SOTO WINS, CONTINUES TO DREAM OF PACQUIAO FIGHT
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 20 Dec 2009
After scoring a decisive ten round decision over a rough, rugged and sometimes dirty Jesus “El Matador” Chavez who often showed the instincts of a charging bull rather than a precise, elegant matador, WBC super featherweight champion Humberto “Little Zorro” Soto continued to dream of someday fighting pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao although that, at present, looks unlikely.
Soto moved up to lightweight to take on former champion Chavez who had fought such formidable opponents as the undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr and Mexican legend Erik “:El Terrible” Morales in the past and although he was in a war that sometimes turned ugly, Soto was too quick and too good for Chavez in another exciting bout telecast by ABS-CBN over Studio 23..
Soto dropped Chavez in the opening round and although he continued to get the better of the torrid exchanges, Chavez on occasions hurt Soto and created problems with his awkward style as he kept boring in and throwing punches without let up.
At one point Chavez had Soto grimacing on the canvas with a very low blow in round six after earlier throwing Soto through the ropes in round five for which he was deducted a point by referee Russell Mora. .
But no matter what he did Chavez couldn’t overcome the talented Soto who won by a shutout on the scorecards of all three judges 100-87.
Boxing writer Mark Vester quotes Soto as saying he still hopes to one day land a mega-bout with Manny Pacquiao, who is now fighting at the welterweight limit as the WBO champion. If he can't get Pacquiao, another fighter Soto hopes to land is WBO/WBA lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez. Soto wants an all-Mexican war with the veteran.
However, Marquez is scheduled to return to the ring on May 1 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. He was recently ordered to defend his WBO portion of the lightweight crown against Michael Katsidis. Sotos feels a victory over Marquez will finally land him Pacquiao
Soto said "Next year, I hope to have two great battles, against Juan Manuel Marquez and then against Manny Pacquiao," who had been mentioned as a possible opponent two years. But with Pacquiao’s present stature, a fight with Soto is not likely to make sense, financially for Pacquiao who is looking ahead for a super fight against undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr on March 13 most probably at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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