Manny Pacquiao scores unanimous decision victory over Korean DK Yoo
4 min readFilipino eight-division world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao dominated Korean mixed martial artist DK Yoo in a unanimous decision (UD) win in their exhibition bout Sunday, December 11, at the Korean International Exhibition Center.
The 43-year-old Filipino boxing icon, who retired over a year ago after a UD loss to Yordenis Ugas in his failed WBA super welterweight title defense in August 2021, flashed his brilliance in the six-round charity bout against the Koren YouTuber. Manny Pacquiao vs. DK Yoo
Pacquiao said, “Nice to be back in the ring, especially in this charity exhibition match.”
He turned the fight against the neophyte into a one-sided show.
Yoo, taller than Pacquiao by four inches, kept the latter at a distance in the first two rounds before the boxing legend took full control the rest of the match with a barrage of punches that left the Korean with a bloodied nose in the fourth round.
In the fifth round, the Korean complained to the officials that the Filipino hit the back of his head but that only delayed his sorry fate as Pacquiao scored a knockdown in the final round to wrap up the exhibition match.
wrAlinea/MP Promotions Photos
The proceeds of the charity bout will benefit affected families in the Ukraine war.
Pacquiao also plans to build houses for homeless Filipinos.
He may not be staying retired for long as he called out unbeaten welterweight champions Errol Spence and Terence Crawford ahead of his exhibition bout with Yoo.
“Of course, I can fight Crawford,” Pacquiao told FightHype.com. “I can fight Terence Crawford or Spence.”
He continued, ““I’m eager to fight with them because, to test them (to see) if they’re really a champion,” he added. “I’ve been fighting a lot of boxers at 147, 140, 135, I’ve been fighting with one of the greatest boxers in the world, so I want to test them in a fight.”
Pacquiao and Spence were scheduled for a showdown in August 2021 but the latter had to pull out of the fight due to an eye injury. Thus last-minute entry Ugas replaced Spence, shocking Pacquaio via UD and sending him to retirement after a month as he was set to pursue his presidential bid. The former Philippine senator, however, lost and landed at a distant third.
Before his retirement, Pacquiao was pitted in a potential megafight against Crawford while the two explosive boxers were still under Top Rank.
Crawford, meanwhile, hacked out a six-round knockout victory over Russian David Avanesyan to defend his WBO belt at CHI Health Center in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska Sunday.
Pacquiao said he continued making himself fit, active, and healthy despite his time away from the ring for over a year, adding that he’s been working out and playing basketball almost every day.
“(It’s) nice to be back in the ring, especially this charity exhibition match, and I’m going to continue my training to get back in shape,” Pacquaio said in a post-fight interview. “You’ll see, but it was a very good stepping stone to coming back. This is a great opportunity to come back in the ring. I thought it was easy to retire. I really missed boxing.”
