On Saturday night from the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Manny Pacquiao felt he had a point to prove against Timothy Bradley after a disappointing performance in a loss last May to Floyd Mayweather.
Pacquiao looked like the Pacquiao of old, knocking down Bradley twice to win by unanimous decision (116-110x3). In the buildup to the fight, Pacquiao stated he was going to retire. He told HBO's Max Kellerman that was still the case, but hedged when he said it.
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"Maybe I'll enjoy being a retired man," Pacquiao told Kellerman. "Thank you to the fans in boxing. Appreciate help and support."
If it is the end for Pacquiao, he will go out with 58-6-2 and the only boxer to win titles in eight different divisions. Bradley's record goes to 33-2-1-1.
In undercard action, Gilberto Ramirez defeated Arthur Abraham by unanimous decision to capture the WBO super middleweight title. Prior to that, Oscar Valdez came out like a man possessed to knock out Evgeny Gradovich in the fourth round. Then to kick off the undercard, Jose Ramirez defeated Manny Perez by unanimous decision.
12:24: Pacquiao wins Round 12 (10-9, 117-110). It was an uneventful final round as Bradley needed a knockout to win the fight. Bradley tried his hardest and landed a couple of flush right hands. But Pacquiao decided that was enough and went to work with a few combinations to close the show and win the fight.
12:20: Pacquiao wins Round 11 (10-9, 107-101). Bradley trainer Teddy Atlas told his fighter he wanted the best six minutes from him. He didn't live up to the first half of the bargain. Pacquiao controlled the round with his quickness, getting in and getting out, with no answer from Bradley.
12:16: Pacquiao wins Round 10 (10-9, 97-92). It was mainly an uneventful round with neither guy doing much. Pacquiao was more active and Bradley looked deflated, especially with his reaction at the end when he threw his right glove down in disgust. He's boxing his best, but Pacquiao looks incredible.
12:12: Pacquiao wins Round 9 (10-8, 87-83). Bradley came out like he did in the eighth with Pacquiao not having an answer. It all changed with one shot. Pacquiao landed a short left hook that knocked Bradley and almost flipped him over. Bradley looked deflated heading to his corner.
12:08: Bradley wins Round 8 (10-9, 77-74). Bradley came out like a man on a mission in this round and needed something dramatic to try to gain momentum. He landed a left hook that caught Pacquiao's attention and landed another left that sent Pacquiao back against the ropes. Bradley seemed to gain more energy at the end of the round.
12:04: Pacquiao wins Round 7 (10-8, 68-64). The round was even until the final minute and it seemed like another round was slipping from Bradley again. Pacquiao then landed a straight left and then a right uppercut that knocked Bradley down. Bradley got up and Pacquiao tried to finish the fight to no avail.
12:00: Pacquiao wins Round 6 (10-9, 58-56). Pacquiao is landing more power shots mainly with his right hand. Bradley keeps backing up and is not disrupting Pacquiao's rhythm.
11:56: Pacquiao wins Round 5 (10-9, 48-47). Bradley was winning the round being more effective with his left hand. Then he stood in the pocket with Pacquiao and they both stood in the middle with Pacquiao getting the better of the exchanges, including rocking Bradley at one point. We have already seen more action in five rounds in this fight than we did in 12 rounds of Floyd Mayweather's snoozefest over Andre Berto in September.
11:52: Pacquiao wins Round 4 (10-9, 38-38). Pacquiao poured his left hand at will and didn't throw the right hand until the end of the round. Bradley had his moments but was still not active enough.
11:48: Bradley wins Round 3 (10-9, 29-28). The most action-packed round of the fight so far. Bradley was able to find a home with his right hand and was a little more active. In between rounds, Roy Jones noticed Pacquiao was trying to shake his surgically repaired shoulder.
11:44: Pacquiao wins Round 2 (10-9, 19-19). Pacquiao came out as the aggressor. He was starting to find a home for the left and right hands.
11:40: Bradley wins Round 1 (10-9). Can tell trainer Teddy Atlas is already making a difference for Bradley, who looks like he has a gameplan and was forcing the action while Pacquiao was scratching and clawing to do anything.
11:37: We are underway.
11:33: Bradley looks timid and Pacquiao looks very loose as ring introductions are about to take place.
11:31: Manny Pacquiao is in the ring and there are loud chants of "Manny, Manny."
11:28: Here comes Tim Bradley walking to the ring
11:24: Jim Lampley emphasizing that this could very well be Pacquiao's last fight and that athletes such as Kobe Bryant haven't gone out the way we all expect. We will soon find out.
