Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao was given a split decision victory over Keith “One Time” Thurman in what was a closer fight than many casual fanatics believed.
The outrage over the split decision was purely emotional. If you watched the fight without bias, you would have scored it at least a draw or give Thurman the slight edge since he came back and dominated most of the mid-rounds right after the first round knockdown.
The only reason it wasn’t a draw is due to the knockdown in the first round and the body shot Pacman landed in the tenth hurt Thurmans chances of getting a fair shake.
The fight was a lot closer and Pacman took a lot of punishment. He was lucky to survive and I will say it shocked me he was able to take so many power shots from Thurman.
I predicted Thurman to KO Pacquiao, but it didn’t come true.
Stuff happens in boxing and our predictions don’t always play out, but I felt the only fair scorecard was from the one judge that scored it 113-114 in favor of Thurman. It was a close fight not a one sided domination like the Pac fans will have you believe.
Anyway, moving forward, IBF champ Errol Spence Jr. the boogeyman of the welterweight division will take on rugged brawler and WBC champ Shawn Porter in a unification bout on September 28 to declare who the top dog is.
Spence last fought Mikey Garcia and immediately after that fight he respectfully asked Manny Pacquiao if they could mix it up, Pacman coyly agreed but the fight never happened.
The reason the fight never came to fruition is because Pacquiao was truly scared and knows deep down Spence would destroy him.
This is why Pacquiao and his camp picked Keith Thurman over Spence, because they saw Thurman get rocked agaisnt Josesito Lopez. It is easier to gain confidence fighting someone you see weaknesses and vulnerability in, than a guy who looks unbeatable.
Spence is too big and too technical for Pacquiao. If Thurman was able to land that many hard shots on Pacman, imagine what a sharper and taller opponent like Spence would do to the old man? It would be a wrap.
I don’t even think Pacquiao will fight his former sparring partner Shawn Porter, he will probably duck the winner and go after someone like Mikey Garcia or Danny Garcia instead.
The Pac fans know that their guy stands no chance against Spence. They are busy hyping up Pacman’s close victory over Thurman to make him out like he is the greatest boxer in history which is not true at all.
This is the funny thing when Pacman fights all his wins get hyped up by the mainstream media and exaggerated.
Errol Spence Jr. will put all that to bed if he ever gets his chance to fight Pacquiao to capture that third title before going after WBO champ Terence Crawford for the final strap.
Pacman better stay away unless he wants to get badly hurt. Look for him to defend his WBA belt against someone else, I wouldn’t even be shocked if they have Pacquiao fight someone like Sergey Lipinets next.
