Last Saturday (Sunday morning, Manila), Sanchez did his best impersonation of fabled rulebreaker Sandy Saddler as he butted, wrestled, and hit International Boxing Federation (IBF) titlist Manny Pacquiao below the belt in a unification brawl at the jampacked Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco.
Referee Marty Denkin stopped it at 1:12 of the sixth round after the ringside physician ruled Pacquiao unfit to continue due to cuts inflicted by Sanchez’ butts. Under unified championship rules, the fight was decided by the scorecards. Judge Ricardo Bays of Florida scored it 58-54 for Pacquiao, judge Marshall Walker of California had it 55-57 for Sanchez, and judge Raul Armando Caiz of Texas saw it a 56-56 draw. Both fighters retained their belts by virtue of the technical split draw.
Most ringsiders saw Pacquiao the clear winner. HBO commentator Harold Lederman scored it 58-54 for Pacquiao. Mark Butcher of secondsout.com, a popular boxing website, had Pacquiao on top by two points. Doug Fischer of maxboxing.com, another boxing website, saw it a draw.
If Denkin hadn’t slapped a pair of point deductions on Sanchez in the third and fourth rounds, the Dominican would’ve won by a split decision. And Pacquiao would’ve last his IBF crown.
Although Denkin lowered the boom on Sanchez twice, he never took control of the fight as the Dominican repeatedly fouled Pacquiao. Denkin, 67, didn’t deduct a point from Sanchez when he opened a cut on Pacquiao’s right eyelid with a butt in the second round and also didn’t penalize the WBO champion for inflicting another gash in the sixth.
In the fourth round, Sanchez shamelessly struck Pacquiao on the left leg and keeled over the Filipino. Pacquiao grimaced in pain and could hardly stand as Denkin allowed a grace period of five minutes to recover from the foul blow. An enraged Pacquiao picked himself up from the canvas and fought on.
"Sanchez was rubbing his head and the inside of his gloves to (widen) Manny’s cut," said Pacquiao’s Mexican cutman Ruben Gomez.
Pacquiao called Sanchez a wrestler, not a boxer. His consolation is he returns home tonight still the IBF 122-pound champion.
But it doesn’t seem like Pacquiao will get a chance to pay back Sanchez. Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach and fight coordinator Sydney Hall said there will be no rematch.
"I don’t think we’re gonna fight this guy again," said Roach. "He deliberately fouled us over and over. Yeah, he was penalized twice but he hit Manny low 20 more times that went unpunished. That guy’s a disgrace to boxing and should have his license pulled."
Hall said Sanchez isn’t worth another fight. "Manny has better fish to fry," added the San Francisco-based immigration lawyer.
Promoter Murad Muhammad, who holds the rights to Pacquiao’s fights in the US, said the Filipino has nothing to be ashamed of. "Manny is a bigger star now because of the bad decision," he said.
But Sanchez was unremorseful despite his obvious dirty tactics. "(Pacquiao) cries too much," he said. "This is a championship fight. To be a champion, you have to have heart – he doesn’t have it. He cried and has no guts."
STAR researcher Jason Aniel, who witnessed the fight at ringside, said, "I am disappointed with the result. But I am so proud of our champion because he showed heart when he could have quit and he was professional by not hitting Sanchez back low. I agree with Murad that Manny is a bigger star because after the fight, everyone was telling him he should be the three-time champion."