Pacquiao-Thirman: By the numbers
By Joaquin Henson
PhilBoxing.com
Wed, 24 Jul 2019
LAS VEGAS. Fight fans are still talking about the super WBA welterweight title fight between Manny Pacquiao and Keith Thurman here Saturday night. It wasn?t just one of the most exciting contests in both fighters? careers but also a strong statement that at 40, Pacquiao remains a major fixture in the sport with the ability to defy Father Time.
To set the record straight, the bout was between two reigning WBA titlists in the 147-pound division. The WBA bestows ?super? status to a world champion who is also recognized by another governing body (WBC, IBF or WBO) or has made at least five successful defenses of the ?regular? title. In Thurman?s case, he annexed the WBC crown after defeating Danny Garcia in 2017 and gained ?super? status as a WBA champion. Thurman later relinquished the WBC throne because of his inability to face the No. 1 contender in a mandatory defense due to an injury. But he kept the WBA title and his ?super? status with eight successful title defenses, including three as an ?interim? champion.
As for Pacquiao, he wrested the ?regular? WBA crown from Lucas Matthysse last year and repulsed Adrien Broner in his first title defense last January. Technically, the fight with Thurman was a WBA ?unification? duel between a ?super? and a ?regular? champion. What was actually at stake was Thurman?s ?super? title so Pacquiao was the challenger.
Here?s a review of the epic encounter by the numbers.
9---undefeated fighters whom Pacquiao has faced and beaten, including Thurman. The others were Chris Algieri, Tim Bradley, Jorge Solis, Emmanuel Lucero, Nedal Hussein, Seung Kon Chae, Dele Desierto and Rocky Palma.
14,356----the announced sellout crowd that witnessed the fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
$10 Million----Pacquiao?s guaranteed purse. It is expected to at least double once the pay-per-view sales are accounted for.
$2.5 Million----Thurman?s guaranteed purse. Like in Pacquiao?s case, his paycheck is expected to take a raise when he receives his share of the pay-per-view receipts.
6----Thurman?s age when Pacquiao turned pro in 1995.
3----Pacquiao?s world titles when Thurman made his pro debut in 2007. By then, Pacquiao had won the WBC flyweight, IBF superbantamweight and The Ring Magazine?s lineal featherweight belts.
2----knockdowns suffered by Thurman in his career. In 2010, he was floored by Quandray Robertson in the first round but got up to win by a knockout in the third. Last weekend, Thurman was decked by Pacquiao in the first round and got up only to lose on points in the end for his first pro setback.
1----new man in Pacquiao?s corner. Cutman Mike Rodriguez made his first appearance in the corner with chief trainer Buboy Fernandez, Freddie Roach and strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune. Rodriguez was credited for keeping the swelling under both Pacquiao?s eyes under control and attended to the Filipino inside the ring in five of the in-between-round breaks.
686----punches thrown by Pacquiao, of which he landed 195.
571----punches thrown by Thurman, of which he connected 210.
82----jabs landed by Pacquiao out of 346 thrown.
18----jabs connected by Thurman out of 128 thrown.
0----Thurman went through 2018 without a fight in the course of a 22-month layoff to recover from right elbow surgery and an injured left hand. He came back to beat Josesito Lopez on a majority decision last January.
25----Pacquiao?s pay-per-view events, including the Thurman fight. In 24 previous pay-per-view engagements, Pacquiao attracted 19.6 million hits with receipts of $1.2 Billion. His biggest draw was the 2015 fight against Floyd Mayweather with 4.6 million subscriptions and revenues of $400 Million.
1----knockout scored by Thurman in his last seven fights after starting his career with eight consecutive first round stoppages.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Joaquin Henson.
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