Pacquiao wins!

The legend continues
DALLAS – Manny Pacquiao retained his welterweight boxing championship of the world before a crowd of 50,994 at the Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Texas on Saturday, March 13. It was the third largest audience for a boxing match in the last 50 years.

Pacquiao won the bout against Joshua Clottey of Ghana in a unanimous decision, winning all 12 rounds.

See more photos from the fight by Chester Pangan
The match, however, left many boxing fans unsatisfied. Throughout the fight Clottey was obviously playing it safe; reluctant to make any offensive moves against Pacquiao, constantly guarding his head and throwing very few punches – though he did connect several times, giving Pacquiao a few jolts.

At more than one point between rounds trainer Lenny de Jesus was overheard telling Clottey, “You’re losing every damned round. You’re in a fight and you gotta start taking chances.” To which Clottey shook his head in disagreement.

This was Joshua Clottey’s fourth career loss but, significantly, this was the first time he ever admitted defeat.

“I didn’t really get hurt,” said Clottey. “I’m fine. Manny’s fast. He used his speed. I was tight. I was timing my punches but he kept throwing… I’m sorry for losing but I’ll come back big.”

Pacquiao for his part, worked hard for his victory, throwing 1,231 punches – more than three times as many as Clottey.

“He’s a very tough opponent,” Pacquiao said after the fight. “He was looking for a big shot.”

Pacquiao is guaranteed to receive $12 million, apart from his share from pay-per-view revenues and gate receipts, while Clottey earned his biggest pay cheque of $1.5 million.

For fans spoiled by so many Pacquiao knockouts, the match was also a disappointment for another reason. Pacquiao was originally scheduled to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. but that never occurred due to a dispute over blood testing. The Pacquiao camp hopes to get their shot at Mayweather, who is scheduled to fight Shane Mosley on May 1.

Ironically, one of the biggest cheers of the night was for Journey singer Arnel Pineda’s performance of Lupang Hinirang.