's how good Mayweather's defense is. Overall, Mayweather averaged landing 12 of 36 punches per round and Pacquiao a poor 6 of 35 per round.
The notion from some that there should be a rematch because of the supposed injury is silly. Perhaps there will be one someday just because of the ridiculous amount of money that can be made, but there is no legitimate reason for it. Mayweather said he will fight again in September -- opponent to be determined -- and then retire with the conclusion of his Showtime/CBS contract. When he does, he will go down as the best of his time, something he proved at long last with his shutdown of Pacquiao.
Leo Santa Cruz W10 Jose Cayetano
Featherweight
Scores: 100-90 (three times)
Records: Santa Cruz (30-0-1, 17 KOs); Cayetano (17-4, 8 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: This bout would be a disgrace no matter what card it was on, but for this to be the co-feature on the historical Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao card was an insult to boxing fans, who deserved legitimate supporting fights on a $100 pay-per-view, the most expensive in history. Santa Cruz, 26, a Mexico native living in Rosemead, California, is a junior featherweight titleholder, but rather than fight real opponents in his strong weight division, he moved up to featherweight to see how the weight suited him as he looks for a fight with former three-division titleholder and fellow Mexican Abner Mares. Santa Cruz, who did not even have an opponent until the week before the fight, wound up with a warm body in Mexico's Cayetano, a smaller man with zero chance to do much of anything except take a beating, which he did for 10 rounds in a monotonous shutout.
Cayetano was the third terrible opponent in a row that Santa Cruz faced. At one time, Santa Cruz was a celebrated action fighter fans loved. Now the horrid nature of his opposition has become a punch line.
Vasyl Lomachenko KO9 Gamalier Rodriguez
Retains a featherweight title
Records: Lomachenko (4-1, 2 KOs); Rodriguez (25-3-3, 17 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Lomachenko, a 27-year-old southpaw from Ukraine, won Olympic gold medals in 2008 and 2012 and is widely considered one of the best amateur boxers in history. He has made the transition well to the pro game and moved extraordinarily quickly, fighting for a world title in his second bout (and losing a decision to an overweight Orlando Salido, who fouled him repeatedly) and then claiming the vacant belt with a masterful performance against Gary Russell Jr. in his third fight.
Lomachenko's first defense resulted in a shutout decision against Chonlatarn Piriyapinyo in November on Manny Pacquiao's last undercard; Lomachenko injured his left hand but still won easily. For defense No. 2, Lomachenko, who looks like a future pound-for-pound fighter, was again on a Pacquiao undercard and ran roughshod over Gamalier Rodriguez, 28, of Puerto Rico, who was thoroughly outclassed in a totally one-sided fight. Lomachenko's speed, power and technique advantages were plain as day. Rodriguez has no answers for Lomachenko's movement, angles and combinations.
Lomachenko, who signed a five-year contract extension with Top Rank prior to this fight, is a technical fighter but one who makes it enjoyable to watch because he doesn't run. He comes forward, punches and gets out of the way. Rodriguez had no idea if he was coming or going, and as if Rodriguez didn't already have all kinds of problems, referee Robert Byrd docked a point from him in the fifth round for a low blow.
In the seventh round, Lomachenko dropped Rodriguez to a knee with a combination. In the eighth round, Byrd took another point from Rodriguez for another low blow. In the ninth round, Lomachenko landed a sharp right hook to the head and Rodriguez went down to a knee and Byrd counted him out.
Ideally, next up will be a unification bout with Nicholas Walters, a match Top Rank claims it wants to make. Walters first will have to get by a defense on June 13 against an opponent who has not yet been determined.
Friday at Las Vegas
Raymundo Beltran TKO2 Takahiro Ao
A lightweight title remains vacant
Records: Beltran (30-7-1, 18 KOs); Ao (27-4-1, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Beltran, 33, who is from Mexico but living in Phoenix, was getting his third world title opportunity, and it was his best chance to claim that elusive belt after being ripped off in a draw in Scotland against Ricky Burns in 2013 followed by a one-sided decision loss challenging Terence Crawford in November. Although Ao, a southpaw, is a former featherweight and junior lightweight world titleholder, he has seen better days, but Beltran blew his chance for the belt because he was overweight for the debut of Top Rank's' "Metro PCS Friday Night Knockout" series on cable network truTV.
Beltran could get down to only 135.4 pounds, four-tenths of a pound over the limit. Although Ao, 30, made weight and was eligible to win the belt, Beltran crushed him, leaving the title vacant.
