LAS VEGAS – If it was a farewell fight, it will be remembered for how Manny Pacquiao kept the good in bye.
Pacquiao flashed some moments of his best days as a fighter, knocking down Timothy Bradley twice and scoring a unanimous decision in a one-sided fight Saturday night that left no questions, other than perhaps why these welterweights ever had to fight three times.
Pacquiao’s speed and power began to assert their superiority in the fourth and left Bradley looking resigned and even somewhat demoralized after knockdowns in the seventh and again in the ninth. The second knockdown, the result of wicked left hand from Pacquiao, nearly set Bradley head over heels.
Above all, Pacquiao’s victory provided further evidence of just how wrong those scorecards were when Bradley won a split decision in 2012.
In the immediate aftermath of hearing the scores 116-110 on all three cards, there wasn’t much celebration from Pacquiao (58-6-2, 38 KOs), who won a clear-cut decision in a 2014 rematch. If anything, he was subdued, uncertain perhaps about what he’ll do next.
He’s a Filipino Congressman. He faces an election for his country’s Senate on May 9. It looks as if he is moving into his life after boxing.
“Yes, I am retired,’’ he said in the middle of the ring. “I want to go home and spend time with my family and serve the people.’’
If the crowd of 14,665 at the MGM Grand represented his people, they want him to serve by continuing his ring career. They cahnted “Manny, Manny”” from round to round. They stood and applauded through the final minute of the bout. Their roaring affection for him could make it very hard for him to stay retired.
Meanwhile, Bradley (33-2-1, 13 KOs) seemed to have as much affection for him as anyone. Pacquiao invited him to payer meeting Sunday morning and, according to a publicist, Bradley was planning to go.
They smiled and embraced like old buddies after the final bell. The loss leaves uncertainty about his career. He said he would discuss what to do next with wife and manager Monica.
“I can still fight,’’ Bradley said.
He can, but not against Pacquiao anymore.
Mexico 3, Trump 0
The No Trump Undercard was Bob Arum’s way of expressing his opposition to presidential candidate Donald Trump’s controversial comments about Mexicans and the Republican front-runner’s promise to build a wall along the United States’ southern border.
It was a message that needed a follow-up.
The follow-up was delivered, a three-punch combo, before the Pacquiao-Bradley main event.
Three bouts featured fighters of Mexican descent. All three won with power and precision that could have knocked down just about any old wall.
Gilberto Ramirez (34-0, 24 KOs) became the first Mexican to win a super-middleweight title by scoring a shutout, 120-108 on all three scorecards, over Germany’s Arthur Abraham (44-5, 29 KOs) for the WBO’s version of the 168-pound title.
Two-time Mexican Olympian Oscar Valdez (19-0, 17 KOs), who began boxing in Tucson, put himself in line for a shot at a world featherweight title by throwing the best left from a fighter with Arizona roots since Michael Carbajal for a fourth-round TKO of Evgeny Gradovich, who calls himself the Mexican Russian. After Valdez dropped him, Gradovich (21-2-1, 9 KOs) looked like neither. He only looked finished
Super-lightweight Jose Ramirez (17-0, 12 KOs) , a 2012 U.S. Olympian who fights for water conservation in central California when he isn’t fighting in the ring, punished Manny Perez (25-12-1, 6 KOs) of Denver in a sustained beating throughout 10 rounds for a 97-93, 98-92, 99-1 decision.
Best of the Undercard
Oleksandr Gvozdyk calls himself The Nail. Nadjib Mohammedi knows why.
Gvozdyk (9-0, 7 KOs), a Ukrainian light-heavyweight and a 2012 Olympic bronze medalist, nailed him with straight right that dropped Mohammedi (39-5, 24 KOs), face-first and unconscious, onto the canvas at 2:06 of the second round.
Mohammedi speaks French. Jay Nady gave the 10-count in English. Didn’t matter. Mohammedi never heard it.
The Rest
Welterweight Egidijus Kavaliauskas (13-0, 11 KOs), a Lithuanian training at Robert Garcia’s gym in Oxnard, Calif., was better in every way, scoring a unanimous decision over Deniz Ibay (15-1, 9 KOs) of Germany
Youth was served with German teenager Leon Bauer’s unanimous decision over Russian super-middleweight Hshat Khusnulgatin (12-2, 6 KOs) in a bout that set one record. The 17-year-old Bauer (8-0, 6 KOs) was 10 days younger than Jose Benavidez Jr. was in his in 2010 debut.
There was a second helping of youth with another 17-year-old, Las Vegas super-featherweight Devin Haney (4-0, 2 KOs) winning a unanimous decision over Puerto Rican Rafael Vazquez (2-5)
Russian welterweight Konstantin Ponomarev (30-0, 13 KOs) stayed unbeaten, but keeping that 0 intact was tough and controversial in a 10-round split decision over Brad Solomon, a Lafayette, LA fighter who left the ring once beaten.