11:19: We will be getting the Phillipine and American national anthems.
11:18: Where is Michael Buffer? This is a travesty.
11:15: Pacquiao vs. Bradley coming up shortly.
Pacquiao vs. Bradley undercard updates:
11:13: Gilberto Ramirez defeats Arthur Abraham by unanimous decision (120-108x3) to win the WBO super middleweight title. Ramirez is the first Mexican fighter to ever win a world championship at 168 pounds. I gave Abraham the sixth round but have no problem with the decision. It seemed after the eighth round that Abraham was there just to collect a paycheck.
10:46: The sixth round has been the best round of the fight for Abraham. He started to connect with some combinations and head shots to win his first round of the fight.
10:30: Near the end of the second round, Ramirez wobbled Abraham with a right hook. Abraham not providing any offense and Ramirez looks loose and fluid heading into the third round.
dir="ltr" lang="en">Abraham is a big fan of @MikeTyson and is psyched to be fighting at @mgmgrand where so many of Iron Mike's fights were
— Kevin Iole (@KevinI) April 10, 2016
10:22: Time for the co-main event as Arthur Abraham defends his WBO super middleweight title against Gilberto Ramirez. Ramirez is undefeated in 33 fights with 24 of his wins by knockout.
10:17: HBO is now showing the highlights from the rematch which, thank God, the Nevada judges didn't screw up this time. Let's hope we have competent judges for the trilogy fight.
10:10: Valdez knocks out Gradovich with 2:14 left in the fourth round to remain undefeated. Valdez battered Gradovich, who seemed overwhelmed. By the third round, Gradovich's eyes were bleeding. The end of the fight came when Valdez landed an overhand right to Gradovich's ear and, moments later, finished the job with a left hook. Valdez landed 80 more punches than Gradovich, who landed only seven punches a round.
10:00: Undisputed light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev shown in the crowd supporting his fellow countryman, Gradovich.
9:56: Oscar Valdez vs. Evgeny Gradovich is up next in a 10-round featherweight bout. Valdez is undefeated in 18 fights with 16 of his wins coming by knockout.
9:52: Highlight were shown of the first Pacquiao vs. Bradley fight. Funny how even Jim Lampley, Roy Jones and Max Kellerman still criticize the two judges who somehow scored the fight for Bradley. It definitely goes down as one of the worst scorecards in the history of boxing.
9:48: Jose Ramirez defeats Manny Perez by unanimous decision (99-91, 98-92 and 97-93) to run his record to 17-0. Ramirez, a 2012 Olympian, landed 76 more punches, controlled the action throughout the fight and really wasn't in any danger. Have to give Perez a lot of credit for hanging in there and giving his all even in the final round, even though he got battered for the entire fight.
9:40: This is the first time in 17 career fights Ramirez has gone past the eighth round.
9:23: Timothy Bradley arrives to no reaction from the crowd. Pacquiao will be the heavy crowd favorite if that wasn't already obvious.
9:22: After four rounds, Ramirez is battering Perez. He is being the more efficient boxer, throwing combinations and using superior footwork while Perez is winging punches. Perez's face is starting to swell up while Ramirez doesn't have a mark on his face.
9:18: Manny Pacquiao enters the MGM Grand to an ovation.
9:14: During a break between rounds two and three, HBO gives the first of what will probably be many previews of the May 7 fight between Canelo Alvarez and Amir Khan for the WBC middleweight championship.
9:12: A good amount of people inside the MGM Grand for the first fight of a pay-per-view undercard.
9:03: Manny Perez vs. Jose Ramirez kicks off the undercard in junior welterweight action. The undercard is titled "No Trump Undercard" due to Top Rank promoter Bob Arum not liking presidential candidate Donald Trump. What a novial way to try and sell a fight card. Trump hadn't responded to Arum at this time.
9:02: HBO PPV underway starting with Jim Lampley saying this is an intriguing contest even though Pacquaio in many people's minds won the first two fights.
8:54: Welcome to Sporting News' live updates of the Pacquiao vs. Bradley PPV. We're minutes away from the PPV, with Pacquiao and Bradley not getting inside the ring for another two-and-half to three hours.
Steven Muehlhausen is an MMA and boxing writer and contributor for Sporting News. You can find his podcast, The Fight Club Chicago, and subscribe on iTunes, Soundcloud and Stitcher. You can email him at [email protected] and can find him on Twitter @SMuehlhausenMMA.
