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HBO PPV Recap

The Dream Match: De La Hoya vs. Pacquiao

December 6, 2008

MGM Grand-Las Vegas, Nevada

Catch-Weight (165 pounds) 8-Round Match:

Daniel Jacobs (12-0, 11 KO's, 162 pounds) vs. Victor Lares (14-3, 3 KO's, 165 pounds)

Jacobs was a highly regarded amateur boxer and was expected to represent the United States at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympiad. However, Jacobs was upset in the Olympic qualifiers, which forced him to turn pro early. Jacobs turned pro on the undercard of the Ricky Hatton vs. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. PPV on December 8, 2007. In that 1 year since turning pro, this will be his thirteenth professional match.

Jacobs has since become a highly touted Golden Boy Promotions prospect and this match is designed to showcase him. He has a lot of punching power and this match is designed to give him a highlight reel knockout. This will be Jacobs' first scheduled 8-round match.

The Brooklyn, New York resident's last match was a technical knockout victory 2:59 into round 3 over Jimmy Campbell on November 8, 2008 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York on the undercard of Joe Calzaghe vs. Roy Jones, Jr.

Jacobs is unranked by The Ring magazine and currently the number 52 ranked boxer in the world at 168 pounds by boxrec.com.

Lares is here to lose in spectacular fashion. The 2 opponents Lares has faced with more then 8 wins on their record have defeated him. Lares has lost twice by knockout in 5 rounds or less making him tailor made for a power punching prospect looking to make an impression.

Lares' last match was an 8-round majority decision over Jesse Orta on May 24, 2008 at the Richard M. Borchard Regional Fairgrounds in Robstown, Texas.

Lares is unranked by The Ring and currently the number 155 ranked boxer in the world at 160 pounds by boxrec.com.

At 21-years-old, Jacobs is 10 years younger then the 31-year-old Lares. Jacobs has the height advantage standing 6' 1" tall while Lares stands 5' 8.5" tall. The Brooklyn resident has the reach advantage with a 24.5" arm length measured from the armpit to the end of the first, compared to the 24" arm length of Lares. Jacobs will be the larger boxer in the ring having unofficially rehydrated to 168 pounds since the official weigh-ins. Lares has not gained any weight since the official weigh-ins and is still 165 pounds. Both boxers will employ the orthodox stance.

The unified rules of boxing are in effect for this event. All of the judges keeping official score of this match from ringside are from Nevada. The referee is Jay Nady. Harold Lederman will be keeping HBO's unofficial scorecard for this event.

Jacobs hit Lares with power punches that appeared to have the Texan hurt twice in round 1. The Brooklyn resident wins round 1 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. Jacobs had his first child born on Wednesday and is in a hurry to go home. With 29 seconds to go in round 2, Lares is dropped by a combination that is finished a left hand and then a right as the Texan is dropping to the mat. Lares stands up and answers the referee's count to continue with 20 seconds to go in the round. However, the referee waves off the match. Lares looked okay to continue, but the call was fine. He was over-matched and probably took the knee somewhat voluntarily. Jacobs was going to knockout Lares in the next round after landing additional unwarranted punches. Also, Lares did not have the look on his face of someone who wanted the match to keep going. The sparse crowd booed the finish.

The official outcome from the legendary Michael Buffer is that: at 2:44 of round 2 the referee has called a stop to this contest making the winner by technical knockout and still undefeated, Daniel "The Golden Child" Jacobs. The win moves Jacobs to 13-0 with now 12 of those wins coming by way of knockout.

The final punchstat numbers have Jacobs landing 48 of the 155 total punches he threw, for a 31% total connect percentage. Lares landed only 7 of the 58 total punches he threw, for a 12% total connect percentage. Jacobs was very good in this match. He could be a force to deal with in a few years at 160 or 168 pounds. Jacobs next match will probably be in January at 160 pounds.

Lares did not lose in quite the spectacular fashion that had been hoped for, but he did his job. The Texan will probably step down in class in his next match to face an opponent with about 6 wins on a show in Texas.

The undercard matches on this show were awful.