Chavez Sits This One Out

Once again, the boxing forecast called for Mayweather. That would be Floyd Mayweather Jr., of course, the World Boxing Council super featherweight champion, who retained his title Saturday night with a ninth-round technical knockout of Jesus Chavez.

Mayweather rocked Chavez with a flurry of punches in the eighth and ninth rounds, most of them straight right hands and uppercuts, and Chavez stayed on the stool in his corner as the bell sounded for the 10th round.

“I’m not going to let my fighter go out on his back,” said Ronnie Shields, Chavez’s trainer. Instead, he went out sitting down. Mayweather, who remained undefeated in 27 bouts and scored his 20th knockout, was content to let Chavez be the aggressor for the first six rounds, and it turned out to be the correct strategy.

“I knew what his game plan was coming in,” said Mayweather. “I was just going to let him punch himself out. But he’s a tough guy.”

Mayweather was safely ahead on all three judges’ cards when the fight was stopped. When he saw Chavez stay in his corner, Mayweather stood on the bottom rope and raised his gloves in triumph.

Afterward, Mayweather said he had trouble making the 130-pound weight limit. “This is positively my last fight at 130 pounds,” he said. “I didn’t eat for four days.”

Mayweather said he would like to take on WBC lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo for the 135-pound title. Kostya Tszyu, who won the undisputed 140-pound title a week ago, could be a future opponent.

Saturday’s fight had been scheduled for Oct. 6, but Mayweather had all four wisdom teeth removed in early September and the Paris Las Vegas hotel declined to stage the bout under terms of the original deal.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum found a home for the fight when local promoter Peter Howes showed interest. This was the first major title fight since 1962, when Dick Tiger won a decision over Gene Fullmer in a middleweight bout at Candlestick Park.

The fight drew a sellout crowd of more than 7,000 to the downtown Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. Mayweather’s title defense was his eighth, but his first since he scored a unanimous 12-round decision over Carlos Hernandez in May in Mayweather’s hometown of Grand Rapids, Mich.

Chavez, from Austin, Texas, has been the No. 1-ranked WBC challenger since 1998. The 28-year-old lost for the second time in 37 pro bouts. He said the decision to quit was not his, but he didn’t argue about it either. “He’s my trainer,” Chavez said. “I listen to him.”

Mayweather spent some of his time between rounds chatting with HBO announcers George Foreman and Jim Lampley. The Mayweather bandwagon picked up more steam. As soon as the fight was stopped, Mayweather’s followers rushed the ring and in an instant it was overflowing.

Earlier, Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines retained his International Boxing Federation super bantamweight title in an unusual split-decision draw with Agapito Sanchez of the Dominican Republic. The fight was stopped in the sixth round because Pacquiao was bleeding above his right eye after he was accidentally head-butted by Sanchez early in the second round. Sanchez also had one point removed for a low blow and another for an illegal blow when he rubbed the laces of his glove on the side of Sanchez’s face in a clinch.

Referee Marty Denkin decided Pacquiao could not continue and the decision was based on the judges’ scorecards. The three judges were evenly divided--one had Pacquiao ahead by four points, one had Sanchez ahead by two and one had the bout even.

Of course, both parties were outraged.

Sanchez said Pacquiao was soft. “He cries too much,” he said. “He has no heart. You have to have heart to be a champion. He doesn’t have one.”

Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, said his fighter was robbed.

“Tremendous miscarriage of boxing justice,” he said. “Sanchez repeatedly made intentional fouls.”