Mayweather outpoints Pacquiao in “Fight of the Century”

Photos: Esther Lin/SHOWTIME

It was billed as the “Fight of the Century; Six Years in the Making” but when all was said and done the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao super-fight lacked the drama and fireworks we had all hoped for.

On Saturday night Floyd “Money” Mayweather easily out-pointed Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to remain unbeaten in 48 fights. Mayweather was the defensive counter puncher that he normally is, he was conservative with his punches and controlled the action for most of the 12 round fight. Pacquiao on the other hand was the one who failed to deliver. The normally high output fighter was kept at bay by footwork and a counter right hand. After the fight, Pacquiao blamed his lack of offense on a shoulder injury that occurred two weeks prior to the fight.

“I am very happy with the result of the fight, even though I could not use my right hand a lot. The fight was still good but the thing was, what we wanted to do, we couldn’t do because of my shoulder. said Pacquiao

Manny’s best moment in the fight came in the fourth round when a left hand seemed to stagger Mayweather and a follow up flurry had him pinned against the ropes. But even then Pacquiao could not keep the pressure on.

Manny explained “In the third round I could feel the pain in my shoulder so when I throw a lot of punches and combinations I would back off because it hurt”

Despite Mayweather’s dominance, Pacquiao told media that he felt he had did enough to earn a victory.

“I thought I won the fight, I have to review the DVD now to see. I hurt him many times but he didn’t hurt me” Pac explained.

Despite trainer Freddy Roach’s claim that Mayweather “Ran”, he dominated the punch stats, landing 48% of his power punches and 25% of his jabs according to CompuBox. Pacquiao managed to land just 19% of total punches to Mayweather’s 34% overall.

“I was the better man tonight, the more calculated fighter, took my time, had patience and was working on countering and basically using the jab” said Mayweather “I knew in my heart I was beating him easy. He was applying pressure but he wasn’t landing any of those punches”

Floyd seemed to be a little offended that he wasn’t getting his full credit for the win and talked about his own injuries leading up to the fight.

“I had injuries also going into this fight and if he would have came out victorious, the only thing I could have done was come up here and show respect and say he was the better man.” Said Floyd after being informed of Pacquiao’s injury. “Both my arms were injured, both my hands were injured but I will always find a way to win”

Mayweather would not field any questions about his next move or his final fight under contract with Showtime sports but did inform the media that he would relinquish all three title belts he now holds and did confirm he would be back in the ring in September.

“I think on Monday I’m going to relinquish all belt. I made a decision and my last fight may not be a championship fight. It’ll still be a 12 round fight”

**Notes:

• Judge Dave Moretti scored the fight 118-110, and judges Glenn Feldman and Burt Clements both had it 116-112.
• Promoter Bob Arum, trainer Freddy Roach and Manny Pacquiao all stated that they felt the shoulder injury was healing and getting better leading up to the fight and chose not to postpone the fight. It wasn’t until the 3rd round that the injury fared up and was an issue.
• Mayweather stated that his last fight, his 49th will be in September. It will be his last fight under contract with Showtime and has no interest in breaking Rocky Marciano’s record of 49-0 but said he has been known to contradict himself from time to time so take that for what it’s worth.

On the Televised undercard:

• Olympic gold medalist Vasyl Lomenchenko (4-1, 2 KOs) successfully defended his WBO featherweight title with a ninth round KO victory over Gamalier Rodriguez (23-2-3, 17 KOs). Rodriguez would hit the deck twice before being counted out by referee Robert Byrd in the ninth.
• WBC super bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (30-0-1, 17 KOs) defended his title with a ten round unanimous decision victory over a tough Jose Cayetano (17-4, 8 KOs).