Pacman cracks ‘Problem’

In unity, strength Sen. Manny Pacquiao emerged victorious in his match yesterday that soldered Filipinos once more and which bodes well for the outcome of a bigger battle today when the fate of the Bangsamoro Organic Law is decided. AP, YUMMIE DINGDING

For Manny “Pac-man” Pacquiao, age is just a number.

The 40-year-old Pacquiao again defied Father Time when he dominated Adrien “The Problem” Broner to retain his World Boxing Association welterweight title late Saturday (Sunday noon in Manila) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The fighting senator from Gen. Santos City won on the scorecards of three judges, 117-111, 116-112 and 116-112, to reflect how dominant his performance was.

The knockout he promised to deliver in the fourth round never came, but the lopsided victory was enough

He dazzled the large weekend crowd that included his potential rematch rival in Floyd Mayweather Jr. with his volume punching and lightning-quick movements, leaving the tough-talking American fighting for dear life in the seventh and ninth rounds.

The knockout he promised to deliver in the fourth round never came, but the lopsided victory was enough to put him back in the conversation among the best fighters in the world.

“At age 40, I can still give my best,” said Pacquiao, whose career was tarnished with doubts after losing a controversial battle with Jeff Horn of Australia two years ago.

Fortunately for him, he picked up the pieces and battered Lucas Matthysse of Argentina to submission last year to score his first knockout win since sending Miguel Cotto of Mexico to the canvass in 2009.

“I proved it in my last fight against Matthysse and now I proved it again,” he said.

“Although I want to be more aggressive, my camp told me not to be careless and just be patient in countering him and wait for opportunities.”

Broner failed to land more than eight solid punches in every round of their 12-round duel. His total punches landed were only 50, way below the 112 punches Pacquiao connected throughout the encounter.

Shared experience Everytime Filipino ring hero Sen. Manny Pacquiao connects, Filipinos rise up in collective cheer which is similar to the concord over President Rodrigo Duterte’s determination to achieve public order. AP, ROMAN PROSPERO Last pay-per-view

With this, sideliners believed this could be Broner’s last pay-per-view fight.

Surprisingly, Broner saw it differently.

“I beat him,” he said, sparking a thunderstorm of boos from the more than 13,000 spectators.

“Everybody out there knows I beat him. I controlled the fight and he was missing. I hit him clean more times. I beat him.”

Broner, whose brightest moment came when he hit Pacquiao with a two-punch combination and some body attacks that hardly hurt the Filipino, insisted that the match was fixed to pave the way for the Pacquiao-Mayweather rematch.

Manny Pacquiao retained his WBA welterweight title after defeating Adrien Broner via unanimous decision in their fight Sunday, 20 January 2019 in Las Vegas, USA. (Showtime)