LAS VEGAS: The pressure of a $180 million payday never got to Floyd Mayweather Jr, even if the richest fight ever wasn’t the best.

Using his reach and his jab on Saturday night, Mayweather frustrated Manny Pacquiao, piling up enough points to win a unanimous decision in their welterweight title bout. Mayweather remained unbeaten in 48 fights, cementing his place among the pantheon of boxing greats.

Boos rang out from a pro-Pacquiao Las Vegas crowd as Mayweather’s emphatic victory was confirmed by all three scorecards after 12 rounds of cat and mouse action.

After the fight, it was disclosed that Pacquiao injured his right shoulder in training and that Nevada boxing commissioners denied his request to take an anti-inflammatory shot in his dressing room before the fight.

Mayweather weathered an early assault from the Filipino southpaw before comfortably picking off Pacquiao in the later rounds to finish ahead on all three scorecards in a welterweight showdown set to be the top grossing prize fight of all-time. Two ringside judges scored the fight 116-112, while the third had it 118-110.

“When the history books are written, it was worth the wait,” Mayweather — who extended his remarkable 19-year unbeaten record, putting him within one fight of equalling Rocky Marciano’s legendary milestone of 49-0 — said after a four-belt unification bout that was more than five years in the making.

Though Pacquiao repeatedly forced Mayweather to backpedal, he was never able to land a sustained volume of punches as the wily American blunted his opponent’s best efforts by using his defensive wizardry again.

MANNY Pacquiao hangs his head as his trainer Freddie Roach looks on during the post-fight news conference.—Reuters

The 38-year-old Mayweather retained his World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association welterweight titles and seized Pacquiao’s World Boxing Organization belt.

“Manny Pacquiao is a hell of fighter, I see now why he is at the pinnacle of boxing,” the 38-year-old Mayweather said after an emotional embrace with Pacquiao. “I’m a smart fighter, I outboxed him.

“We knew what we had to do. He’s a tough competitor... a very awkward fighter and I had to take my time and watch him closely.”

The bout wasn’t an artistic triumph for either fighter, with long periods where both men fought cautiously.

Pacquiao threw far fewer punches than he normally does in a fight, with Mayweather actually throwing more.That was largely because Pacquiao didn’t throw his right hand often. Promoter Bob Arum said Pacquiao injured his shoulder sometime after March 11.

MANILA: Filipinos watch the round-by-round live satellite broadcast from Las Vegas of the welterweight boxing title fight between the Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr at suburban Marikina city on Sunday.—AP

Arum said Pacquiao’s camp thought he would be allowed the anti-inflammatory shot because he had gotten them during training and they had been approved by the US Anti-Doping Agency. But he said paperwork filed with the commission didn’t check the injury box, and the Nevada commission ruled against the request for a shot.

“The ruling made tonight affected the outcome of the fight,” Arum said.

Pacquiao also said he was hindered by his injured right shoulder. “I did my best but my best wasn’t good enough,” Pacquiao, who dropped to 57-6-2, said. “From the third round on I felt a pain in my shoulder.”

Mayweather said he hopes the win will silence critics who accused him of ducking Pacquiao and hand-picking opponents he knew he could beat in order to keep his unblemished record intact.

“Everyone said this guy could beat Floyd. That Floyd is a chicken. The non believers, well Floyd turned them into believers.”

Published in Dawn, May 4th, 2015

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