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Mayweather Wins After Close Fight Against Pacquiao

LAS VEGAS (AP)– Floyd Mayweather Jr. won a unanimous decision over Manny Pacquiao on Saturday night, using his usual skill to remain unbeaten in the most anticipated fight in recent years.

Mayweather (48-0) won comfortably on all three judges’ scorecards in his long-awaited showdown with Pacquiao (57-6-2). Despite boos from a pro-Pacquiao crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Mayweather counterpunched and jabbed his way to another win.


Two judges favored Mayweather 116-112, while a third had it 118-110. The Associated Press scored it 115-113 for Mayweather.

Mayweather danced, ducked and peppered Pacquiao with enough punches to take the decision, while Pacquiao rushed forward and attempted to land combinations and big shots. Mayweather’s jab and straight right hand mostly kept Pacquiao at bay, except in a few sensational exchanges along the ropes.

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The crowd booed the final decision and booed Mayweather, who said he will fight in September and then retire.

The judges gave Mayweather a unanimous decision, with two of the three judges scoring the fight 116-112 and the third scoring it 118-110.

Manny Pacquiao doesn’t agree with the judges.

“I thought I caught him many more times than he caught me,” Pacquiao said. “I was never hurt. I was very surprised at the scores. I hit him more times than he hit me.”

Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, didn’t seem as surprised after watching his game plan for penetrating Mayweather’s defense largely fail to unfold.READ: ICYMI: Burger King mascot joins Floyd Mayweather Jr. in ring walk

“Between rounds, I asked for more combinations from Manny,” Roach said. “I thought he fought flat-footed a little too much.”

The punch statistics tell a compelling story about this fight – and about just how difficult it is to hit Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Manny Pacquiao connected with just 19 percent of his total punches (81 of 429) and 27 percent of his power shots (63-236). His jab never found a home, landing just 9 percent of the time (18-193).

Mayweather was just as active, but much more accurate. He landed 34 percent of his total punches (148-435) and an impressive 25 percent of his jabs (67-267). His power shots were less frequent, but more effective, landing at 48 percent effectiveness (81-168).

Opinions about the fight varied around Twitter and the Internet, but the decision was fairly uniform at ringside. The judges agreed on 10 of the 12 rounds, disagreeing only on the ninth and 10th rounds.

Judge Dave Moretti gave both to Mayweather and scored it 118-110, while judges Burt Clements and Glenn Feldman gave both to Pacquiao and saw it 116-112.