Few fighters make their professional boxing debut with as much fanfare and scrutiny as the son of boxing’s only eight-division champion and Hall of Fame inductee as Emmanuel Pacquiao Jr. In front of a sellout crowd of 3,500 at the Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula, California, and broadcast live on ESPN, Jimuel Pacquiao made his much-anticipated ringwalk to his pro debut with his father Manny Pacquiao Sr. at his side.
Once the bell sounded, Pacquiao Jr. was on his own under a huge spotlight against another first-time pro, Brendan Lally of Chicago.
After four rounds, the fight was scored a majority draw with two cards even and one 39-37 in favor of Pacquiao Jr.
“For the next time, I’m definitely pushing it more,” said Pacquiao Jr. “Now that I’ve experienced it, it’s different from the amateurs. This is a big step.
Pacquiao said Lally was a hard puncher. “As the fight went on, he was roughing me up. It kind of affected me a little bit. I was shocked, I didn’t expect that from him. In my head, I was like, just bite down.”
Pacquiao Jr. Feeling the Pressure
Trained by Marvin Somodio at the Wild Card Gym, Pacquiao Jr. admitted to feeling nervous, especially when seeing the huge crowd that came to witness his fight. His mother, Jinkee, was in tears watching her son perform, just as she was at times during her husband’s long career.
His accomplished father showed his own nerves as he sat ringside, later explaining, “I’m quiet in my seat. I want to shout. I want to give instruction, but I’m sure he cannot hear it,” said Pacquiao Sr.
Brendan Lally Seizes The Moment
On the other side of the ring, Lally didn’t have a nervous bone in his body. The full-time high school English teacher participated in collegiate boxing at the University of Illinois, but had left the ring until he got the call for the Pacquiao fight.
Credit to Lally for putting up a strong offensive effort behind solid bodywork. He stepped right to Pacquiao, who was forced to trade punches with him. Lally came for a good time and refused to follow a prescribed script.
“I had a lot of fun,” said Lally. “It was a draw, I wish I had won. A win would have felt better, but I’m not mad. I got to do something awesome on a cool stage, and I had a lot of fun doing it.
Lally said he’s hoping for the best for Pacquiao Jr., but said his pro boxing career is one and done.
“No more fighting. I took the coolest opportunity to get on the coolest stage ever … I’m just a dude from Chicago, I’m an English teacher, and a grad student at U of I right now. It felt weird seeing myself up there,” explained Lally, who whipped himself into shape from 160 pounds down to the 135-pound weight limit for the opportunity.
Pacquaio Jr.’s Future?
Flashes of Pacquiao DNA were evident in his footwork, handspeed, and body language. But Jimuel Pacquiao’s hands aren’t as fast or accurate. He landed several strong left hooks, including one right at the end of the final round. The draw was a fair result, as Lally didn’t deserve to have a loss hung on him.
Manny Pacquiao said his son did well for his first fight. “He had just a couple of fights as an amateur and turned pro. So, for me, I’m satisfied with his performance, although we were expecting more. But it’s good experience for him, that he experienced a professional fight like that.”
Pacquiao says his son makes his own decision to fight. “I cannot stop him if he wants to continue to box. But what I’m going to do is advise and input more strategy and knowledge about boxing.”
Pacquiao wants his son to be on his next undercard so he can supervise his training. “I can push him more.”
Pacquiao Jr. is also a new father as of this week, making his Hall of Fame promoter/father a grandfather for the first time. It’s possible the circumstances were a lot to ask from Pacquiao Jr. Few pro debuts get this kind of attention, short of a handful of Olympic gold medalists. After a few more fights for both men, a rematch would be fitting.
Lorenzana and Arias Deliver All-Action Fight
In the main event, undefeated middleweight Lazaro Lorenzana, a native of San Diego who lives and fights out of Tijuana (18-0, 13 KOs) produced the action fight of the night in his American debut against veteran Luis Arias of Las Vegas (22-5-1, 11 KOs). 100-90, 99-91, 98-92 for Lorenzana.
Trainer Henry Ramirez said he’d told Lorenzana it would be a challenge to stop the veteran Arias, and Ramirez was right.
Showing good hand speed and plenty of aggression with the punch volume of a lightweight, Lorenzana unloaded combinations on Arias. He frequently waved Arias in and egged him on. When the two men started trash-talking in the ring, referee Ray Corona made a hand signal telling them to shut it down.
No worries, their hands did the talking. At the end of the fifth round and again in the ninth round, Lorenzana unloaded a multiple punch combination ending in a hard right hook, wobbling Arias. The final round was a blur as both men delivered their last bit of effort in a fun but one-sided fight.
“It was a tough fight getting in there with a veteran. It was an honor to share the ring with him [Arias]. He’s been in the sport a long time,” said Lorenzana.
“This fight was a stepping stone. My team and I know that we have big fights in the future. We are climbing to get to those.” In a middleweight division looking for an action star, Lorenzana may be able to seize the opportunity.
Undercard Results from Temecula
With his loud, enthusiastic friends and family cheering him on, Terry Washington of San Bernardino (6-0, 5 KOs) went ten rounds and heard the final bell for the first time, winning a lopsided decision over Ricardo Astuvilca of Lima, Peru (23-5, 5 KOs). Scores were 100-90 on all three cards for a shutout victory.
Although Washington’s knockout streak ended, he picked up the WBC USA Light Flyweight title with his win.
The fight was cautious through four rounds. The stringy Washington used his long reach to snap jabs at Astuvilca as the Peruvian circled the ring. Washington turned up the heat slowly, starting in round five, with the crowd pleading with both fighters for more action. Astuvilca was not willing to engage.
In the final rounds, Washington unloaded, throwing Astuvilca off balance as he connected several times. But he couldn’t stop the veteran Peruvian. The 21-year-old Washington may be disappointed, but putting in those rounds will serve him well moving forward.
Opening the televised card, flyweight prospect Jose Russell Regalado of Tijuana scored two knockdowns in the first round against Saleto Henderson of Indianapolis. Henderson made it to the bell, then put in another five rounds of action against the southpaw Russell.
After the sixth round, having lost every round and two points down in the first, Henderson’s corner wisely ended the fight. Regalado is now 16-1, 11 KOs, with Henderson falling to 10-3, 7 KOs).
The original main event, a WBO featherweight title eliminator between Lorenzo Parra of Venezuela (23-1-1, 17 KOs) and Elijah Pierce of Oklahoma City (21-2, 17 KOs) was cancelled, reportedly due to illness.