No doubt, all of us boxing fans who tuned in Saturday night were watching to see the great Manny Pacquiao move in up in weight to challenge Lightweight title holder David Diaz (formely 34-1-1) for his fourth world championship belt in as many weight divisions.  We were treated to that and more, as Pacquiao put on a bedazzling, master-class performance.

The phrase "incomparable ring violence", and the words "tsunami, tornado, and hurricane" were all used to describe Pacquiao's 9th round annihilation of David Diaz in what was a very entertaining, very one-sided fight. It was a level of boxing excitement and brutality we've come to expect when seeing "Pac-Man" get it on. 

In the words of Diaz, "Fucker was fast", "I could handle the power, but I just couldn't handle the speed."  That is the "tsunami" that is Manny Pacquiao, the Filipino sensation that has risen from obscurity to recently become the number one athlete in the sport by pundits, after the retirement of Floyd Mayweather Jr. on June 9th.

It is now increasingly clear that Manny Pacquiao is a force to be reckoned with.

But perhaps the most stomach churning event in recent boxing history unfolded during the co-feature bout which pitted top ranked interim title holder Humberto Soto (now 44-7-2)   against Francisco Lorenzo (now 33-4).  In the 4th round, Soto unloaded, shattering Lorenzo's nose and knocking him down twice, leaving Lorenzo on the canvas leaking blood all over, producing a sickening rain shower looking effect on the canvas. 

But on the second knockdown, as Lorenzo was falling, one of Soto's punches already in midswing, glanced the back of his head,  and referee Joe Cortez quickly called time.. The result was a 10 or 15 minute charade of deliberation which ended in Humberto Soto being disqualified for what appeared to be a glancing unintentional blow that was ruled intentional.

Even worse, Lorenzo was in obvious need of medical attention (from the overall battering he received), and none was immediately given despite the ruling of a concussive intentional blow to the back of the head substantial enough to render Lorenzo unable to continue; but apparently not enough to warrant the need for medical  attention.  Get your act together, people.

This sort of shoddy bullshit pisses me off to no end, and I don't think a single person watching Saturday night could agree with the ridiculous decision that referee Joe Cortez produced, disgracing our sport with his saying "I'm fair, but I'm firm".  Joe, you may be firm, but fair is a far stretch.  Thanks for putting another gruesome dent in our sport, jerk-off.

In another bizarre twist, the WBC decided to not award Francisco Lorenzo the interim championship because of the nature of his victory. That's wonderful, let's cover up one fuck up with another.  So the guy wins a title fight (despite being one of the worst referee decisions I've seen), but he does not win the title. What happens next? A belt for losing? (Oh wait, that just sorta happened!)