Manny Pacquiao has successfully defended his WBA welterwight title, beating Adrien Broner by unanimous decision in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao, 40, sealed the 61st victory of a remarkable career with a dominant display, showing flashes of his old speed as he outboxed an opponent who spent the majority of the fight on the back foot and was restricted to counter-punches.
Two judges favoured Pacquiao by a 116-112 score, while the third had it 117-111.
There were no knockdowns, but Pacquiao landed the heavier punches — and lots of them – landing 77 body blows to Broner’s three across the 12 rounds. He caught Broner in the seventh and ninth rounds with big left hands that sent him backward, while the American spent most of the fight looking for one big counter that never came.
With Floyd Mayweather watching from ringside, Pacquiao did little to suggest there would be a different outcome if the two decided to meet in the ring once more.
Pacquiao was beaten by unanimous decision when the they fought in 2015, but after briefly hanging up his gloves a year later the Filipino is back in the ring and set on a rematch.
“Tell (Floyd) to come back to the ring and then we will fight,” said Pacquiao after the fight. “I’m willing to fight him again, to fight Floyd Mayweather.”
But with the camera lens thrust in his face, Mayweather refused to move a muscle when told ‘a simple nod’ to confirm the fight would do.
“I felt so happy because I did well in the fight. We did a lot of work on the jab in training camp.
“God gave me this good health and blessings and at age 40 I can still do this.
“I proved it in my last fight and I’ve proved it again at the age if 40. Manny Paquiao is still here
“I wanted to push more but my trainer said it would be careless, to wait for him and counter so that’s what I did.
