Manny Pacquiao thanks his supporters after his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Mayweather won by unanimous decision. PHOTO BY REM ZAMORA/INQUIRER/See more at FRAME
HOLLYWOOD — Former Filipino boxing world champion Rodel Mayol believes Manny Pacquiao clearly won over Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Pacquiao dropped a unanimous decision to Mayweather, who validated his status as the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, Saturday night in Las Vegas.
READ: Mayweather preserves perfect record, overcomes Pacquiao
Mayweather, who is now the unified welterweight champion, kept his impressive record unblemished at 48-0, with 26 knockouts after the judges scored it 118-110 and 116-112 twice to the dismay of the predominantly pro-Pacquiao sellout crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
Mayol was among the majority of the 16,507 people who thought the 36-year-old Pacquiao should’ve been the winner.
“I’m sure that we won that fight. Pacquiao was ahead by two rounds on my scorecard,” the former WBC light flyweight champion said in Filipino. “If it’s just actual boxing, I really think Pacquiao won but I guess there was money involved with the judges.”
READ: Pacquiao: I thought I won the fight
Fans inside the arena had a certain distaste over Mayweather, who was booed throughout the fight.
About two inches taller and with a five-inch reach advantage over Pacquiao, the savvy Mayweather used his strengths and fought from the outside. He used his jabs perfectly and kept the more aggressive Pacquiao from a distance.
Showing ferocity, Pacquiao still found ways to slip several punches through Mayweather’s defense.
Pacquiao had his moments. He shook Mayweather with a solid straight to the face in the fourth round and put constant pressure on the slithery American for 12 rounds despite revealing a right shoulder injury during the post-fight press conference an hour after.
READ: Pacquiao’s shoulder injury kept secret from public
Mayol said the shoulder injury didn’t play much of a factor because he still saw Pacquiao throwing punches like he normally does.
He is also sure that Mayweather felt Pacquiao’s power and that made him “switch” his game plan and be even more elusive in the latter rounds.
“He felt it when he was on the ropes and Manny was hitting him with a lot of punches,” said the 33-year-old.
Even before Mayweather could walk out of the arena, talks of a possible rematch surfaced.
READ: No rematch as Pacquiao won’t ever beat Mayweather anyway, says Floyd Sr.
Mayol want to see a second showdown but he doubts Mayweather would agree.
The 38-year-old Mayweather, who has one more bout left in his contract with Showtime, had said his farewell fight will be in September.
“He won’t agree to a rematch because Manny already knows how to beat him.” CC
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