Manny Pacquiao returned to the ring last night and absolutely eviscerated Chris Algieri to retain the welterweight world title. Pacquiao knocked his opponent down a staggering six times during the fight, earning a lopsided 120-102, 119-103, 119-103 unanimous decision victory.
Questions about Pacquiao’s once-powerful punches persist, however. He has not knocked an opponent out since 2009, a string of nine consecutive fights.
After the win, questions quickly turned to Floyd Mayweather. The Pacquiao and Mayweather camps have been lobbing insults and discussing fight conditions for years, and it seems like there is still interest there in making it happen. “The people deserve that fight. The fans deserve that fight,” Pacquiao said after his win. “It's time to make that fight happen. It's been a long time. I want that fight. They're always denying the fight. I think the fight has to happen.”
Whether it actually goes down is a whole other issue, but with both fighters getting on in age (Floyd is 37, Pacquiao is 35), they’ll need to make it happen soon if they want it to actually be an interesting bout.
[via ESPN]
