Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeated Manny Pacquiao in a unanimous decision to remain undefeated on Saturday night. The judges gave the bout to Mayweather by a relatively wide margin, with scores of 118-110, 116-112, and 116-112.
But in the ring after the fight, Pacquiao said in his interview that he thinks he should have won because Mayweather avoided him in the ring.
Mayweather, who used his signature defense to neutralize Pacquiao's typically aggressive, unorthodox style, eluded Pacquiao by dodging his punches and moving around the ring.
Pacquiao said afterward, "I thought I won the fight," adding, "He didn't do nothing." Pacquaio at one point referred to Mayweather's style as "running."
Whereas Pacquiao has often relied on flurries punches to take down opponents, Mayweather plays a safer style, offering jabs while dodging his opponents' big shots. The combination of the two helped him outscore Pacquaio by a healthy margin:
Total punches landed: Mayweather 148, Pacquiao 81, per CompuBox.
Per CompuBox: Mayweather threw 435 punches, landed 148 (34%). Pacquiao threw 529 punches, landed 81 (19%).
Even when Pacquiao had the chance to get in punches, Mayweather covered himself up well, minimizing the damage and taunting Pacquiao afterward.
Pacquiao wasn't alone in feeling that way, however. Boxing legend Evander Holyfield said afterward, "Of course, it takes two people to fight. You got one guy moving. You got one guy trying to catch him."
While Pacquiao and others may have been frustrated by Mayweather's style, this is what has made Mayweather so successful. He's strategically cautious and uses his historically great defense with small jabs to ring up the score. Against a powerful hitter like Pacquiao, this was the perfect strategy.
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