by Francis J. Ochoa
Las Vegas—The scorecards were read the way they should have been read.
The quick-jabbing and slick 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 belt.
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, Manny Pacquiao didn’t get off the ring a loser.
The crowd gave Pacquiao its 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 WBO crown to his WBA and WBC collection.
The best ever
The judges, however, saw enough to settle the issue on the debate over which fighter is 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.
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).”
Crescendo
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 warm crescendo of cheers.
Pacquiao lands a right straight to the jaw of Mayweather. (INQUIRER PHOTOS)
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 approval. “He didn’t do anything.”
From an entertainment point of view, Mayweather did squat.
Missed a lot
But 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 suffocating pockets and launched counters when the eight-division champion missed. And Pacquiao missed a lot.
Mayweather threw more punches, according to Compubox, 435-429, but the glaring difference was in the percentages: Mayweather landed 148 for 34% while Pacquiao landed 81 for 19%.
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).
“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].” “I fought smart,” Mayweather added.
Neutralized
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 a series of power shots but Mayweather shelled-up ala Joshua Clottey, and there was little damage really 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 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 super fight 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.
Freddie Roach, the celebrated trainer who was confident they had the game plan to hand Mayweather his first loss, admitted that the playbook took some sort of a hit somehow during the bout.
“We fought flat-footed too many times,” said Roach.
“I asked him in between rounds to throw a little more combinations.”
Tough competitor
Pacquiao tried. But the jabs deflated every momentum Pacquiao tried to build after landing a clean shot.
Mayweather landed 67 of 267 jabs for 25%, and all of them served their purpose: To 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.”
Awkward
The fight looked close through 10 rounds that it almost seemed like if Pacquiao could drill a knockdown somewhere in the last two, he could turn the tide.
Mayweather’s corner seemed to have the same impression as the American looked to press the action early in the 11th.
Mayweather defends himself from an incoming Pacquiao attack.(INQUIRER PHOTO)
“My dad wanted me to do more but [Pacuiao’s] style was awkward and I had to watch out for him,” Mayweather said.
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, on the other hand, was cheered all the way until he walked out of the ring to the wild applause of the sellout crowd officially listed at 16,507.