LAS VEGAS — If this was it, if one of the great boxing careers of all time did indeed come to an end Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, then Manny Pacquiao left the ring a way afforded to few fighters: With victory, grace and the power to go on his own terms.
The 37-year-old retained enough skill, grit and greatness against Timothy Bradley to not just win, but to flash before us real reminders of just how remarkable his career has been. Pacquiao?s unanimous decision underscored that glittering resume. The 10 world titles. The eight different divisions. The dominance of a sport that is designed to make careers short and greatness fleeting.
Mixing an older fighter?s wile with a future hall of fame boxer?s brilliance, he fought back Bradley?s attacks, knocked him down twice and seemed as the fight went on to shed his age and reach back to something from when he was younger. If this was goodbye, as he said afterward that it indeed was, then what a career it?s been.
Asked directly afterward if he was retiring, Pacquiao answered, simply, ?Yes,? and turned and walked away. That was after, in the ring, he told Max Kellerman he?d promised his family but he wasn?t sure. Perhaps most of his talking — the message that mattered most — was what he?d done in that ring. That?s where he said, even with retirement supposedly at hand, that he still has it.
It did not start that way, and for a long stretch it no longer seemed true that he still had much to offer. Over those first few rounds, Bradley executed a smart and strategic approach that had, on many cards, the sense he was up in rounds 2-1. It certainly felt that way. And as close as the fight was, it seemed unlikely to turn Pacquiao?s way. Bradley had yet to attack; Pacquiao looked sluggish.
He looked old.
He seemed slower, fighting not on the balls of his toes but off and, at times, flat footed. His reactions seemed equally muddled. His attacks lacked the kind of precision we have come to expect. He seemed like a boxer who, having fought for so long, suddenly found the ring a place where he no longer quite belonged.
Retirement? The word was etched in those first few rounds. Even if he won, for it was after all Manny Pacquiao, there was none of the greatness or mesmerizing moments that tell you a career can or should continue.
Then, suddenly, he was back.
The bursts. The speed. The grace. In rounds five, six and seven, Pacquiao seemed a new man. He attacked. Landed punches. Scored a knockdown, even if, as Bradley said, it wasn?t a true knockdown. Whatever. The tide had turned. Pacquiao was back. He took such command of the fight that by the eighth round Bradley had to go on the attack.
That?s when Bradley unleashed a barrage on the older fighter, pushing Pacquiao back. And then, just before the round ended, Manny struck back, a quick succession of punches that were another reminder: I am still here. I?m still Manny Pacquiao.
The round was a lot like the fight. Pacquiao looked old one moment, then like himself when it mattered most. There was age there, yes, in those 37-year-old bones, but there were still a few blazing, beautiful moments. And Bradley took the resulting abuse.
In round nine, it seemed over. Pacquiao landed a punch and Bradley went down. Hard. This was no slip, no illegitimate knockdown. The crowd went wild. The chants — ?Manny! Manny! Manny!? returned tenfold.
There was nothing Bradley could do. He attacked the next three rounds, but it did not matter. Pacquiao was in control. By the time the final round came to an end, the announcement was a formality: Three unanimous scores, all having Pacquiao as the winner, 116-110.
It has been a marvelous career, and if this was goodbye, perhaps there was no better place to have it. At the MGM. Against a fighter worthy of his time. In a battle Pacquiao owned but that still mattered in that it gave him that edge against Bradley over their careers, with Pacquiao now holding a 2-1 career mark against Bradley.
Manny Pacquiao showed he can still box with the best on Saturday. (USATSI) From the ring afterward, a microphone in his battered face, Pacquiao said: ?Thank you to all the fans in boxing?? And they drowned out the rest with their approval, and perhaps with their goodbyes.
Bradley spoke next, and he seemed to accept the loss. Game recognizes game. And what Pacquiao had brought to this bout was worthy of an opponents? respect.
What happened, Bradley was asked, when he got knocked down that first time?
?I don?t even remember man.?
So they showed him.
?That wasn?t really a knockdown.?
So they showed him the second one.
?Whoo-eee,? Bradley said, laughing. ?He caught me on that one.?
He did. And he caught a few us thinking, It?s over. He?s finished.
That once you talk retirement in boxing, Manny, you better retire.
Nope. Turns out he?s still Manny Pacquiao. In fact, Bradley said later that this was the best version of Pacquiao he?d faced yet. That the older version was the more dangerous version.
So while it may not be clear whether or not Pacquiao has fought his last bought, he told us one thing beyond doubt.
That, inside that boxing ring, the old fighter still has it.
