Pacquiao: ‘Still the people’s champ’

By: Francis T.J. Ochoa - 10 years ago

AFTER THE FALL, THE LIGHT STILL SHINES ON PACQUIAO “I thought I won,” he says as he leaves the presscon after his losing fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. REM ZAMORA

LAS VEGAS—The scorecards were read the way they should be read. And the quick-jabbing Floyd Mayweather Jr. walked off the ring the same way he got on it—still undefeated, except this time, he added a third welterweight crown to his name.

But where the fight could not be quantified by numbers, where heroes are measured by heart and the blazing gusto by which they pursue their mission, a hurting Manny Pacquiao didn’t get off the ring a loser.

Even the crowd agreed, giving him a stamp of roaring approval inside the MGM Grand that was supposedly the home of his pound-for-pound rival.

“I thank God for this victory and appreciate everyone who came out to support us,” said the 38-year-old Mayweather, who added Pacquiao’s World Boxing Organization (WBO) crown to his World Boxing Council (WBC) and World Boxing Association (WBA) collections, his voice nearly drowned out by boos from the sellout crowd of 16,507 that thought the wrong man had won the fight.

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

The judges, however, saw enough to settle the debate on which fighter was the greatest of his era. Dave Moretti scored it 118-110, while Glenn Feldman and Burt Clements saw it 116-112, all for the Michigan-born Mayweather, who has made this Nevada gambling oasis his home.

‘This is my era’

Mayweather’s victory allowed the brash champion to validate his claim to greatness.

“It’s no different with (Muhammad) Ali. He called himself the greatest,” said Mayweather (48-0), who said he got a check worth $100 million inside his locker room after the fight.

“But this is my era,” he added. “And in my era, I am TBE (the best ever).”

Crowd saw different fight

The celebrity-filled crowd, however, had Pacquiao winning all 12 rounds. Every punch thrown by the Filipino ring icon, even if it whiffed past its target, was met with a loud crescendo of cheers. The crowd egged him on and Pacquiao continued winning their hearts by doggedly chasing after an opponent too slippery to corner.

“I thought I won the fight,” Pacquiao said, and the crowd roared in agreement. “He didn’t do anything.”

READ: Pacquiao: I thought I won the fight

From an entertainment point of view, true, Mayweather did score. Any purist would have to admire the way he methodically used his jabs to create space when Pacquiao tried to cut the ring into tight claustrophobic pockets, and launch counters when the eight-division champion missed.

And Pacquiao missed a lot.

Staying on the outside

Mayweather threw more shots, according to Compubox, 435-429, but the glaring difference was in the percentages:

Mayweather landed 148 for 34 percent while Pacquiao landed 81 for 19 percent. Pacquiao threw a lot of power punches, 236-168, but what mattered was how many connected and Mayweather struck 81 times (48 percent) to the Filipino’s 63 (27 percent).

READ: #PacMay by the numbers: Compubox stats show Floyd Mayweather threw more punches

“I did what I had to do to win this fight,” said Mayweather. “As long as I stayed on the outside, I was able to stay away (from his punches).”

And he was able to hit back at critics, who placed all the blame on him for only agreeing to this fight five years after the world had demanded it.

Injured shoulder

“You all said before that this was the guy who was going to beat me,” said Mayweather. “You all said Floyd was a coward, Floyd was scared and Floyd’s a chicken.”

“I made you eat your words.”

As it turned out, though, it wasn’t that much of a fair fight.

Pacquiao had been nursing a shoulder injury for weeks and about an hour-and-a-half before the match started, his team requested that he be allowed to take pain-numbing shots.

“No excuses, no alibis,” said the 36-year-old Pacquiao, however. “There were things that we wanted to do that we could not do because of the (pain in my) shoulder. That’s why you saw me when I tried combinations, I would back off because my shoulder hurt.”

Artful dodger

Still, there were times when Pacquiao managed to put together a semblance of an attack against the elusive Mayweather.

“(Pacquiao) had him on the ropes, we kept (Mayweather) guessing,” trainer Freddie Roach said. “But we just didn’t do enough. It was difficult to get certain punches off during the fight because his shoulder hurt.”

And, of course, there was the fact that the opponent was an artful dodger.

“I fought smart,” Mayweather said.

Little damage

Mayweather clinched, ducked and swerved away from trouble many times, especially when Pacquiao landed clean shots and looked to be setting up combinations.

At one point in the fourth round, Pacquiao drilled Mayweather with a left that backed Pretty Boy to the ropes. Pacquiao opened up with a series of power shots but Mayweather shelled-up a la Joshua Clottey, and there was little damage created.

Except maybe to his reputation.

Fans inside MGM Grand’s Garden Arena booed loudly each time Mayweather turned every Pacquiao attack into a clinch and jeered in a collective amusement every time Mayweather backed out of trouble.

It sure wasn’t an awe-inspiring performance, especially from an athlete that drove the price of this superfight beyond a skyscraper’s roof.

But it effectively neutralized Pacquiao. The jabs held off Pacquiao’s vaunted combination of speed and power and his slick movement negated Pacquiao’s footwork and ability to hit from side-to-side angles.

“It was only when I stayed in the pocket that he was able to do what he wanted,” Mayweather said.

And even then, Roach, who was confident they had the game plan to hand Mayweather his first loss, admitted they could not squeeze enough out of Pacquiao’s shoulder to build on those pocket exchanges.

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