Dubai: Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao recorded a unanimous decision victory over WBO Welterweight Champion Timothy Bradley in Las Vegas.
The judges scored the match 116-112, 116-112 and 118-110 as Pacquiao avenged the World Boxing Organization welterweight world title he lost to Bradley in controversial 2012.
When Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley fought in Las Vegas two years ago, it ended in one of the most controversial split-decisions with the help of the judges scorecards.
But on Saturday night in the highly anticipated rematch, the Filipino icon left no doubt about who was the winner when posting a dominant unanimous decision over the man who had snapped his 15-bout winning streak.
Leaving no room whatsoever for a repeat of that shocking result, Pacquiao clearly won nine of the 12 rounds to storm back into contention as the strongest pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
The fighter of the decade, Pacquiao improved to 56-5-2 overall with 38 Kos. while handing Bradley his first loss (31-1, 12 KOs).
Pacquiao has now won twice in just five months following a dominant victory over Mexican-American Brandon Rios last November in Macau.
After the fight Bradley told Pacquiao in the ring: "Congratulations. You deserved it."
Pacquiao had launched his comeback from the back-to-back 2012 defeats with a lopsided points win over Brandon Rios last November.
That victory was a clinical display of boxing skill. Saturday's victory showcased more of the old "killer instinct," with Bradley saying it was clear that Pacquiao was "going for it".
"I think I can go another two years," said Pacquiao, who had been stung by Bradley's pre-fight claim that at 35, Pacquiao had lost the fire that had made him one of the most feared fighters in the world. "I'm so happy to be world champion again," Pacquiao said.
Bradley fell to 31-1, with 12 knockouts."Life goes on," Bradley said of his first pro defeat. "It's back to the gym. Not a big deal."
"I tried, I really tried," said Bradley. "I wanted that knockout. I kept trying to throw something over the top, that's what the plan was."
But Bradley trainer Joel Diaz said he knew the plan had gone out the window when Bradley came to the corner after the first round saying he thought he had torn his right calf muscle.
Diaz tried massaging it, but Bradley told him to stop because it hurt.
"From that point on, I knew I didn't have much to work with, because our plan was to dominate Pacquiao and we couldn't do it," Diaz said.
The injury was later diagnosed as a strain, and Bradley said he had "no excuses".
"Manny is a great fighter, one of the best in the world maybe the best ever," he said.
With input from AFP
