Nearly a quarter-century into his legendary career, Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao isn't done thrilling fans and winning world titles. Far from it. The 40-year-old Pacquiao out-dueled unbeaten champion Keith Thurman over 12 all-action rounds on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena to capture the WBA title in a thrilling split decision. The instant classic saw two judges score the fight 115-112 for Pacquiao while the third had it 114-113 for Thurman. CBS Sports also scored it 114-113 for Thurman. Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) recorded a knockdown in the opening round on a beautiful right hook that proved to be the difference as it helped him steal Round 1 and edge out Thurman (29-1, 22 KOs) in a fight-of-the-year contender that saw both fighters compete at an insane pace. Despite the one-sided bad blood between them coming in and Pacquiao, boxing's only eight-division world champion, vowing to make Thurman pay for saying he would retire and crucify him, both fighters showed tremendous respect for each other after the fight. "I'm not the kind of boxer to be a talker, just promoting the fight," Pacquiao said. "I think we did a lot off things [to promote the fight]. He did his best, and I did my best to make the people happy." #Pacquiao #Thurman #Boxing
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