HOLLYWOOD — Manny Pacquiao was just proud to see Johnriel Casimero retain the WBO version of the world bantamweight title against Guillermo Rigondeaux two days ago in Carson, California.
In a way, it reminded him of his own championship bout not too long ago in a match that was fought in the same pace as the Casimero-Rigondeuax fight.
"It was like Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather," noted the boxing great from the Philippines when asked how he saw Casimero's split decision win over his Cuban challenger.
Pacquiao lost by unanimous decision against Mayweather in their 2015 welterweight title encounter that went down as the richest fight ever in boxing history, but failed to live up to the hype as the so-called 'Fight of the Century.'
The 42-year-old Pacquiao watched the Casimero-Rigondeaux tiff at the comfort of his home in Los Angeles, and was the first one to rejoice when the Filipino champion from Ormoc was declared the winner.
But the fight did bring back memories to him especially at the rate Rigondeaux refused to engage and just danced his way out of trouble for the entire night.
"I'm glad he retained his belt, but his opponent didn't want to fight him," said the Pacman in obvious reference to the 40-year-old Rigondeaux.
Like Pacquiao-Mayweather, Casimero-Rigondeaux also established a record for the less combined number of punches landed with a total of 91, the lowest ever in the 36-year history of Compubox.
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