In his first fight since turning 40, Manny Pacquiao took a victory over Adrien Broner, earning his win by unanimous decision on Saturday night (January 19), holding onto the secondary welterweight world title. Before the crowd of over 13,000 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, the same stage on which Pacquiao made his American debut 18 years ago, judges dished out a score of 117-112, 116-112, and 116-112 all in the Philippine fighter's favor.
"I feel so happy because I did my best in the fight and in training. Thank God for this victory," Pacquiao said. "I'm so happy because God gave me this good health. At the age of 40, I can still give my best. Although I wanted to be aggressive more, my camp told me don't be careless and to counter him and wait for opportunities."
Pacquiao (50-0, 27 KOs) managed to land 112 of his 568 punches at 20 percent while Broner only came in at 17 percent with 50 of 295. According to CompuBox, Broner (33-4-1, 24 KOs) never landed more than eight punches in any one round. Nevertheless, it didn't stop the 29-year-old from acting as though he won when the final bell rang, even climbing the ropes as though he was the victor.
"I beat him," Broner said with a straight face. "Everybody out there knows I beat him. I controlled the fight. He was missing. I hit him clean more times. I beat him [...] "Let me let all you know, I want to thank the whole 'hood who came out here. You know I beat that boy," Broner said. "They are trying to get that money with Pacquiao and Floyd. I beat him. Smart boxing."