Pacquiao, at 40, beats Thurman
He scores a victory by split decision over Thurman to get WBA welterweight belt.
The veteran boxer wins a split decision for the WBA welterweight belt.
LAS VEGAS — The legend lives on.
Forty-year-old Manny Pacquiao employed his speed and power early and landed devastating body shots late, scoring a split decision Saturday night over Keith Thurman in a World Boxing Assn. welterweight unification title bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
“It was fun,” Pacquiao said. But it was a hardfought victory for Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs), who took one piece of the welterweight title and put himself in line for a shot at the winner of the Errol Spence Jr.Shawn Porter fight on Sept 28 at Staples Center.
Pacquiao scored a firstround knockdown, endured tough moments in the middle rounds and battled through the final few. Judge Dave Moretti scored it 115-112 for Pacquiao. Tim
Cheatham had it 115-112 for Pacquiao. Glenn Feldman had it 114-113 for Thurman.
Twelve punishing rounds were evident in Pacquiao’s face. He was weary. And he was not prepared to say what was next. First, a long trip home to Manila awaited him. He was scheduled to board a private jet that would get him home in time for the senator to hear the State of the Nation address early next week. Then, he said he would begin to think about his future in boxing.
“I think I will fight next year,” he said. “I will go back to the Philippines and work and then make a decision. I hope to be at that fight on Sept. 28.”
Pacquiao came into the ring to “Eye of the Tiger.” He stood behind a church-like choir dressed in Filipino colors. He sang along, a Filipino senator with the choir singing his nation’s anthem. He was fighting for country. Fighting for himself.
Thurman (29-1, 22 KOs) wore red, white and blue. There was a sequined star on the front of his trunks and one on the back. He looked much bigger. He was.
But that bigger body found itself flat on the canvas late in the first round. Pacquiao caught him with a straight right.
“I knew it was too close,” Thurman said. “He got the knockdown, so he had momentum.”
Thurman began the second round looking surprised and with swelling above his eyes. That swift assault continued, forcing Thurman to cover up, back away and reassess. Those three minutes belonged to Pacquiao. The capacity crowd of 14,356 roared, chanting “Man-ny!”
Pacquiao’s pace slowed in the third. Thurman appeared to regain his footing, if not some confidence. Still, there was a sudden burst of energy from Pacquiao in the final seconds. It was the way Pacquiao, perhaps, still could control the fight with one quick burst.
Thurman worked to establish his jab. In the fourth and early in the fifth, the jab began to land, backing up Pacquiao. Then in the final minute of the fifth, there was Pacquiao’s burst of power and speed all over again. It bloodied Thurman’s nose.
But Thurman was as stubborn as he was bloodied. In the fifth he patiently tried to impose his bigger body onto Pacquiao. He moved forward, tirelessly throwing a long jab that began to land like the thick end of a bat. There was a hint of fatigue in Pacquiao’s face. The fifth ended with a renewed Thurman walking back to his corner thinking he still might have a chance.
In the seventh, there were moments when the 30year-old Thurman began to look like he was decade younger than Pacquiao. He rocked Pacquiao’s head with a jab and right hand.
“I wish I had a little bit more output to go toe to toe,” Thurman said. “I felt like he was getting a little bit tired, but he did have experience in the ring. My conditioning and my output was just behind Manny Pacquiao’s. I would love the rematch.”
In the eighth, Pacquiao’s astonishing conditioning reappeared. Again, there was that burst of power and speed. Suddenly, the momentum changed just as blood began to pour from Thurman’s nose and into his mouth all over again. Pacquiao was back in control.
Yet the ninth swung back to Thurman, whose deliberate pace and bigger body slowed Pacquiao to a crawl.
It was in the 10th, however, that Pacquiao did what he had hinted at throughout the week. He thought Thurman was vulnerable to body shots. He was. Pacquiao landed two, hurting Thurman and sending him into a desperate retreat.
It was a key moment, a late sign that Pacquiao might win.
On the undercard, Caleb Plant dropped Mike Lee three times within three rounds, winning a technical knockout at 1:29 of the third to defend his IBF supermiddleweight belt.