Time to rejoice and reflect

Time to rejoice and reflect

Time to rejoice and reflect

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The victory of Manny Pacquiao over Keith Thurman on Sunday confirms the Filipino’s place among the sport’s greats. And with the win, the Filipino is now the “Super” world welterweight champion of the World Boxing Association.

And while it is a time to rejoice, let us also take this occasion to reflect on whether we should continue prodding Pacquiao to fight more, especially against other top-tier opposition in the welterweight division.

The split decision win, with two judges giving Pacquiao a two-point edge, should be accepted and not debated. Some quarters can debate that Thurman should have won because he landed more power punches, or 113 to 192. Also, Thurman landed more punches, or 210 to 195. But the knockdown Pacquiao registered in the first round could have been a deciding factor in awarding the win to the Filipino.

I could come up with thesis (or anti-thesis) showing Pacquiao or Thurman won, or why the fight should have been declared a draw. But let us just accept the decision of the judges and rejoice that Pacquiao won, and give credit to Thurman for putting up a good fight.

While I also would somehow rejoice over Pacquiao’s victory over a young gun like Thurman, I think that this is also the best time to ask the fighting senator to retire.

Pacquiao’s form over the weekend was not his best, as he looked faster in his last fight against Adrien Broner. And there were times I winced when Thurman cleanly landed haymakers on the Filipino, thinking the next ones could take him out.

As for Thurman, he still can recover but may have a lot to prove as Errol Spence and Terrence Crawford now look like are both the rightful claimants to the top two positions in the welterweight ranks. Also, Danny Garcia and Mikey Garcia (no relation to each other), could both claim to be better than Thurman at this point.

And it looks like Pacquiao will face the winner of the Spence-Crawford bout scheduled in September.

Pacquiao has already proven a lot in the ring, and nobody can question his legacy at this point. And while boxing historians and the hardcore fans of the sport are willing to forgive the “black eyes” of the elites, or the times when they were badly beaten, let us not wait for the time when Pacquiao gets badly hurt in the ring courtesy of a fighter better than Thurman.

Last weekend’s fight was a hard one for Pacquiao, and it was obvious the protagonists respected each other’s punching power. And some of the sport’s keen observers will agree that as Pacquiao faces tougher opposition, the Filipino getting a picnic becomes almost non-existent. Just look at Pacquiao’s two recent wins over Broner and Lucas Matthysse, which both looked like walks in the park.

During the post-fight presser, Pacquiao said Thurman still has a future in the ring, and gave credit to the American’s punching power by calling him “heavy handed.” On the other hand, Thurman gave credit to Pacquiao, describing the Filipino as “he was fast, he was strong” and that Pacquiao still came out on top despite pushing the Filipino to the limit.

Thurman’s tone after the fight sharply contrasted his trash talking before the fight, but the American’s reaction in the post-fight presser shows that the Filipino’s victory over the weekend could be the exclamation point to end Pacquiao’s career on a high note.