Las Vegas, Nevada — Manny Pacquiao produced a strong performance worthy of praise from Filipinos and his fans around the world even though his archrival, undefeated American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr., kept his record unblemished with a unanimous decision victory over 12 rounds.
Pacquiao came ready to fight Saturday (yesterday in Manila) but he was hampered by a right shoulder injury incurred two weeks ago which may have affected his bout against Floyd Mayweather Jr. to whom he lost by unanimous decision Saturday at the sold-out MGM Grand Arena.
The injury was not evident. Pacquiao fought gamely and never showed the effects of the shoulder that was hurt during training.
But his promoter Bob Arum disclosed during the post-fight press briefing that Manny was hurt and some insiders said he may need shoulder surgery that may put him out of action for nine months.
Hurt or not, Manny produced a strong performance, although age and wear and tear had slowed him down noticeably.
He could not effectively hurt Mayweather whose technical brilliance was in full flower throughout the 12-round encounter where the American showed his competence and expertise.
There were no knockdowns, no blood and both fighters did not show any sign of facial disfigurement after the fight. They looked almost the same when they left the ring as when they stepped on it although Pacquiao had a small lump below his right eye.
Mayweather has now extended his winning streak to 48-0, moving him one win short of matching the 49-0 of Rocky Marciano. Pacquiao is now 57-6-2.
He also unified all three welterweight titles winning Pacquiao’s WBO crown and retaining his WBA and WBC titles.
Manila Bulletin
