NEITHER the passing of the years or a political career aiming for bigger things could distract from the greatness of eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao, whose farewell fight against Timothy “Desert Storm” Bradley produced a spectacular ending to an amazing career.
After cagey initial, feeling-out rounds, Pacquiao exploded with two knockdowns, one in Round 7 and a second, more definitive one in Round 9 to score a resounding 116-110 tally on the scorecards of all three judges.
The 37-year-old congressman from Sarangani province, aiming for a seat in the Senate in the May elections, just about sealed the deal with his performance, which capped one of the most remarkable ring careers in the history of boxing.
Considered the tiebreaker in their yrilogy, in which their first encounter was considered a horrendous split decision in favor of Bradley and where the rematch produced a lopsided verdict in favor of Pacquiao, their final showdown not only cemented the Filipino ring icon’s victory, but also his legacy as one of the truly greats and a guaranteed future Hall of Famer.
The two men fought for the WBO Intercontinental title, with WBO president Francisco “Paco” Valcarcel putting a $100,000 belt for the “Super Champion.”
As The Standard had predicted, it was the best fight in their trilogy and with the retirement of Floyd Mayweather Jr., chances are Pacquiao will make a strong contender for the undefeated, pound-for-pound king as Mayweather’s successor at welterweight.
Pacquiao, who won a guaranteed $20 million purse for the fight, was at mid-ring even before the opening bell, banging his gloves and eager to get on with the action, although Bradley appeared to slowly assert himself.
Pacquiao was caught by a solid right in Round 5 and was driven against the ropes momentarily, but the Filipino southpaw ripped a flurry of lefts into Bradley and continued to be the aggressor in Round 6.
In the dying seconds of the seventh round, Pacquiao nailed an off-balanced Bradley with a right hook that resulted in a flash knockdown that brought the Filipino’s supporters to their feet.
Bradley, showing his excellent conditioning, charged back in the eighth round and appeared to catch Pacquiao with a left at the back of his ear and wobbled Manny, who was forced to cover up as Bradley tried to storm back.
The American tried to keep the tempo of the eighth round and connected with a solid left in Round 9, before a vicious left from Pacquiao appeared to bust the lip of Bradley. What followed was a cracking counter-left that caught Bradley flush on the face and sent him tumbling onto the canvas.
But time ran out on Pacquiao in his effort to score a knockout as Bradley beat the count and survived the remaining few seconds.
Pacquiao, knowing full well that he was comfortably ahead, continued to pile up points as a disheartened Bradley and trainer Teddy Atlas realized it was over.
He coasted in Round 11 and finished with a flurry that hurt Bradley and helped seal the deal in the 12th and final round.
While it wasn’t a sell-out crowd, some 14,665 Pacquiao partisans often burst into chants of “Manny! Manny!” especially after the knockdowns.
In a post-fight interview with Crystina Poncher of Top Rank, Pacquiao said he was “looking for a knockout in every round, but he (Bradley) is a tough opponent and survived 12 rounds. I did my best but his style is that of a counter-puncher so I was not careless in the ring.”
He said he had worked on the counter-punch and uppercut in training and that was his plan in preparing for the fight.
Pacquiao said veteran trainer Atlas, who handled Bradley “made a difference compared to our last two fights. He (Bradley) improved. That’s why I tried hard to catch him.”
He also didn’t rule out the possibility of a return to the ring.
“I’m still okay. I can still fight,” said Pacquiao. “But as of now I’m retired. I am going home and think about it, but I want to be with my family. I want to serve the people.”
Bradley praised Pacquiao: “He was very fast and explosive. He was great and on point tonight. Manny was faster, quicker, stronger.”