Arlington, TX (My Sportsbook) - Manny Pacquiao retained his WBO welterweight title with a dominating 12-round unanimous decision over Joshua Clottey in front of nearly 51,000 fans at Cowboys Stadium Saturday night.
Pacquiao threw an incredible 1,231 punches, landing 246 of them to send Clottey to a decided defeat by scores of 119-109 from a pair of judges and 120-108 from the other one.
Other than ending the fight with a welt under his right eye, it was thorough domination for Pac-Man Pacquiao (51-3-2), who recorded his 12th consecutive victory.
Clottey (35-4) was at a big disadvantage, landing just 108 punches to the 246 for his opponent.
"He's fast," admitted Clottey.
The challenger was pinned against the ropes in round three and Pacquiao continued to bang against the body in the middle rounds. Clottey was reduced to just covering up his face, trying to defend himself instead of going on the offensive.
Pacquiao finished round five in solid fashion and cruised through the next few rounds.
One glimmer of hope for Clottey came in round 11, when he landed three consecutive solid uppercuts, jolting Pacquiao's head, but the champion from six different divisions never wilted. Clottey, who held the IBF welterweight belt from 2008 to '09 before losing to Miguel Cotto in a split decision last June, found himself against the ropes in the waning seconds of the round.
Pacquiao reached an agreement to fight Clottey after a mega-bout against Floyd Mayweather Jr. fell through due to disagreements on drug testing procedures. Mayweather is due to fight Shane Mosley for the WBA welterweight belt on May 1 in Las Vegas.
"I want that fight. People want to see that good fight. It's up to him," Pacquiao said of a possible future bout with Mayweather. "For me, it's not a problem to fight him. I don't think it's really for now, but some other time."
"It's a fight the world wants to see," said Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer. "Floyd, let the commission do their jobs. Let them run the rules. You don't run the sport. Get in the ring and fight us."
On the undercard, Humberto Soto captured the vacant WBC lightweight title with a 12-round unanimous decision over David Diaz. Soto (51-7-2) won by scores of 117-109 on two of the scorecards and 115-111 from the third judge.
Soto floored Diaz (35-3-1) halfway through the opening round, even though Diaz only touched his left glove to the canvas. Diaz went down again in the 12th round, but he fell forward likely due to the fact that he was more tired than anything else.
Jose Luis Castillo (60-10-1) quit after the fifth round of his fight against Alfonso Gomez (22-4-2) and then announced his retirement. Castillo is a former lightweight champion.
