Matthysse spits out mouthpiece to quit

KUALA LUMPUR – Las Vegas-based referee Kenny Bayless said he waved off the fight when defending WBA welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse spat out his mouthpiece and dropped to one knee, indicating he’d had enough and that was his signal to declare Manny Pacquiao the winner by technical knockout at 2:43 of the seventh round at the Axiata Arena here yesterday morning.

“I thought it would be a competitive fight,” said Bayless. “Matthysse was able to hit Manny with some shots but Manny was just too fast and too strong. The corner didn’t stop the fight. I did when Matthysse spat out his mouthpiece.”

Bayless said it wasn’t a difficult fight to work. “It was a relatively clean fight and I didn’t need to step in to break up the fighters a lot,” he said. “There was that low blow by Matthysse in the sixth round but otherwise, there wasn’t much to warn the fighters about.” It was Bayless’ 10th ring assignment involving Pacquiao and first outside the US.

In the course of the bout, Pacquiao complained of a headbutt at least twice. Cutman Dr. Ed de la Vega was summoned to the corner during a timeout to check if Pacquiao needed repair work but except for a slight reddening under his right eye, there was little damage that Matthysse inflicted. 

De la Vega, a Filipino dentist from Los Angeles, was the fourth man in Pacquiao’s corner after Buboy Fernandez, Justine Fortune and Nonoy Neri. He brought six vials of adrenaline from the US to use for both Pacquiao and Chinese fighter Lu Bin who fought in the undercard. The vials cost over $3,000. He used one vial for Lu Bin and preserved the rest for Pacquiao in case of any eventuality. “I opened one vial for Manny to be ready for use but found no need to apply,” he said. “Manny was fine throughout the fight.”

Matthysse’s low blow came in the round after he went down from a right straight to the temple. While Bayless gave Pacquiao about 30 seconds to recover, it was also a respite for Matthysse, probably throwing the blow below the belt on purpose to clear the cobwebs in his head. 

Senate President Tito Sotto, who flew in to watch at ringside, said Pacquiao’s performance was vintage-like. He looked like a 29-year-old out there, said Sotto. Pacquiao later adjusted the age lower to 27 or 28, adding “do I look like I’m 39?” Sotto described Pacquiao’s showing as sensational and said it was like the Pacquiao of old. 

Rep. Toby Tiangco said Pacquiao’s new approach to conditioning was the key. “With Buboy and Justin, Manny decided not to overdo his training and preserve himself for the fight,” he said. “Manny did light training in the last three days leading to the fight so he was hungry. I think Manny realized at his age, he needed to adjust what to do in the gym. That paid off.”