Pacquiao had an uphill battle but conquered
By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
BOXING’s only eight-division world champion Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao of the Philippines made it a successful return to the United States after beating American Keith “One Time” Thurman by split decision in their World Boxing Association super welterweight championship fight at the weekend at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
After more than two years of not fighting in the US, Mr. Pacquiao did not disappoint anew on the big stage, taking the title from Mr. Thurman in solid fashion.
It was not an easy fight though as the American gave his all and actually made a case for himself to repeat as champion along the way.
For local fight analyst Nissi Icasiano, considering the route 40-year-old Pacquiao took to get the WBA super welterweight title, he has every reason to be proud of his feat and, in turn, celebrate.
“He has beaten of one the top guys at 147 pounds. The fighting senator has every reason on the planet to celebrate because he took an uphill battle but managed to ace it with flying colors,” said Mr. Icasiano when asked by BusinessWorld for his post-fight thoughts on Pacquiao-Thurman, the Filipino’s first fight in the US since he fought and defeated Jessie Vargas in November 2016.
Mr. Pacquiao was a 115-112, 113-114 and 115-112 winner over Mr. Thurman, which he punctuated with a knockdown in the opening round.
“I would give Pacquiao’s performance an 8 out of 10. He was not only effective in pushing the action, but also his uncanny ability to counterpunch was in full display. He faded in the closing rounds of the fight, but it was forgivable,” Mr. Icasiano added.
The fight analyst went on to share that as much Mr. Pacquiao was impressive in the fight, Mr. Thurman should also get some props for the effort he put in.
“I expected it to be competitive for 12 rounds because of both men’s contrasting styles, but I was surprised by Thurman’s gallant effort to fight toe-to-toe with Manny Pacquiao. But eventually it took a toll on Thurman. He reverted to his usual fighting style, where he caught the Filipino superstar with big shots from Rounds 7 to 9. It appeared that Thurman was already taking over, but Pacquiao didn’t allow Thurman to close it out. Thurman got too confident and started engaging and insinuating the action, but he was met by Pacquiao’s pesky offense,” Mr. Icasiano said.
Adding, “It was an interesting fight, but in my opinion, the outcome should have been unanimous decision, not split. I can’t blame the judge who scored the fight in favor of Thurman though as he may have seen the American as the boxer who landed the more telling blows in close rounds.”
Mr. Pacquiao said after the fight that he plans to return to the ring next year against a still-to-be-determined opponent.
However, Mr. Icasiano said a possible opponent for Mr. Pacquiao could either be Errol Spence Jr. and Shawn Porter, who are set to meet later this year.
“For his next opponent, it is most likely that he is going to face the winner of the title unification bout between Errol Spence Jr. and Shawn Porter on Sept. 28. It is one of the reasons of Al Haymon as to why he invested on a 40-year-old Manny Pacquiao,” the analyst said.
