MANNY PACQUIAO has responded to a referee who claimed he helped the boxing legend avoid a knockout loss.
Official Carlos Padilla, from the Philippines like Pacquiao, officiated a bout between the future eight-division champion and Nedal Hussein.
In round four, Hussein scored a knockdown and the ref admitted to giving PacMan almost DOUBLE the amount of time to beat the ten-count.
But Pacquiao, 43, hit back: “It is not cheating. We just got favoured because we were on our home court.
“As a boxer I just did the right thing. For me, I’m only just a boxer. I just did my job in the ring.”
It comes after told the WBC in a now-scrubbed interview: “Manny was not a world champion yet, he was only good in the Philippines.
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“That fight, I’m about to go and leave the following day and they told me, ‘Carlos, please – this is an important fight for Pacquiao, because the winner will have the chance to fight for the world championship’.
“So, you know the opponent, Hussein, or whatever his name was. He is taller, younger, stronger, and a dirty fighter, managed by Jeff Fenech.
“So in the seventh round, I think [it was the fourth], Manny got knocked down, I thought he was going to get up, but his eyes were cross-eyed.
“I am Filipino, and everybody watching the fight is Filipino, so I prolonged the count. I know how to do it.
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“When he got up, I told him, ‘Hey, are you okay?’ Still prolonging the fight. ‘Are you okay?’ ‘Okay, fight!’
“And then Hussein – because Manny was not like Manny is now, he wasn’t trained by Freddie Roach yet, he holds on for his dear life, and the guy throws him, and he went down again.
“I said to the opponent, ‘Hey, you don’t do this.’ You know, I was prolonging the fight. ‘You don’t do that. Okay, judges, [point] deduction’.”
Padilla then admitted he scored an accidental headbutt that cut Hussein as a punch.
If an accidental blow – such as a headbutt – causes a cut and the fight to be halted it will go to the judges scorecards and the time of the stoppage.
It is not cheating. We just got favoured because we were on our home court.
Manny Pacquiao responds to cheating claims
But if the ref deems it a legal blow, the cut boxer loses by technical knockout.
Padilla said: “Manny is still groaning and then [I said to Pacquiao] ‘Get up, are you OK?’
“And then because he is shorter he headbutted the other guy and there is a cut but I declared it a punch.
“If there is a headbutt you have to stop the fight and declare to the judges a point deduction, but I didn’t do that, meaning the fight could continue.
“The cut] is not really big – but I never got the doctor to check it [because] I want to see it serious.”
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Aussie boxer Hussein, who last fought in 2007, slammed Padilla on Instagram.
He fumed: “This putrid dog admitted to cheating me.”
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
