Once pegged as a brutally powerful if somewhat one-dimensional fighter, Manny Pacquiao showed further wrinkles in his game early Sunday morning in the Philippines, delivering a one-sided beating to Oscar Larios en route to a unanimous decision.
Pacquiao, whose stoppages of Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales have made him one of boxing’s best little men in recent years, delivered a rousing performance in front of his countrymen in Quezon City, Manila, Philippines, in the same stadium where Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier waged their epic rubber match 30 years ago. While it was billed as the “Thrilla in Manila” sequel, at times it resembled Ali-Chuck Wepner as Pacquiao administered a one-sided drubbing
Larios was floored twice, in the seventh and twelfth rounds, but battled back throughout. However, Pacquiao’s quicker, shorter punches proved superior, especially after his body attack over the first half of the fight paid dividends, slowing the former 122-pound champion down over the distance.
The judges score the bout 117-110, 118-108 and 120-106 for Pacquiao, while Maxboxing scored it 119-107 in his favor.
“I do my best to show the people. In the fourth round I made my adjustments in my style. He is strong, too. He’s a good fighter inside,” Pacquiao said in his post fight interview. “I’m very proud that the fight is here in the Philippines and I’m very excited to show the people.”
Pacquiao’s trainer Freddy Roach said “Larios came to fight. I didn’t think he’d go the distance. He proved me wrong. He’s very game.”
“He stayed off the ropes and boxed in the middle of the ring, and that’s the key. Manny’s a machine. He trained for twelve hard rounds and he proved it,” Roach added.
Often relegated as a jab-left cross fighter with little more in his repertoire, Pacquiao used counterpunching and a dedicated body attack to keep Larios from ever really getting his offense untracked. And while the Mexican never wilted, Pacquiao showed a good sense of pacing himself, not punching himself out when he had Larios hurt during a few critical moments in the bout. He also displayed some good feints, consistently driving home a sneaky left lead from various angles.
“I really wanted to beat Pacquiao,” Larios said afterward. “But at the end of the night I lost to a great champion.”
Pacquiao is now on track for a third fight November 18 with rival Erik Morales, who bested him in their first match in March 2005 before getting stopped in the rematch last January.
