Manny Pacquiao Hands Keith Thurman His First Loss With Impressive Performance In Las Vegas
Father Time may be undefeated, but Manny Pacquiao is giving it one hell of a fight after adding another big win on his resume at 40 years old.
The 40-year-old Pacquiao delivered a vintage performance against Keith Thurman, defeating him by split decision to capture the WBA “Super” welterweight title. Two judges scored the fight 115-112 in favor of Pacquiao while a third judge had Thurman winning 114-113. The fight headlined a PBC on FOX pay-per-view event from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in front a sellout crowd of 14,356. Fightful had Pacquiao winning 115-112 on its live coverage page which can be seen at this link.
The Man. The Myth. The Senator. pic.twitter.com/sErhTZABmV
— FOX Sports (@FOXSports) July 21, 2019
Starting off, Pacquiao delivered a stunning left hand that dropped Thurman late in the first round, sending the crowd at the MGM Grand into a frenzy. Thurman managed to get back up, but failed to answer most of what Pacquiao threw in the next few rounds, mainly Pacquiao’s left hand.
.@MannyPacquiao‘s feeling’ himself after 2 rounds — pic.twitter.com/qNDOiVm7AE
— FOX Sports: PBC (@PBConFOX) July 21, 2019
As the fight progressed, Thurman started to figure out is opponent’s rhythm and was able to land combinations of his own and occasionally connect with the straight right hand. Thurman outworked Pacquiao in the middle rounds and even in moments where Pacquiao was able to quickly take control of the fight, Thurman would halt the Filipino’s momentum with the right hand.
WBA Champ @keithfthurmanjr gettin’ loose in the 7th —
Eight-division World Champion Manny Pacquiao faces World Champion Keith Thurman for WBA supremacy! BUY NOW: https://t.co/AeIXwbC2Dr pic.twitter.com/uGIXM2U0Ip
— FOX Sports: PBC (@PBConFOX) July 21, 2019
As soon as Pacquiao appeared to start fading late in the fight, he was able to catch his second wind and land several body shots that hurt Thurman in the 10th round. Thurman did manage to hit Pacquiao with a right hook upstairs, it was still an uphill battle for him to win the fight on the scorecards without dropping Pacquiao. Even with one scorecard in favor of Thurman, it was the absolute best he could hope for given Pacquiao’s strong start and eye-catching 10th round.
.@MannyPacquiao with a massive body shot in the 10th!
Eight-division World Champion Manny Pacquiao faces World Champion Keith Thurman for WBA supremacy! BUY NOW: https://t.co/AeIXwbC2Dr pic.twitter.com/zkBRF3Uc2G
— FOX Sports: PBC (@PBConFOX) July 21, 2019
The win now extended Pacquiao’s win streak to three fights, the longest since winning three straight from 2013 to 2014, a run that included a WBO welterweight title win. Pacquiao’s record now improves to 62-7-2 while Thurman’s first loss drops him to 29-1.
When asked about what his future holds and when he could return to the ring, Pacquiao admitted that he might not fight again until 2020 when he will be 41 years old. The reason being is that his duties as a senator in his native Philippines will more than likely keep him from fighting for the remainder of 2019.
