Lopsided Pacquiao win

LAS VEGAS—Manny Pacquiao forced Shane Mosley into a defensive mode with an early knockdown and settled for a unanimous decision to retain his World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight crown at the sold-out MGM Grand Garden Arena here on Saturday night (Sunday morning in Manila).

The Fighting Congressman from Sarangani tagged Mosley with a right jab then unloaded a left hook that floored the American in the third round.

Mosley beat the count, but was never the same after that.

Hobbled by cramps in the left leg, Pacquiao was unable to finish off Mosley, disappointing many of the 16,412 fans who were expecting the eight-division world champion to hand the 39-year-old American his first knockout loss.

To his compatriots back home, however, victory by any manner was enough cause for jubilation.

Pacquiao later said he was really intent on stopping Mosley but that the future Hall of Famer refused to trade punches as he normally does against other foes.

As Mosley found out, Pacquiao was more powerful and faster than he thought.

Pacquiao, who was hardly marked when he appeared in coat-and-tie in the postfight press conference, raised his win-loss-draw record to 54-3-2 with 38 knockouts.

Mosley, who wore dark shades to hide his reddened eyes, fell to 46-7-1, with one no-contest and 39 knockouts.

It marked the third straight time that Pacquiao went the distance, although Mosley was as outclassed as Ghanaian Joshua Clottey and Mexican Antonio Margarito.

Counting his 12th-round stoppage of Puerto Rican Miguel Cotto, the 32-year-old Pacquiao has now gone 48 rounds without knocking out an opponent, raising concerns that his body is being worn down faster than it should.

Boos from the crowd

Clearly, however, Pacquiao was in peak enough form to weather whatever Mosley could offer.

Except for the first round, when he was still trying to find his angles and probing Mosley’s 7 1/2-inch reach advantage, Pacquiao brought the fight to his rattled opponent.

Having felt Pacquiao’s power, however, Mosley, a veteran of 21 world title fights, refused to engage the Filipino pound-for-pound king toe-to-toe from the fourth round onwards, drawing boos from the crowd.

A left hook in the ninth also wobbled Mosley, who said he developed blisters starting in the sixth round.

As expected, the three judges saw Pacquiao the runaway winner, drawing a smile from his wife Jinkee, who was flashed on the giant screen as the decision was announced.

Push ruled a knockdown

Dave Moretti and Duane Ford scored it 120-108 and 120-107, respectively, but Glenn Trowbridge had it at 119-108 after giving Mosley the 10th round when the normally competent Kenny Bayless ruled a Mosley push as a knockdown and gave Pacquiao the count.

This angered Pacquiao, who lunged at the backtracking Mosley before the round closed.

In the 11th round, Pacquiao again staggered Mosley, who was unable to cope up with the Filipino’s flurry of punches.

Pacquiao, who donned yellow gloves as a symbol of peace and unity, did try to topple Mosley in the last round, but eventually stopped and allowed Mosley to escape what could have been his first knockout loss.

To Pacquiao’s credit, he was only the second man to knock the iron-chinned Mosley down, with Vernon Forrest doing the trick twice in the second round in 2002.

Filipinos, many of whom heeded Pacquiao’s call to wear yellow and join him in what he said was his campaign against poverty, and even foreigners gave Pacquiao a rousing ovation after he’d done his thanksgiving prayer at the corner.

Promoter Bob Arum defended putting Mosley in the ring against Pacquiao.

“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.”

Charice sings

Jamie Jamison, lead singer of the Survivors, sang “The Eye of the Tiger” as Pacquiao entered the arena.

International singing sensation Charice Pempengco later gave the right rendition of the national anthem.

Rapper LL Cool J did the entrance song for Mosley, Tyrese sang the “Star Spangled Banner,” while Jamie Foxx did “God Bless America.”

Bacolod City Mayor Bing Leonardia carried the Philippine flag.

Paris was there

Among the celebrities present was socialite Paris Hilton, a fan of Pacquiao.

In the main supporting bout, grizzled Mexican warrior Jorge Arce stopped Wilfredo Vasquez in the 12th round to claim the Puerto Rican’s WBO super bantamweight title.

The 32-year-old Arce improved to 57-6-2 with 44 knockouts while Vasquez dropped to 20-1-1 with 17 knockouts.

With Arce pounding Vasquez relentlessly on the ropes, his corner threw a plastic bottle of water at the middle of the ring as a sign of surrender.

Former world champion Kelly Pavlik also made a successful return when he bested erstwhile unbeaten prospect Alfonso Lopez by majority decision in a 10-round super middleweight bout.

Cebu pride Rodel Mayol eked out a similar majority decision over Mexican Javier Gallo. Two judges scored it 98-92 for Mayol (now 28-5-2 with 21 knockouts), while Gallo fell to 17-4-1, nine knockouts.

$30 million

Earlier, Pacquiao figured in a minor car accident while returning to the hotel from hearing Mass. The SUV he was riding in was bumped from behind by one of the cars carrying his security escorts.

Though shaken a bit, Pacquiao was unhurt and he showed it against Mosley.

Pacquiao, a prohibitive 9-1 favorite at fight time, stands to earn a guaranteed $20 million, with an additional $10 million looming due to the strong pay-per-piew and closed-circuit sales.

He thanked President Benigno Aquino III for congratulating him on a victory that would further embellish his legacy as boxing’s only eight-division world champion.

In closing, Pacquiao invited the media to a postfight concert at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino. There was still some energy left in him. With a report from AP