Overshadowed by the main event between Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez was an intriguing undercard bout between Luis Cruz and Juan Carlos Burgos, which went to Burgos via majority decision after the 10th round.
Cruz was unbeaten heading into the bout and should be able to bounce back in the coming months. Of his 19 professional victories heading into the night, 15 of them were via knockout. Burgos gained momentum as Cruz's frustration mounted.
Burgos claimed the WBO Latino Junior Lightweight Championship in the process, with two judges giving him the victory and one scoring it a draw.
Cruz showed periods of really good fighting, even after his right eye began to swell. It just wasn't enough to overcome the accuracy of Burgos, who could be in for a nice title run after an impressive showing tonight.
Since Cruz hasn't faced defeat during his career, the most important thing for him will be getting up tomorrow and starting working harder than ever to reestablish himself as a threat. The talent is there, he couldn't have started 19-0 without it, but rebounding from a loss is never easy.
He'll need to string together a few wins to get back in title contention. He did knock off Antonio Davis in his previous fight after a shaky unanimous decision victory over Martin Honorio in April.
Just by working his way onto the undercard of a Pacquiao fight shows that his notoriety around the boxing world is starting to increase. A loss will serve as a setback, but not a death blow to his career by any means.
If he can right the ship with a win in his next fight, which based on his current pace should come sometime around March, he'll be just fine. He can't not afford an extended losing streak, though. There just aren't enough sizable purses to go around at his level.
Even in a loss, there was enough positive signs on Saturday night to believe Cruz will be just fine in the long run. He just needs to be less reliant on the knockout as a terms of victory.
For the latest news and updates on Pacquiao vs. Marquez, and for all the latest news and insight on all things boxing, be sure to check out Bleacher Report's Boxing Central.
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