GRAPEVINE, TEXAS?Manny Pacquiao threw bombs that could have toppled a brick wall. Antonio Margarito absorbed most of them, but refused to fall.
In a masterful display of speed and precision, Pacquiao dominated the taller, bigger Margarito from the opening bell to earn a lopsided unanimous decision on Saturday night (Sunday in Manila) for the World Boxing Council super welterweight crown that further embellished his already sterling ring career.
Reasserting his dominance over Mexican fighters, the Filipino pound-for-pound king captured a record eighth title in as many divisions in his unprecedented march on history, a feat only Pacquiao himself could break if he decides to court danger again by moving to a higher weight class.
As Pacquiao bruised, bloodied and eventually disfigured the face of Margarito, he proved again that, at least so far, speed trumps size.
Against his largest opponent yet, Pacquiao did what Pacquiao always does: He dipped and danced and fired southpaw, he ducked and spun and landed a tornado of combinations.
When it ended, Pacquiao had earned his 13th straight victory and the WBC?s vacant 154-pound title.
With each round, Margarito?s face worsened, as if Pacquiao was painting a brutal boxing masterpiece.
It went like this: seventh round, left eye closed; eighth round, bleeding from nose; ninth round, left cheek bruised; 10th round, fight nearly stopped. In the 11th round, Pacquiao glanced at the referee, almost pleading for a stoppage. In the 12th round, he took mercy, punching rarely, virtually allowing Margarito to finish on his feet.
A shutout
Pacquiao won every round on one scorecard, 120-108, and was ahead 119-109 and 118-110 on the other two. The Associated Press had it a 120-108 shutout.
?We didn?t lose a round,? said Pacquiao?s trainer, Freddie Roach. ?I wish they would have stopped the fight.?
Still, it was far from the easy fight that Roach?who said in a prefight boast that it could be over in one or three rounds?had predicted.
Pacquiao found Margarito, who towers over him by 4 1/2 inches and was a whopping 18 pounds heavier at fight time, a true warrior with an indomitable spirit.
Fact is, Pacquiao called it the ?toughest fight of his boxing career? and paid tribute to Margarito for ?being a really tough fighter and ?having a great heart.?
718 power punches
With his right eye almost closed, blood oozing from his right cheek, Margarito plodded on despite the heavy blows he took from Pacquiao, whose right hand swelled owing to the 718 power punches that he threw, 411 of which connected.
?There was no way I was going to quit,? Margarito said. ?I?m a Mexican, we fight until the end.?
Banged up and stitched up owing to cuts near both eyes, Margarito was unable to appear in the post-fight press conference. He had to be whisked off to a hospital for a routine checkup owing to the terrible beating he received.
Complete control
Before 41,734 fans at Cowboys Stadium, Pacquiao put on masterful show right at the opening bell, taking only seconds to get his distance and make Antonio a moving target.
Eager to please the crowd, that included thousands of US-based Filipinos and hundreds who flew here from home, Pacquiao, however, again opted to let Margarito land a few blows.
Pacquiao nearly paid for it as he got whacked by a left that hurt him, unable to retaliate at once as his right hand got entangled in the vertical strap holding the ring ropes together.
Other than that, Pacquiao was in complete control, sending Margarito, who ballooned to 165 pounds overnight after checking in at 150 on Friday, reeling in the third and 10th rounds.
In contrast, Pacquiao weighed in at 144.6 pounds and rehydrated to just 148 so as to keep his edge in speed.
?Speed kills?
And true to boxing?s maxim that ?speed kills,? Margarito found no antidote to it as Pacquiao, sliding in and out, left the Mexican hitting the air oftentimes.
?He was too fast,? was all Margarito could mumble to his trainer Robert Garcia, when the shots began connecting.
Dionesia hospitalized
Pacquiao had a scare after the fight when he learned his mother, Dionesia, had suffered what officials called an ?anxiety attack? during the fight and was taken to a hospital. Pacquiao said at the post-fight news conference that she was doing better.
Pacquiao, now with a 51-3-2 record spiked by 38 knockouts, stretched his winning run to 13 since 2005, eleven of the victories coming at the expense of Mexican greats like Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, Oscar De La Hoya and now Margarito, the biggest guy the 5-foot-6 1/2-inch Pacquiao had ever faced.
The 5-11 Margarito, whose dark trunks concealed the blood trickling down from his face, dropped to 38-7 with 27 knockouts.
Plea to referee
In the fourth round, a single body shot nearly toppled Margarito, turning his legs rubbery.
From then on, Pacquiao was his master.
Again, showing his compassionate side, Pacquiao looked at referee Laurence Cole in the 10th round, imploring that the bout be stopped as Margarito?s eyes were closing.
?I told the referee, ?Look at his eyes, look at his cuts,?? Pacquiao said later. ?I did not want to damage him permanently. That?s not what boxing is about.?
But Pacquiao also said he did try to finish off Margarito but couldn?t.
At least $15M
Asked who will be his next opponent, Pacquiao gave his stock answer that he didn?t care who it would be (that includes Floyd Mayweather Jr.), and was leaving the job to his promoter, Bob Arum.
Though the attendance failed to surpass the 50,994 fans who saw Pacquiao in March dominate Joshua Clottey at the same opulent stadium, higher pay-per-view hits are projected, according to Arum.
For laboring for 36 minutes, Pacquiao is expected to earn $15 million upward, including his pay-per-view share.
That?s far more than what he stands to earn from his salary and pork barrel as representative of Sarangani province.
Pacquiao doesn?t mind. Boxing is his life, but politics is a newfound passion.
Prefight controversy
Just before the main event, strategic shenanigans erupted in the locker rooms. Garcia, Margarito?s trainer, successfully forced a second wrapping of Pacquiao?s hands.
Roach, on the other hand, accused Margarito of taking a banned substance?it was unclear exactly what the substance was?and unsuccessfully lobbied for a prefight drug test.
The surreal show continued. The singer Nelly performed, as if plucked straight from the halftime show of the Super Bowl that will be staged here in February.
Pacquiao bounded into the ring with his grand grin spread wide, as ?You?re the best? blared from the stadium?s ample supply of speakers, before, as is his custom, he knelt and prayed. With reports from The New York Times News Service, Associated Press and Agence France-Presse