Beltran won the opening round, which featured some heavy exchanges, and then put Ao away in the second round. He dropped Ao hard with a solid overhand right hand on the chin. Ao was allowed to continue after beating the count but it was only a short matter of time. Beltran cracked him with a series of left hooks before Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the bout at 1 minute, 29 seconds.
Also on the card, 22-year-old Russian welterweight Konstantin Ponomarev (28-0, 13 KOs) surprisingly dominated favorite Mikael Zewski (26-1, 20 KOs), of Canada, en route to a one-sided decision. Ponomarev consistently beat Zewski, 25, to the punch, swelled his left eye and won by scores of 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93. In another undercard fight, Las Vegas featherweight prospect Jessie Magdaleno (21-0, 15 KOs), 23, scored a shutout against Raul Hirales Jr. (22-5-1, 11 KOs), 31, of Mexico, winning on scores of 80-70, 80-70 and 80-69.
Friday at Tokyo
Takashi Miura TKO3 Billy Dib
Retains a junior lightweight title
Records: Miura (29-2-2, 22 KOs); Dib (39-4, 23 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Miura, a 30-year-old southpaw, was fighting in his hometown as he made the fourth defense of his 130-pound world title and did so in impressive fashion against Dib, 29, a former featherweight titleholder from Australia, whose three-fight winning streak ended.
Dib moved a lot over the first two rounds while Miura chased after him. Miura eventually caught him in the third round and oh my, did he catch him. Dib was against the ropes when Miura crushed him with a left hand to the face and followed with two more punches that dropped him big time. Dib showed great heart to beat the count but he was glassy-eyed and wobbling, forcing referee Hector Afu to wave off the bout at 1 minute, 29 seconds.
Also on the card, former strawweight and flyweight titleholder Akira Yaegashi (21-5, 11 KOs), 32, of Japan, shook off a two-fight losing streak (both knockouts in world title bouts) to knock out Songsaenglek Phosuwangym (depending on the source, he is either 18-12, 5 KOs or 1-12, 0 KOs), 31, of Thailand, at 2 minutes, 5 seconds of the second round in a junior bantamweight bout.
Thursday at Las Vegas
Ishe Smith W10 Cecil McCalla
Junior middleweight
Scores: 98-92, 97-93 (twice)
Records: Smith (27-7, 12 KOs); McCalla (20-2, 7 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Smith, a 36-year-old former world titleholder, fought in his hometown and cruised to victory on a special Thursday night edition of ESPN2's Friday Night Fights. It was a much-needed win for Smith, who was coming off a one-sided decision loss challenging secondary titlist Erislandy Lara in December.
Smith, typically a defense-first boxer, stepped it up on offense against McCalla, 30, of Randallstown, Maryland, who lost his second fight in a row. Smith let his hands go with combinations and kept McCalla on the defensive. Smith hurt McCalla in the second round with a right hand and had him in trouble. He knocked McCalla's mouthpiece out in the fourth round with a right hand and had him again in big trouble in the fifth round. It was all Smith, who turned in one of his better performances. Given Smith's connections -- he is one of Floyd Mayweather's fighters -- it would not come as much of a surprise if he eventually landed another title opportunity.
Thursday at Indio, Calif.
Mercito Gesta D10 Carlos Molina
Junior welterweight
Scores: 98-92 Molina, 96-94 Gesta, 95-95
Records: Gesta (28-1-2, 16 KOs); Molina (17-2-2, 7 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Gesta, a 27-year-old southpaw from the Philippines who lives in San Diego, and Molina, 29, of Los Angeles, put on an excellent show in an exciting fight and wound up with a legitimate draw. Both men had their moments but it was the fans who won, thanks to an action fight that demands a rematch.
The fight really began to heat up late in the third when they went toe-to-toe to close out the round. It continued that way for most of the rest of the fight. By the end of the fourth round, Molina had a knot under his left eye from eating so many jabs. In the fifth round they had another fierce exchange that the crowd loved.
Molina was super-aggressive, perhaps fighting out of a sense of desperation, knowing how badly he needed to win -- or at least to not lose again. He had lost two in a row coming into the bout, a one-sided rout against Adrien Broner and a 10th-round knockout to Amir Khan. Gesta, more of a counterpuncher, saw a two-fight winning streak end since a one-sided decision loss challenging then-lightweight titleholder Miguel Vazquez in December 2012.