By Geno McGahee
At 40 and being the smaller man, Manny Pacquiao, 62-7-2, 39 KO’s, captured the WBA Welterweight Title from Keith Thurman, 29-1, 22 KO’s, despite the noted disadvantages. The PacMan made a statement in the very first round, attacking and knocking Thurman down with a right hand. It sent a message immediately and put things into perspective about just how good Thurman was.
Thurman had his moments in the fight, but didn’t have any real answers and wasn’t able to hurt Manny. There wasn’t a time in the fight where Thurman went for broke and tried to impose his size and strength on the smaller man. He allowed Pacquiao to dictate the pace and the action in the ring. The fight wasn’t a runaway, but it was clear who was in charge.
In the 10th round, a body shot nearly sent Thurman down again. This was the sweet spot for Pacquiao. Thurman has been hurt several times with body shots in his career and had Manny focused more on that, he would have probably won by stoppage. The last two rounds went on without incident and the decision wasn’t really in question, but this is boxing. A split decision nod to Pacquiao by scores of 115-112 (twice) and 113-114. I can’t see how anyone could have scored this fight for Thurman.
Defeating the man that many thought was the best welterweight in the world in a stacked division is big news for Pacquiao and he must now look on to what’s next. A good choice might be Danny Garcia, 35-2, 21 KO’s. He’s there to be hit and makes for exciting fights. A name that gets thrown around is Terrance Crawford, 35-0, 26 KO’s, but that doesn’t appear to be a winnable fight for Manny. Crawford is, arguably, the best fighter in the game currently and would love to beat down a legend like Pacquiao.
At this point, Manny is still a big attraction and will select his next opponent wisely as he’s done with the last three. This last run will be calculated and I would wager that Garcia will be the next on the chopping block due to his style, but we will have to wait and see what the final call will be.
