Mayweather came away with a unanimous decision over Pacquiao in their highly-anticipated "Fight of the Century," hiking his record to 48-0 and cementing his status as the best boxer of his generation.
Pacquiao fought well in the early rounds, but ultimately could not get past Mayweather's jab and repeatedly ran into the American's laser-like right hand. He revealed after the bout that he was hampered by an injured right shoulder that prevented him from putting together the multi-punch combinations that have become his trademark.
"Manny, he's a remarkable fighter. He's an unbelievable fighter," Mayweather said in the post-fight press conference.
"But I can't just say that he's the toughest fighter that I faced, and I can't say he's the hardest puncher that I faced," he added. "But I can see why he's where he's at in the sport."
Mayweather said Pacquiao used "little moves" in the fight, but his experience as a boxer allowed him to counter and calculate the Filipino fighter's moves.
The American also said he figured out Pacquiao as early as the opening round of the bout.
"I knew I had him from round 1," Mayweather said. "I came out there, feel him out. I want to see certain moves. I wanted to see his jab, because if he used his jab, I'm gonna counter over his jab. If he used his jab, I'm gonna slide over and counter him with the right hand."
"Everything is calculated moves," he added. "I'm 10 steps ahead of any fighter."
Mayweather noted that Pacquiao "hit me with a real, real good shot," likely in the fourth round, but he was able to take it well.
"I said, you've been here before, you know what it takes. Just wait, wait, make him miss, and what I do is go down to his body, slow him up, and when I slow him with the body shot, look him down, feint him, and touch him with the jab," he explained.
Pacquiao is a "tough competitor," Mayweather acknowledged, and the Filipino did win some rounds. But the American was also extremely confident of victory because he believed that he was the smarter fighter.
"I knew he was gonna be tough. You know, I knew he was gonna be a tough competitor," he said.
"He's tough, but his footwork compared to my footwork is totally different. When he comes in, I kept using the check hook, using the jab, and when he got close, defense, and I tie him up, roughhouse him," he explained.
"I got to do that with experience, roughhouse him, take him back to the center of the ring, counter, touch him with the jab," he added. "Just being smart."
Mayweather made great use of his 72-inch reach as he circled well out of Pacquiao's reach and refused to get sucked into a slugfest with the "Pacman."
"Other fighters got baited into engaging toe-to-toe with Manny, and that's what he wanted," he pointed out.
Pacquiao said after the fight that he believed he won, and although visibly disappointed, he maintained that he was happy to have fought well for 12 rounds even with an injury.
"I respect Mayweather," Pacquiao also said. "He's fast, he's a good boxer. You know, give the credit to him. He won tonight."
source: www.abs-cbnnews.com
