Pacquiao: ‘Still the people’s champ’

Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight night at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mayweather wins by unanimous decision. PHOTO BY REM ZAMORA/INQUIRER/See more at FRAME

Mayweather’s jabs

“We fought flat-footed too many times,” said Roach. “I asked (Pacquiao) in between rounds to throw a little more combinations.”

Pacquiao tried. But Mayweather’s jabs—and the fact that Pacman was basically overly relying on his left arm—deflated every momentum Pacquiao tried to build after landing a clean shot.

Mayweather landed 67 of 267 jabs for 25 percent, and all of them served their purpose: Keep Pacquiao from forcing Mayweather into a tight, phone-booth brawl.

Still, the rare times that Pacquiao managed to set up exchanges caught Mayweather’s attention.

“He’s a great champion and a helluva fighter,” Mayweather said. “Now I see why he’s so successful. He’s a tough competitor. He definitely had his moments in this fight.”

READ: ‘I take my hat off to Manny’ says Mayweather

Praise for Filipinos

Mayweather acknowledged this anew in the post-game press conference, saying: “I understand now why he’s so successful in boxing. To all Philippine fans, continue supporting Manny Pacquiao. He’s a tremendous warrior, he’s a great competitor and he represents the Philippines very well.”

The fight looked close through 10 rounds that it almost seemed like Pacquiao could drill a knockdown somewhere in the last two and turn the tide. Mayweather’s corner seemed to have the same impression as the American looked to press the action early in the 11th.

“My dad wanted me to do more but (Pacquiao’s) style was awkward and I had to watch out for him,” Mayweather said.

Rain of boos

After the fight, Mayweather climbed the ring corner, thumped his chest and screamed: “I knew I won, I knew I won!”

The rain of boos, though, said otherwise. Pacquiao was cheered all the way until he walked out of the ring.

The pro-Pacquiao crowd even crept into the corner strategy of the Mayweathers.

“My dad was on my ass the whole time because every time (Pacquiao) threw a punch, even when he missed, the crowd would cheer,” said Mayweather. “It had an effect on him mentally and he thought the fight was close.”

“But I knew I was ahead,” he said. “I knew in my heart that, based on the experience I have in fighting in this level, the judges weren’t going to buy the crowd screaming.”

Not good enough

Later, Pretty Boy added that he knew he had the match under control “right in the first round.”

Pacquiao was in good spirits after the match, even borrowing lines from a famous ballad to open his part of the press conference.

“I did my best,” he said. “But my best wasn’t good enough.”

And now he will be left to wonder how much more he could have given had he not dived into the fight with a painful shoulder, which he injured several weeks before the fight.

Celebrities galore

Top Rank chief Bob Arum was questioned during the presser as to why he let people pony up a huge amount of cash knowing that he was fielding an injured fighter. He said “athletes get hurt and over time, they get better and better.”

Pacquiao (57-6-2) is still guaranteed $80 million for the fight while Mayweather, despite being issued a $100-million check after the fight, is actually taking home $120 million.

Both figures are expected to jack up when the pay-per-view numbers come in. The fighters are expected to split a total purse of $300 million, with Mayweather taking a 60 percent slice of the pie.

The sellout crowd inside the arena was lined with celebrities, just as Arum had said it would be.

Jordan, other legends

Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time, was the most famous athlete that showed up.

Also present were hoop legends Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller, current Oklahoma City Thunder standout Russell Westbrook, boxing greats Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield and tennis legend Andre Agassi.

Tinseltown’s biggest names also showed up, led by Academy Award winner Robert DeNiro, Bradley Cooper, Mark Wahlberg, Jake Gyllenhall, Claire Danes, Ben Affleck, Denzel Washington and Jamie Foxx, who sang the American national anthem before the fight.

Originally posted:  12:50 PM | Sunday, May 3rd, 2015

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