The Head Butt That Hastened Solis's Downfall
By Ed de la Vega, DDS
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 17 Apr 2007
Canoga Park, CA -- Before the much-hyped Pacquiao-Solis “Blaze of Glory” at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas last Saturday, many pundits and common boxing fans predicted that Pacquiao will end his fight with Solis in the early third of the 12 round fight.
But, the Pacman had some other plans.
Pacquiao revealed to this writer and a few of his privileged friends who were inside his private bedroom in his suite at the Radisson Hotel after the fight that he wanted to prolong the fight and entertain his fans and supporters just a wee bit longer. He was so confident of his victory that he felt it would be an extra treat for everyone if the fight lasted longer much like the Larios fight at Araneta Coliseum.
Such is Pacquiao. Even faced with an opponent like Solis who parades an undefeated record and could be potentially dangerous, his thoughts are still about entertaining his fans and supporters. Indeed, the trappings of an emerging politician!
But, Freddie Roach had better ideas and reportedly told Pacquiao to quit playing and finish off Solis. Roach’s concern of course was that anything can happen in the fight particularly with Pacquiao facing a very hungry Solis who is out to make a name for himself.
Then in the 6th round, Roach’s concern came to being. Pacquiao suffered an accidental head butt from Solis that opened a nasty cut above his left eyebrow.
Solis (right) butts Pacquiao's left eye with his head that hastens Solis's own downfall. Photo by Dr. Ed de la Vega.
When the head butt occurred, it dramatically changed Pacquiao’s personal agenda. What appeared to be a relatively easy fight has rapidly deteriorated to something that is so urgent. The fight must simply end!
The cut appeared to have enraged Pacquiao.
Pacquiao changed plans and decided to turn on the heat and “put the pedal to the metal” so to speak.
He raised the bar and the only thing poor Solis can do was put up a valiant fight and hopefully prolong the inevitable. Solis managed to do that for at least the 7th round.
But an enraged Pacquiao is a very dangerous Pacquiao.
With powerful combinations that seemed to come from all over the place Solis could not do anything to defend himself, much less throw punches in the direction of Pacquiao. In fact, at the post fight news conference, Solis admitted that Pacquiao is so fast that he had a very hard time seeing where the punches are coming from.
In the 8th, Solis was knocked down twice. Although he beat the count after the first knocked down, he was so beat that he failed to do the same after the second one, giving Pacquiao a KO victory.
“Nun nakita ko na groggy na siya tapos nun unang knocked down, alam ko tapos na ang labanan,“ said Pacquiao (When I saw him groggy after the first KD, I knew the game is over).
With that, Solis’s clean record suddenly had a blemish. He joined the infamous list of Mexican pugs that fell before Pacquiao and sealed the Pacman’s reputation as the “Mexican assassin.”
Solis ending up with the others was inevitable. But, it was hastened because of the head butt.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ed de la Vega, DDS.
Recent PhilBoxing.com In-House articles:
THRILLA IN MANILA GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY 20: MUHAMMAD ALI VS. JOE FRAZIER III ON OCTOBER 1, 1975 AT THE ARANETA COLISEUM
By Maloney L. Samaco, Thu, 16 Oct 2025Round 12 with Mauricio Sulaimán: History of Boxing in Reynosa, Tamaulipas
By Mauricio Sulaimán, Thu, 16 Oct 2025YORK HALL PRESS CONFERENCE: EVERYTHING THAT WAS SAID AS CONWAY AND LIDDARD GET SET FOR HUGE DOMESTIC CLASH
Wed, 15 Oct 2025Unbeaten Super Featherweight Contender Andres Cortes Set for Return on October 18 Against Derlyn Hernandez-Geraldo in Long Beach
Wed, 15 Oct 2025JOEL “LETHAL” LEWIS RETURNS NOV 28TH THUNDERDOME 52 – METRO CITY PERTH
Wed, 15 Oct 2025Shane Mosley Sr. Blasts Oscar De La Hoya of Blocking Son’s Title Shot, Calls for Trilogy Fight on Drew & Pris Uncensored podcast
Wed, 15 Oct 2025MASOUD vs McGRAIL HEADLINES BLOCKBUSTER MONTE-CARLO SHOWDOWN VI CARD ON SATURDAY, DECEMBER 6 – LIVE ON DAZN
Wed, 15 Oct 2025WFM Mendoza seizes lead in 2025 FIDE World Youth Chess Championship
By Marlon Bernardino, Wed, 15 Oct 2025YOENLI HERNANDEZ KNOCKS OUT RAMON DELACRUZ SENA IN FIRST ROUND OF MAIN EVENT OF FISTS OF FURY 8
Wed, 15 Oct 2025BEN WHITTAKER TITLE SHOT CONFIRMED WITH PRESS CONFERENCE THIS FRIDAY
Wed, 15 Oct 2025GOLDEN BOY ANNOUNCES PARTNERSHIP TO BOOST AMATEUR TALENT IN CHIHUAHUA, MEXICO
Wed, 15 Oct 2025SHANNON RYAN: I'M READY TO BRING 'KAOS' TO YORK HALL THIS WEEK
Wed, 15 Oct 2025Nikita Tszyu Health Update
By Gabriel F. Cordero, Wed, 15 Oct 2025THE PAST WEEK IN ACTION 13 OCTOBER 2025: Ennis Wipes Out Lima; Vianello Defeats Barriere; Makhmudov Outpoits Allen
By Eric Armit, Tue, 14 Oct 2025Omar Juarez Set for Homecoming Clash Against Omar Rosario on October 18 i
Tue, 14 Oct 2025