Manny Pacquiao picks up the WBA Super Welterweight title with victory over Keith Thurman

Manny Pacquiao further enhanced his legacy with victory over the previously undefeated Keith Thurman. This also meant that at the age of 40, he became the oldest welterweight champion in the history of the sport by beating Keith Thurman via split decision in Las Vegas. The Filipino had been very well supported in the run up to the fight with punters using the latest offers at bet-ri.com. This eventually saw him sent off the favourite.

Pacquiao is also the only eight weight world champion and was fighting for the 71st time in his incredible career, which has seen him defeated just seven times. Four of these coming in his past 11 fights as he entered this bout over the weekend. He eventually picked up the split decision victory as two judges scored it 115-112 to Pacquiao, with the other giving it to Thurman by 114-113. It was a very close fight with the key difference possibly being the early knock down as Pacquiao floored Thurman in the first round.

Thurman was looking for his 30th consecutive victory in the professional ranks but following this defeat suffered his first loss. This was just his second fight following a near two year layoff due to injury, as he picked up a majority decision victory over Josesito Lopez on his comeback. Prior to this he has victories over Danny Garcia and Shawn Porter, so he still has a lot to give in the sport and we will likely again see him in a title fight very soon. The 30 year old was very sporting in defeat, showing upmost respect to Manny Pacquiao, who is now without a doubt a legend of the sport.

I’ve always said I’m not afraid to let my 0 go, if you can beat me — beat me. @MannyPacquiao beat me tonight. Hats off to the Senator on a great performance. #OneTime #PacThurman pic.twitter.com/piX4A6lUOA

— Keith Thurman Jr. (@keithfthurmanjr) July 21, 2019

Manny extended his professional record to 62 wins, seven losses and two draws with the likes of rival Floyd Mayweather Jr in attendance. This also meant he has won three in succession following the shock and controversial 2017 defeat to Australian, Jeff Horn. He claims he will not fight again this year due to outside commitments but there is already rumours of an upcoming fight with previous training partner, Amir Khan. Khan claimed the fight was likely to take place in Riyadh on the 8^th November, so it will be interesting to see if this materialises. However, it would appear Manny will be looking to face off against the winner of the upcoming bout between Errol Spence Jr and Shawn Porter.