By David Robinett at ringside
Photos: Sumio Yamada
Father Time continues to creep closer and closer to Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao, leading up to the inevitable end of his reign as an elite fighter. But not today. The incomparable Senator from the Philippines is clearly showing some wear in the tread, but still had enough in the tank to earn a well-deserved split decision over the previously undefeated WBA welterweight champion Keith “One Time” Thurman.
Thurman (29-1, 22 KOs) had predicted in the lead-up to the fight that Pacquiao’s time had passed and he was no longer able to hang with the best of the division. But Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) gave notice in the opening round that Thurman would pay for his lack of respect, dropping “One Time” with a left to the body, right to the head that sent the pro-Manny crowd into a frenzy.
Pacquiao continued to get the better of Thurman throughout the early rounds, not the whirling dervish he was when he burst onto the scene nearly two decades ago, but fighting in explosive bursts, with particular success to the body. In round five Pacquiao bloodied Thurman’s nose, and looked like he might be headed to an easy victory.
To his credit though, Thurman didn’t fold, getting stronger over the second half of the fight as it appeared Pacquiao started to tire, not unexpected for a small fighter competing at the unheard of age of 40. Thurman had success timing Pacquiao in the later rounds and landed several punishing right hands.
However, Pacquiao had one more trick in his bag to secure the win, digging a left to Thurman’s liver in round ten than nearly dropped the younger champion. Thurman visibly grimaced in pain and held on for dear life as an exhausted Pacquiao tried unsuccessfully to close the show. Ten years ago a wounded Thurman might have ended the fight on his back, but for tonight it was just enough to give Pacquiao that extra round he needed to cross the finish line in front.
The end is near, no doubt, but for at least one more night Pacquiao proved that he truly is, as his Hall of Fame trainer Freddie Roach calls him, “All Time.”
–
Keith “One Loss” Thurman!
Lol.. that was pretty funny.
Keith “One Time (I fought Manny Pacquiao)” Thurman
And if he can’t beat Pac Man, how can he beat Spence
and Crawford? Just saying….
Great job Manny!!!
you mean great jab
I TOLD YA…THE REAL TBE!!!!
114-113 for Thurman?
This is why boxing has lost so much respect from REAL fans.
Yeah that was f.n bullshit.
NA homie.You seen the loss in Thurmans face…
That look onThurmans face was confusion and surprise as to the spit decision, the thought he’d lost by a WIDE margin!
That score was out of respect because Thurman was the champ. But yeah it should ve been 115-112 in all 3
I disagree. I watched a broadcast without commentary. I scored the first 4 to pac and round8 and 10. round twelve could have gone either way. I had it 114-113. 4 of the guys I watched it all had Pac winning and going in we all picked Thurman.
Define REAL fan or better yet, in true accomplishment makes a great fighter. Thurman is a great fighter and one who doesn’t run away from tough fighter unlike someone we definitely know. Also to add Thurman is a true champion who is real as it can be like Miguel Cotto, Broner on the hand same for Marquez who was offered millions to rematch these are boxers who destroyed real boxing today. And I have been watching when Ali, Frazier, Foreman, and Duran where still in active.
The proud man is humbled. The humbled man is exalted.
Great victory for God’s servant, Manny Pacquaio.
True champion. A REAL role model if there ever was one.
Amen1
Dude, I love Manny. I always have but to say Manny is Gods servant is insane. He has openly admitted to drinking, drugs and tons of adultery. Leave the religion out of it. It’s like that psycho Jonathan who knows boxing but has his dick so far up the potus ass that it’s hard to take his actual boxing commentary seriously.
All those negatives you mentioned were before he converted to Christianity. If you do the work of God,
like having 1,000 homes built for his people in the
Philipines, with his own money, then I suppose he
would be God’s servant. No need for vulgarity, DJ.
You know any great boxer who has not committed adultery, done drugs, and overly drinks then the devil must be a saint.
Watched parts of it from Facebook. Looks like Thurman came on strong in the middle rounds but Manny hurt him to the body in the later rounds. He should have vigorously pursued the body attack after that because Thurman is vulnerable to the body. However, he didn’t and Thurman recovered. It was a close fight and the 115-112 card seemed about right. Congratulations to Manny Pacquiao. Quite an accomplishment for someone soon to be entering middle age. He’s definitely not ready for retirement.
You thought this was a close fight, to the point where you only had it 7 rounds to 5 with the extra point for the knockdown? Most respected observers scored this fight 116 to 111, and that seems like the most appropriate scorecard for this fight. I can’t give Thurman more than 4 rounds. I don’t think Thurman ever recovered from his surgery, injuries and two years off. Pacquiao is still the greatest fighter of the last 30 years, but a prime Thurman would have defeated Pacquiao tonight. Crawford and Spence will beat Pacquiao if those fights happen.
A prime Paquiao would beat any version of Thurman.
