Adrien Broner, left, hits Manny Pacquiao during the WBA welterweight title boxing match Saturday, Jan. 19, 2019, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
LAS VEGAS—Bragging about his “smart boxing,” and defiant until the end, Adrien Broner saw what everybody didn’t on Saturday (Sunday, PH time): He won against Manny Pacquiao.
“Oh I beat him,” said Broner atop the ring after losing by unanimous decision to Pacquiao for the WBA welterweight crown at MGM Grand Arena here. “Everybody out there knows that I beat him.”
“I controlled the fight, he was missing. I hit him clean more times, I beat him.”
But the statistics say otherwise.
All in all, Pacquiao threw 568 punches and landed 112 as opposed to the Cincinnati native who attempted 295 and hit the mark just 50 times.
Pacquiao also threw more than twice as much jabs (371 landing 30) while Broner went 115 landing 11.
The 29-year-old American was in the race up until the seventh round when Pacquiao caught him with a barrage of punches starting with a smashing left to the face.
In that pivotal round, Pacquiao unleashed 38 punches and hit the target 17 times, while Broner went 2 of 11.
Pacquiao let loose 197 power punches (landing 82), mostly connecting to the body. Broner miserably failed to catch up in the department, throwing 180 and hitting 39.
Broner would later blame the projected rematch between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. for the fight result.
“What they trying to do is they trying to get that money again with Pacquiao and Floyd,” he claimed.
Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather Promotions chief executive officer, said the rematch is not on the table yet because the unbeaten fighter is enjoying his retirement.
Mayweather, who went to Pacquiao’s locker room before the match, didn’t react about the possibility of repeating boxing’s most lucrative fight which he won by a similar unanimous decision in 2015.
“He’s living his best life, traveling, running his multiple businesses, spending his hard-earned winnings,” Ellerbe said. “He’ll be 42 come Feb. 24. Enough is enough. What good is it to earn that money if you aren’t around to spend it?”