Manny Pacquiao dominated an overmatched Shane Mosley to retain his World Boxing Organization welterweight title via a lopsided unanimous decision at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao repeatedly peppered Mosley with sharp combinations, forcing the American to be on the defensive for much of the one-sided bout. The Filipino champion floored Mosley in the third round with a right straight-left hook combination from which Mosley never fully recovered. After tasting the sting of Pacquiao's punches, the former three-division champion rarely went on the offensive and spent much of the remaining rounds trying to anticipate where Pacquiao's next blows would come from. The three judges scored it 120-107, 120-108, and 119-107. Mosley was credited with a knockdown in the 10th round after Pacquiao fell back on his behind. Replays showed Pacquiao was pushed and it also appeared Mosley was stepping on Pacquiao's foot. But Pacquiao was so dominating that round that based on the official scorecards, none of the judges gave Mosley the standard 10-8 score. Outside of that phantom knockdown, it was all Pacquiao. Mosley was never into the fight, unable to get any type of offense going and at times already cringing even before a Pacquiao punch landed. Pacquiao saw his record improve to 54-3-2 while Mosley slipped to 46-7-1 with one no-contest. The fighting congressman from Sarangani is slated to face Juan Manuel Marquez on November 12, while the 39-year-old Mosley will likely retire after losing badly for the second time in his last three fights.