Actually, most had it 115-112 for Pacquiao
And a prime Pacman ??
And a prime Pacquiao would have stopped a prime Thurman.
I missed the first two rounds, but with the knockdown, Manny got an extra point. I thought Thurman was landing the cleaner blows from the 6th round on and Manny slowed down and stopped punching at times. The body shot in the 10th got the momentum back, but it was touch and go till the end.
Pacquiao visibly tired in the later rounds as showed by his reduced punch output and activity. I thought he won by two rounds resulting in a 115-112 with the extra point deducted for the knockdown, otherwise it would have been 115-113.
I prefer to score the fight I see and not take into account the opinions of others while I’m watching the fight. Some had Thurman winning while many others had Manny winning, but it was a close fight. Despite the early lead, Thurman did close the gap in the middle rounds until Pacquiao pulled it out.
Scoring is supposed to be objective based on clean effective punches, but is often subjective even with so-called experts. The summary above is just my opinion of the fight I watched.
Criteria for the 10-Point Must System of Scoring a Boxing Match:
1. Effective Aggressiveness
2. Ring Generalship
3. Defense
4. Power Punches/Clean Punches
Manny won the fight UD for me. 115-112 is correct. Glad that Pacquiao won even though I do like Thurman as a fighter.
ATG Manny. The greatest fighter of the last 30 years. The judges always manage to f*** up the scores no matter the fight. They need to figure out a different way to judge fights without having three pre-determined judges. I would like to see Pacquiao retire on this note. Gayrunner would never fight him now, and Spence and Crawford are on different levels than a washed-up Thurman.
If he the greatest fighter how Mayweather make him look average
116-111 for Manny.
My prefight analysis showed that the Pac-Man was a slight favorite to beat his younger opponent.
I had a feeling, though that “one time” would emerge victorious.
But the old saying that a great fighter always has one great fight left in him again proved correct.
Hats off to the senator who did it again. Once again he proved that he is an all time great.
In the words of his trainer: Thurman may be one time, but Manny is all time
Candidate for fight of the year. People have NO idea the training and conditioning it takes to go 12 like that. Genetic freak of nature. Reminds me of Aaron “the hawk” Pryor. Man that was fun!!!!!!!!!!!!
This shows you just how good and underrated JMMarquez always was.
I was waiting for someone to try and slip JMM in on the comments. LOL. I hear you though. But you also must hear how great JMM was ON the juice ie: when he fought Pac-Man the fourth time. Anyways, great win for Manny. A couple of you have mentioned how Pacquiao should end it on a high note and I agree. Go out on top brother. Thank you, thank you. GOD Bless.
The same JMM that hired a PED convicted dealer and manufacturer in Angel Heredia for bout with Mr. Pacquiao. Why do people play the fool with Floyd’s 20 years of low risk for high reward manipulative match making scheme and JMM’s fourth bout with Mr. Pacquiao [was not legitimate].
You lost tread in your editorial skills. Pac beat up his last 3 good opponents, all younger. Mathyysse he ko’d, won the belt, destroyed Broner, dominated Thurman pretty much. What more does he need to? Fly? Quit your day job dude, the end is near for your career, not Pacmans, you suck.
How the fuck Glen Feldman had Thurman winning on his scorecard? Damn, these kind of judging kills the sport for real.
No true winner. Very close and needs a rematch.
You are still in the coloring book stages of Boxiana comprehension.
Ray Charles is that you?
Clear winner easily I’m not sure what you were watching?! Lol I PAC man 117-110
I had Pac-Man winning 114-113. The knockdown being the difference. Thurman seemed to be landing more punches especially power shots. Manny fought in spurts and probably stole a few of the close rounds. I don’t see the rout most of you fair weather fans saw. Pretty good close fight in my eyes couldn’t argue either way.
absolutely. it was a very close fight with manny almost letting it get away by giving up too many of the middle rounds after establishing a strong lead in the early rounds. i thought that the 12th was pivotal for both fighters. i scored the fight 114-113 for thurman, but i predicted it would be a split decision and had no problem if it was scored for manny. i do think 115-112 was too great a distance after seeing manny really slow down in the middle part of the fight.
So pleased for Manny but I think he probably should retire now. I feel he’ll be found wanting against the other W champs.
If he stays active maybe he could go back down to LW and win a version of that title? The other option – and I’m wondering what folk think – is Harrison at LM? His record doesn’t look massively daunting and to win a belt at LM would be a fine way to go out.
At least he didn’t run. Just was in with a superior man. Hats all.
Good fight! Great show by both fighters especially victor MP ! Great comeback by Thurman in later rounds as well as heart for not going down in 10th. Manny still on top at 40!
Yes, yes, yes. Oh, man, I like Thurman but I hated his “I will knock Pacquiao OUT!” nonstop crap. Vindication for my friend Manny. God bless this man. YEAH!!!!!!
