Pacquiao dominates Mosley, retains WBO crown

Except for a fall in the 10th round and a left leg cramp that kept him from knocking out an unusually evasive opponent, there was no denying People’s Champ Manny Pacquiao.

Pacquiao (54 wins, three losses, two draws) won a lopsided 12-round decision over Sugar Shne Mosley at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Nevada yesterday to retain his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title with his 14th consecutive victory.

He didn’t get the knockout he wanted, but the Filipino congressman from Saranggani province retained his position as the most dominant and exciting fighter in the sport (see related stories on Page 2, Islands pages 8 and 9 and Sports Page 30).

He methodically took apart Mosley (46 wins, seven losses, one draw), knocking him down with a left hook in the third round.

That punch seemed to sap Mosley’s willingness to engage, forcing Pacquiao to chase him for the rest of the fight.

But Mosley, a former champion who has never been stopped in 18 years in the ring, managed to finish the 12th round on his feet.

Pacquiao won 120-108 on one scorecard, 120-107 on a second and 119-108 on the third. The Associated Press had him winning 118-110.

Biggest moment

For Mosley, the fight was strikingly similar to his bout a year ago against Floyd Mayweather Jr. — except this time he didn’t even land a big punch like he did early on against Mayweather.

His biggest moment on this night came when referee Kenny Bayless mistakenly ruled that Mosley knocked Pacquiao down in the 10th round when he hadn’t even hit him with a punch.

The ruling seemed to spur Pacquiao on as he went after Mosley the rest of the round and again in the 11th.

By then, the crowd was cheering “Knock him out, knock him out,” but Pacquiao— bothered by a cramp in his left leg since the fourth round — didn’t have enough to finish him off.

“It wasn’t my best performance,” Pacquiao said. “I did my best. I did not expect this result.”

Mosley said he thought he did a good job despite losing round after round, and wouldn’t blame his bad performance on his age.

“I fought the best fighter in the world,” Mosley said. “He has exceptional power, power that I’ve never been hit like this before.”

Promoter Bob Arum defended putting Mosley in the ring against Pacquiao despite signs in Mosley’s last two fights that his reflexes were slipping.

“Nobody can really perform against him,” Arum said. “Some of these guys are pretty good fighters, but nobody in their whole experience has ever faced somebody like (Pacquiao). Everybody is going to look the same way.”

Mosley was tentative from the opening bell, moving backward and seemingly unwilling to trade punches with Pacquiao.

The current pound-for-pound king finally made contact with a left hook at the end of the third round, sending Mosley to the canvas for only the third time in his professional career.

Mosley was up at the count of five, and managed to survive the final minute of the round despite Pacquiao’s best efforts to take him out.

Pacquiao pressed the fight most of the night, but he also appeared hesitant to take many chances, which trainer Freddie Roach said was because of the muscle cramp that his corner tried to massage between rounds.

“He had no leverage to move after that,” Roach said. “It was a very gutty performance in my mind.”

Protecting his legacy

Pacquiao said his leg first started bothering him in his fight last November against Antonio Margarito.

“I thought Shane did a great job, he had some speed,” Pacquiao said.

“I couldn’t move because my left leg got tight. It’s a problem I’ve been having lately. I’m going to work on my legs in future training camps.”

The sellout crowd of 16,412 booed Mosley repeatedly in the late rounds for his refusal to trade punches with Pacquiao.

Mosley fought as if trying to protect his legacy of having never been knocked out and, if that was his strategy, it succeeded.

But it made for a lackluster fight and did nothing to burnish the legacy that the Filipino champion has built with 14 straight wins over the last six years — including some over the biggest names in the game.

Pacquiao made a minimum of US $20 million for the fight, while Mosley was guaranteed $5 million.

Looking back

Leading the list of well-wishers was President Benigno Aquino III who congratulated Pacquiao on his unanimous decision win over Mosley.

In a statement Mr. Aquino, who attended an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit in Jakarta, Indonesia lauded Pacquiao for once again showing the Filipinos’ stability, strength and courage to the whole world.

Aquino, who wished Pacquiao well on the eve of his fight, also said the Filipino world champion manifested the Filipinos’ discipline, determination and skill.

“(His successful title defense) was made even brighter by his choice of wearing yellow boxing gloves that symbolize his being a participant in our fight against poverty. Despite his success, Manny doesn’t forget to look back to help his countrymen that have been bogged down by problems,” Mr. Aquino said. /AP with Inquirer