Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Get round by round results and full fight coverage here for the WBA welterweight championship boxing match between Manny Pacquiao vs. Keith Thurman.
Tonight (Saturday, July 20th) from the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, WBA “regular” welterweight champion and eight-division titleholder Manny Pacquiao (61-7-2, 39 KOs) takes on undefeated WBA “super” welterweight king Keith Thurman (29-0-1 NC, 22 KOs). Ignore Pacquiao’s “regular” title because the WBA is stupid, the title on the line of consequence is Thurman’s “super” belt.
Pacquiao recently bested Adrien Broner in his return to the United States, taking a comfortable unanimous decision. One week after Pacquiao’s victory, Thurman returned from a 22-month layoff and found himself in a tougher than expected “tune-up” title defense against Josesito Lopez. Thurman did score a knockdown but found himself hurt on multiple occasions on his way to a majority decision. Perhaps that was ring rust, as we’ve seen Thurman perform better than that, but he’ll need to be on his A-game to topple even a 40-year-old Manny Pacquiao.
For more boxing coverage, check out Bad Left Hook.
Bloody Elbow is here to provide you with detailed, round-by-round coverage and running commentary of tonight’s showdown. The FOX PPV starts at 9 PM ET/6 PM PT, and Pacquiao vs. Thurman should start at around 11:30 PM ET/8:30 PM PT. It’s boxing pacing, so expect it to be later.
Manny Pacquiao vs. Keith Thurman – WBA welterweight title
Round 1 – Thurman on the front foot and misses with a left hook. Nice body shot by Pacquiao. Thurman with a combination. Pacquiao comes up short on the jab. Good left hook double up by Thurman. Pacquiao misses with a counter right hook. Good straight right by Thurman. Double body shot by Pacquiao. Thurman with a counter left. Thurman with a right-left combo. Good right hand by Thurman. Pacquiao is cracked with a left hook. Aggressive start by Thurman. AND A BIG RIGHT BY PACQUIAO DROPS THURMAN! A RIGHT HOOK PUT HIM ON HIS BACK! He beats the count and lands a shot after getting up. Thurman takes one to the body as the round ends. 10-8 Pacquiao.
Round 2 – Thurman connects on a body shot. Good counterpunch by Pacquiao and he lands a flurry that backs Thurman up. Two-punch combo by Pacquiao. Thurman just switched to southpaw. Another right by Pacquiao. Flurry is blocked by Thurman. Strong body shot by Thurman as he moves forward. Pacquiao with a right hook. Big set of shots by Pacquiao and Thurman looks a bit overwhelmed. 20-17 Pacquiao.
Round 3 – Thurman sneaks in a right hand. He presses forward with the jab. Quick straight left by Pac-man. Stiff right by Pacquiao stuns Thurman! Body shot by Thurman and now he tries teeing off on Pacquiao, who answers back. Pacquiao with another jab. Thurman’s hook is blocked. Two nice body shots by Keith. Right hand cracks Thurman again. More effective body work by Thurman. Keith missing wildly to end round 3. 30-26 Pacquiao.
Round 4 – Four-punch combo by Pacquiao and Thurman does well to take those shots. Thurman now doing some work with Pacquiao against the ropes. Left hook by Thurman to the body. Pacquiao goes downstairs and lands two shots. Thurman backs Manny up with a straight right. Nice quick right by Pacquiao. He starts teeing off on Thurman in the center of the ring with spellbinding combos. Pacquiao gets dinged with a left hook. Low blow by Thurman and he’s warned for it. 40-35 Pacquiao.
Round 5 – Slower start to this round. Thurman with an uppercut. Body shots against the ropes by Keith. Hard right hand by Thurman! Best spell of success for him thus far. Another right by Thurman backs Pacquiao up. Pacquiao lands consecutive jabs. Another right hand by Pacquiao connects. Thurman with a jab but he gets countered. Pacquiao with a body shot combo. Thurman on the attack and trying to bully Pacquiao. Stiff jab by Thurman. They both land hard shots on each other. Pacquiao landing good punches as they trade haymakers! Thurman might have gotten rocked late but I don’t know if that was a clash of heads. 49-45 Pacquiao, 10-9 Thurman on that round.
Round 6 – Short right hook by Pacquiao. Low blow by Thurman again. Thurman is bleeding from his nose. Keith goes back to the body but Pacquiao sends Keith’s head snapping back with a straight punch. Well-timed right by Thurman. Pacquiao doubles upon the jab. Right hook by Pacquiao. Good counter right by Thurman. Pacquiao scores with a left and Thurman ducks away and out of danger. Solid combo by Thurman with seconds to go. 58-55 Pacquiao, 10-9 Thurman round.
Round 7 – Thurman going out aggressively to start the second-half of this fight. Short right by Keith but he eats a counter shot. Now Thurman stuns Manny with a counter left hook. Straight right by Thurman gets through. Jab scores for Thurman. Pacquiao answers back but here comes thurman with two more shots in an exchange. Right hand-left hook combo by Thurman! Solid right hook by Pacquiao and a stiff uppercut. Great exchange as Thurman gets Manny with a right! 67-65 Pacquiao, 10-9 Thurman.
Round 8 – Great straight left by Pacquiao. Manny on the attack and landing a few good blows. Overhand left by Pacquiao caps off that exchange. Thurman thuds a right hand off the shoulder of Pacquiao. Strong left by Pacquiao catches Thurman. Manny stings Thurman with blows against the ropes and lands some more in the center of the ring. Thurman on the defensive. 20 seconds to go. Counter right by Thurman and again but I think Pacquiao won that round. 77-74 Pacquiao.
Round 9 – Thurman works his jab. Pacquiao scores with his own. Body shot by Pacquiao misses. Good counter by Thurman. Another jab lands for Thurman. Keith has been more active in this round. Pacquiao way off on a hook. Throws two short punches inside that are off-target. Body shot connects for Thurman. Keith with a good burst of offense. Pacquiao retaliates and now they’re trading shots. 86-84 Pacquiao, 10-9 Thurman.
PPV undercard
Yordenis Ugas def. Omar Figueroa by unanimous decision (119-107 x3) – Welterweights
Sergey Lipinets def. Jayar Inson by TKO (left hook) at :57 of round 2 – Welterweights
Luis Nery def. Juan Carlos Payano by KO (body shot) at 1:43 of round 9 – Bantamweights
FOX undercard
Caleb Plant def. Mike Lee by TKO at 1:29 of round 3 – Super-middleweights
Efe Ajagba def. Ali Eren Demirezen by unanimous decision (99-91, 99-91, 97-93) – Heavyweights