As I stated earlier, Pacman beat Thurman, who is all marketing no substance. Thurman sees himself as a pretty boy. He’s got a loudmouth and mediocre talent. Glad the superior Pacman, the fighter of substance and humility, prevailed. Were Pacman younger, he would’ve knocked out Thurman within 8 rounds.
If I ran into Pacman on the street, I would call him “Champ” even if he wasn’t holding a title. He has been champion in many weight divisions, and truly has the pedigree of a champion. He showed that tonight. Thurman, on the other hand, is all fluff and marketing. He doesn’t have the pedigree of a champion, so after becoming one, he too two years off nursing some kind of injury while basking in the glory of temporarily being recognized as a champion. He wasn’t defending the title, just soaking up the attention as a “pretty boy”. So pathetic, especially when he did so with such a loudmouth. So sick of this type of hype and superficiality. It shames the dignity of the sport and shows disrespect to fellow fighters. This was a predictable win (at least to me) for Pacman and I’m glad he won. Thurman needs to disappear. He wants no part of Spence or Crawford. This is obvious and many can see why. I have no interest in Thurman fights. He’s a very forgettable fighter, who has always been overrated.
Thurman still one of the best in this weight class, although Spence seems vastly superior to all of them.
People, take a deep look at what took place a few hours ago.
Like The Pac Man, The Trump Man is going to beat the crap out of Joey The Rapist, or Mattress Harris in similiar fashion.
There is a word for Trump’s liver shot to Biden or Harris. It’s called The Moron Squad. Those 4 imbeciles are cancer to the DNC. And that alone will set the stage for a monumental 2020 landslide. Not to mention how stupid the Dems are when it comes to POOR DEFENSE.
Last night PAC took Thurman to school. In Nov 2020, President Trump will take the leading Jack Ass to school.
WELL SAID!!
Jonathon,You do know that people here like to discuss boxing, and if you’re a boxing aficionado like most on here, it’s best to leave all the political B.S to the sites that only discuss that. There are so many sites that all day long have posts on only that subject. There are to few boxing sites left, in I.M.O. We’re here to discuss the sport I hope you can appreciate this. Cool it with all the politrix kindly.
Well I saw this fight in a sports bar with several friends and a bunch of real fight fans. I mentioned on this site this was a 50/50 fight and I said it would be a very tough fight. During the 1st part of the fight I started to think that Pacman was part miracle man and that he just hit to hard for Thurman. The fight itself was very interesting, with Thurman having the stones and guts to not say die. After 5 rounds Keith showed he had perhaps figured out away to make Manny slow down. Keith started hitting him with very hard shots, and it appeared Manny was slowing down a bit. But no matter Manny was in in there on a higher mission, he would not be denied no matter how many hard shots Thurman hit him with. He made sure Thurman knew he was ready to die in there rather than lose this fight. In several of the rounds he hurt Thurman and Thurman visibly was headed for defeat. Still Thurman somehow survived and made himself fight on. I had it 116-111.Thank GOD we did not get a Delaho phony decision. And I believe Manny is the best ambassador of boxing we’ve had in a longtime. Every welters name was mentioned except Crawford as a top welter. They’re trying very hard to shut him out of the top prize for welters. They’re sadly mistaken. One hell of a fight by these men, and in truth, Manny turned back the clock and Keith, like him or not came to fight until the end. FINALLY a fight that at least did not shit on the game.
i said the pac man will kick thurmans ass.he still got a lot in his tank. good job pac.
I dont like Thurmans Mouth however I did net bet against Pacman,,I thought that the youth and strength would get him,,I was Glad for Pacquiao, now Thurman’s lost should humble him, A lot of Fighters will be gunning for him sonce he’s been exposed,,best $60 Dollars I lost
I lost on that one too-thought youth would be enough. Inactivity probably didn’t help. Still great win for Manny.
Well done Manny, would like to see Pac-Man vs Spence Jr
No you wouldn’t-Spence is on whole different level than the inactive Thurman.
Great scrap!!! Pacquiao represented us 40 and over active fighters well.
Manny, Has a special talent only given by God. He uses this talent to inspire people around the world. Let’s learn from his
example and not forget the one who gives us all life and our talents to share with all mankind (God) Bless the message he is sending us which is LOVE!!!!!
Jack Crider
I had it 117-110 Pacquiao. Maybe I’m wrong but it always seems like the 3 least qualified people in the entire arena to judge a fight are so often the official judges. I love Manny and when he retires it’s gonna be hard to stay with this sport because the judging is so corrupt or incompetent and sometimes both on the same night. All that said Thurman is a class act, it was a good fight and Thurman has a lot more left in him, but tonight it was decisively Pacquiao!
So happy for Manny Pacquiao. It just proves that on any given night, one man can be better than the other one regardless of the difference in age.