LAS VEGAS – In the waning seconds before the final bell, Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao was still chasing the challenger and a dream rematch with his bitter rival in the crowd.
Dominant with power blows and unrelenting pressure, Pacquiao went after Adrien Broner who refused to engage in torrid exchanges and the Filipino champ retained his WBA welterweight belt with a unanimous decision before 13,000 fans at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas last night.
Still it was one win that seemed laced in defeat as Pacquiao tried all night to hammer and pound a decisive win that would have boosted his image as a master prize fighter the way he did in dismantling former champ Lucas Matthysse.
His brutal handling of the Argentine ex- titlist brought up hopes of a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr. who won their “Fight of the Century” four years ago.
Sadly, the cocky Broner refused to be party to the grand scheme and took away Pacman’s awesome killer blows by fighting back with sporadic counter attacks all night.
Pacquiao vowed to knock out Broner and nearly did it twice during the bout. Pacquiao threw fireballs as he took a left hook to the body and another shot to the midsection.
Pacquiao also landed a left hook to the head and Broner reeled backwards, and slammed to the ropes.
“I wanted to knock him out,” said Pacquiao. “Buboy told me to relax and not to go for it. He didn’t want me to get careless. He held me back.” Pacquiao said it was a smart strategy to stay away from Broner’s counterpunches.
“We’re waiting for the chance to finish him o ,” said Pacquiao, who was handled for the rst time by pal Buboy Fernandez.
His childhood buddy insisted on a fight plan to slow down Broner with body shots until the Filipino slugger ran out of guns and fire in the closing rounds. Pacquiao knew toward the end of the showdown that he failed in his mission for an explosive finish to the title bout and mocked a frantic race with Broner as time agonized in reaching the end of the 12th round.
Despite the disappointing outcome of the bout, there were those diehards that stirred up talks for the rematch with Mayweather.
He further fueled talks that the rematch would be two years away from happening. But by then the archrivals would be groping for form as aging warriors and the thriller of a rematch would be a ‘chiller’ to watch.