Diego Corrales vs Angel Manfredy

Diego Corrales retained his IBF and IBA super-featherweight titles with a destructive third-round stoppage of Angel Manfredy at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas, on September 2, 2000. Corrales entered the ring unbeaten in 32 contests, with 26 victories inside the distance, while Manfredy brought a record of 33 wins, four defeats and one draw. The champion weighed 129¾ pounds and the challenger 130. Their contest formed part of a Top Rank programme headed by Erik Morales and Kevin Kelley and was televised in the United States by HBO.

Manfredy earned his position through victories over experienced men such as Calvin Grove, Jorge Paez, and Arturo Gatti, whom he stopped on cuts in 1998. He had also challenged Floyd Mayweather Jr and Stevie Johnston, losing to Mayweather in two rounds and being outpointed by Johnston. Against Corrales, he faced a champion unusually tall for the division, with a narrow frame but exceptional leverage in both hands. Corrales had taken the IBF championship from Robert Garcia in October 1999 and subsequently defeated John Brown and Derrick Gainer before adding the IBA belt against Justin Juuko. This was his third defence of the IBF title and his second of the IBA championship.

Manfredy began by moving around the taller man and trying to enter quickly behind his jab. His plan had scarcely been tested when Corrales struck. The first serious punch thrown by the champion was a short counter left hook, delivered as Manfredy stepped into range. It landed squarely on the jaw and dropped the challenger heavily. Manfredy rose and showed that he remained willing to engage, but the knockdown established the difference in punching power. Corrales did not rush without care. He kept his balance, used his height to measure the distance and waited for Manfredy to move within reach. The challenger survived the round, although he had already been placed under severe pressure and conceded a 10–8 score on all three official cards.

Manfredy recovered sufficiently to produce his best work in the second. Rather than remain at long range, where Corrales could reach him without reply, he sprang forward with quick attacks and landed a left uppercut. He also found the champion with several clean punches during close exchanges. Corrales remained composed, but for a time Manfredy’s activity and willingness to carry the contest to him interrupted the champion’s rhythm. Judge Gale Van Hoy awarded the round to Manfredy, leaving Corrales ahead 19–18 on his card. Judges Ronnie Ralston and Dave McCullough both favoured Corrales in the round and had him leading 20–17. The challenger had nevertheless shown that he would not be discouraged by the first knockdown.

The improvement did not last. Early in the third round, Corrales again timed Manfredy as he came forward and hurt him with a left to the body. Manfredy’s knee touched the canvas, and referee Jerry McKenzie administered another count. Once the action resumed, Corrales applied steady pressure, punching with greater precision than haste. Manfredy attempted to answer and continued trying to work his way inside, but his legs were no longer dependable, and he could not remain clear of the champion’s right hand.

Corrales drove him towards the ropes and landed a succession of heavy blows. A right hand sent Manfredy down against the ropes for the second time in the round and the third time in the fight. The challenger again beat the count, displaying considerable determination, but Corrales resumed his attack immediately. With Manfredy absorbing further punches and unable to defend himself effectively, McKenzie intervened at 2 minutes 38 seconds. Manfredy was upright when the contest ended, but the stoppage was necessary; he had been knocked down twice in the round, and Corrales was striking him almost at will.

The victory advanced Corrales’s record to 33–0, with 27 wins inside the distance, and confirmed his position among the leading fighters at 130 pounds. Manfredy had competed bravely and briefly troubled the champion in the second round, but his forward movement repeatedly brought him within range of Corrales’s left hook and straight right. Corrales’s advantages in height, timing and power proved too substantial. The champion later vacated the IBF title while considering a move to lightweight, but remained at super-featherweight for his next contest, an important meeting with WBC champion Floyd Mayweather Jr in January 2001.

Angel Manfredy was made for Diego Corrales. Manfredy had gained his following by beating Arturo Gatti, and he came to fight rather than fiddle about, but defeats to Floyd Mayweather and Stevie Johnston had already exposed the gap between him and the very best. Corrales was unbeaten, tall for the weight and carrying frightening power in a narrow frame.

The first knockdown told the whole story. Manfredy stepped in and the first proper punch Corrales threw, a short counter left hook, put him on the floor. Manfredy deserves credit because he regrouped, landed a decent left uppercut and arguably took the second round. He wasn’t poor; he was just facing a man whose timing and firepower punished every mistake around that time.

In the third, Corrales caught him with a body shot, then dropped him again with a right hand before Jerry McKenzie stopped it at 2:38. Three knockdowns in under nine minutes is conclusive by any measure.

For me, this was Corrales at his most dangerous: patient, balanced and vicious once he found the opening. Manfredy brought courage and popularity, but courage without control merely gave Corrales more opportunities to hit him.