Manny Pacquiao failed to hit top gear but still easily outpointed Shane Mosley in Las Vegas to retain his WBO welterweight title.
Manny unconvincing, but still prevails
Manny Pacquiao failed to hit top gear but still easily outpointed 'Sugar' Shane Mosley to retain his WBO welterweight title in Las Vegas on Saturday night.
Pacquiao didn't scale the heights of recent dazzling displays in a cautious affair in the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
But he still had more than enough to handle the 39-year-old Mosley, who fought a defensive fight and never really threatened to pull off a major upset.
Pacquiao's only worrying moment came in round 10 when referee Kenny Bayless ruled a knockdown after he appeared to be shoved to the canvas by his opponent.
But despite that controversial decision he prevailed easily on the scorecards by 119-108, 120-108 and 120-107.
Respect
For long portions of the fight Pacquiao (53-3-2) appeared to show Mosley too much respect, allowing the man from Pomona, California to slow the pace and fight at distance.
Pacquiao struggled to go through the gears and get in close to land his shots, but when he occasionally did Mosley (46-7-1) clearly struggled to handle it.
The American boxed well for the first two rounds, but Pacquiao produced the great equaliser in the third to take complete control.
He followed a straight right with a sledgehammer left to leave Mosley on the seat of his pants. He was up quickly but clearly hurt by what was a peach of a punch.
Boos
After that Pacquiao appeared either cautiously content to stack up rounds without taking risks, or simply unable to find his best form. Either way, his tepid showing even brought some boos from the packed crowd, who clearly expected another all-action masterclass.
Mosley for his part offered little offensively despite the certain knowledge from an early stage that he needed a knockout to prevail.
In round 10 it looked just for a moment as though he might have an answer when Pacquiao fell to the canvas and Bayless ruled it a knockdown. Manny smiled ruefully and replays appeared to confirm it was a shove and not a punch that had knocked him off his feet.
At least that managed to rile the reigning pound-for-pound king, who raised the pace in the final two rounds to leave Mosley both marked and weary as the final bell sounded.
