MANNY Pacquiao fans will be calling on the boxing legend to keep fighting after the Filipino icon produced the most decisive victory of his trilogy against Tim Bradley on Sunday.
The 37-year-old — who said after the fight he will retire as the increasing demands of his political career take over — ended any discussion about who was the superior fighter.
In truth, there was little debate after Pacquiao took revenge for a poorly-scored defeat against the American in their first fight with a unanimous decision win in fight two.
But for the first time he managed to knock Bradley down — flooring his rival with a perfectly-placed right hook behind the ear in the seventh round — before following it up with another in the ninth.
Pacquiao landed two left hands to send Bradley somersaulting across the ring and put an exclamation mark on the fight, which saw him given the nod 116-110 by all three judges.
“He’s a tough opponent. He survived 12 rounds. But I did my best,” Pacquiao said.
“His style is to counter punch so I couldn’t be careless.”
Bradley was unable to launch a comeback in the final three rounds but showed respect to his foe by embracing him before the 12th.
“It honestly doesn’t seem real. I don’t know how hard I got it, but I barely remember the fight,” Bradley said.
“It just seemed like Manny was always in the right spots, he was always looking to counter me.
“He was a step ahead of me and I was supposed to be a step ahead of him.
When asked if he thought his opponent should retire, he had the press applauding his touching honesty after he said: “No. Manny Pacquiao should not retire.
“He’s the best fighter I’ve ever faced, to be honest with you.
“He’s explosive, he’s fast, he’s strong.”
The knock downs saved the night from being a forgettable one. There was barely any build up to the encounter — particularly when you compare it to the last time Pacquiao fought, against Floyd Mayweather 11 months ago.
Famed ring announcer Michael Buffer was in London for Anthony Joshua’s coronation party against Charles Martin in a clear sign of where this fight stood in the overall scheme of things.
After losing Nike as a sponsor and prompting a wave of angry reaction with his recent anti-homosexual comments, Pacquiao entered the ring wearing a T-shirt with “Jesus is the name of the Lord” printed on the back.
He fought cautiously early in his first outing since having his right shoulder surgically repaired — and had some fearing another bad decision because of how hard it was to score the opening six rounds.
But the knockdowns changed everything, giving Pacquiao — who has won a record eight world titles in different weight divisions — his 58th win from 66 fights. A Hall of Fame career without question.
After the fight, Pacquiao said he’d made a commitment to his family that he would call it quits, saying perhaps he’d “enjoy being retired”. He also posted a tribute to wife Jinkee on Twitter immediately after the bout.
Welterweight
Manny Pacquiao (Philippines, 58-6-2) defeated Timothy Bradley (USA, 33-2-1) via decision 116-110.
Round 1
Subdued opening and a tough round to call. Let’s hope the following 11 are more decisive otherwise we could have a repeat of their first fight.
Round 2
A little higher tempo from Pacquiao but he was probably shaded by Bradley. Still no major shots landed.
Round 3
Bradley was more aggressive early in the round but missed with a couple of wild swings. Pacquiao shook out his surgically-repaired right shoulder midway through the round, which was slightly concerning. That’s three rounds that could have gone either way.
Round 4
Most decisive round so far — and it was Pacquiao who found a groove. He didn’t land anything of serious consequence but the energy was better.
Round 5
Crowd started to get involved in the fight as the action picked up. Pacquiao started landing his straight left hand.
Round 6
Halfway through the fight and that round was reflective of the entire contest to this point. Very tough to call.
Round 7
Pacquiao connected with a right hook behind Bradley’s ear to land the first knockdown of the fight. That was a 10-8 round to the Filipino, huge in the context of a closely scored fight.
Round 8
Bradley attempted to turn the momentum of the fight by unleashing a sustained flurry of punches late in the round. Not many landed but the aggression may have given him the edge.
Round 9
Second knockdown of the fight for Pacquiao, who has control of this one now. He stunned Bradley with a straight left and then put him down in the following exchange with a short left on the button.
Round 10
Bradley needed to take some risks but Pacquiao beat him to the punch.
Round 11
Strangely subdued three minutes given the situation. Bradley needed a knockout but he didn’t pull the trigger that round.
Round 12
Fun finish as both fighters traded punches to the bell but nothing that’s going to change the result.
Super Middleweight
Gilberto Ramirez (Mexico, 33-0) defeated Arthur Abraham (Armenia, 44-4) via decision 120-108
Ramirez became the first Mexican to win a super middleweight world title by comfortably outpointing Arthur Abraham in the main undercard fight.
Although around 200 Mexican boxers have won world titles, Ramirez is just the second to win one at a weight limit north of middleweight.
Julio Gonzalez is the other, having held a light heavyweight belt for a short period in the early 2000s.
Abraham, who has fought the best of his era including Carl Froch (loss), Andre Ward (loss) and Jermain Taylor (win), was riding an eight fight winning streak into the contest, but lost the WBO title he won by defeating the UK’s Martin Murray in November last year.
All three judges scored the fight in Ramirez’s favour 120-108.
Featherweight
Oscar Valdez (Mexico, 18-0) defeated Evgeny Gradovich (Russia, 21-1-1) via TKO
Super Lightweight
Jose Carlos Ramirez (USA, 16-0) defeated Manuel Perez (USA, 25-11-1) via unanimous decision 97-93, 98-92, 99-91
AFTER 65 professional fights, Manny Pacquiao’s career appears to be coming to a close.
The Filipino spoke in a press conference earlier in the week of his desire to focus on his career in politics following the Bradley fight.
While Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum has refused to advertise the bout as the 37-year-old’s last, his ambition to run for senate in the Philippines’ national election seems to be stronger than his desire to continue boxing.
“After this fight I have already said that my mind is to focus on my job,” Pacquiao said, according to ESPN.
“If I win a senate seat, I have a big responsibility and I need to focus on that. I cannot say right now that I am going to retire. I don’t want to say that because I don’t know what the feeling is when you leave boxing. I will give it great thought when I return home.
“My mind right now says to retire, but we don’t know.”
The veteran boxer allegedly then said that his contest with Bradley would in fact be his final appearance in the ring.
“It is very important to get the win for my country and the people in the Philippines,” he said.
“This is my last fight.”
No comments:
Post a Comment