Manny Pacquiao defeats Timothy Bradley by unanimous decision
Manny Pacquiao mentioned retirement after his Saturday night work, but after knocking down Timothy Bradley twice in his unanimous-decision victory, calling it quits seems like a premature choice.
Pacquiao, 11 months after his record-selling Floyd Mayweather Jr. loss, returned to form with heavy punches, overpowering Bradley to close their trilogy and cruise to triumph by scores of 116-110 from all three judges, Dave Moretti, Burt Clements and Steve Weisfeld.
In front of 14,665 at MGM Grand, Pacquiao (58-6-2) knocked down Coachella Valley’s Bradley (33-2-1) in the seventh and ninth rounds.
“I was looking for the knockout in every round,” Pacquiao said. “He’s a very tough fighter and very good counterpuncher. This was the very best Tim Bradley I’ve faced in the three fights.”
After a dull, calculated first three rounds, Pacquiao and Bradley started to trade punches in the fourth and Bradley backed Pacquiao to the ropes in the fifth, landing a straight punch.
Then, in the seventh, Pacquiao pressed Bradley to a neutral corner, where he hit the former two-division world champion with a left, then a short right as Bradley dipped down and went to the canvas.
Referee Tony weeks ruled it a knockdown, but Bradley and his trainer Teddy Atlas disagreed.
“He pulled me down with his glove,” Bradley said.
Talking to HBO in the ring after the defeat, Bradley asked to see replays of the knockdowns and when he saw Pacquiao’s trademark left planted on his face in the ninth, he remarked, “Oooh-eee! Yeah, he caught me good with that one.”
In the eighth, Bradley had rallied with more than a half-dozen clean punches, going the kill as Pacquiao held him and hung on. Bradley never dropped Pacquiao in the trilogy, and that comfort allowed Pacquiao to more aggressively press the action, repeating his 2014 unanimous-decision triumph.
Bradley claimed before the fight that he intended to produce a supreme performance of boxing and defense similar to his ninth-round technical knockout of lesser Brandon Rios in November.
“Manny is patient … I wasn’t professional enough to be patient myself and I walked into some shots,” he said after the loss.
“He’s very quick, very explosive and it’s hard to judge him with quick reflexes. He won the fight, much respect to Manny Pacquiao.”
CompuBox reported Pacquiao connected on 122 punches to Bradley’s 99.
Pacquiao badly sought a convincing showing like Saturday’s to answer the embarrassment he felt he brought upon himself and his country in the Mayweather loss, when he labored through an aggravated shoulder injury and said he underwent surgery afterward.
The record eight-division world champion, at age 37, will seek election in the Philippines Senate on May 9, and said, “As of now, I’m retired. I am going to go home and think about [fighting again]. I want to go home with my family and serve the people.”
Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach said, “I loved the way Manny threw his combos. He might be a little rusty, but if he wants to continue, I’d let him go.”
Pacquiao could potentially have his choice of unbeaten junior-welterweight champion Terence Crawford, Mexico’s middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, or maybe someone makes the case that with a healed shoulder, the two knockdowns of hard-headed Bradley are worthy of a lucrative Mayweather rematch at the new, 20,000-seat T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
“I hope that I gave them a good fight,” Pacquiao said. “Thank you to all the fans.”
Earlier, Southland-based featherweight Oscar Valdez (19-0, 17 knockouts) bolstered his case for a title shot with a fourth-round knockout of former title challenger Evgeny Gradovich.
And Valdez’s countryman, Gilberto Ramirez, became the first Mexican to win a super-middleweight world title by defeating veteran Arthur Abraham for the World Boxing Organization belt.
Judges Adalaide Byrd, Glenn Trowbridge and Glenn Feldman each scored it a 120-108 sweep for the 24-year-old Ramirez (34-0), a Mazatlan, Mexico, fighter who trains in Carson.
Only one Mexican, Julio Gonzalez, has won world title in a heavier division, light-heavyweight.
“I came here to make history and I did it,” Ramirez said.
Follow Lance Pugmire on Twitter: @latimespugmire
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