Manny Pacquiao has had a legendary boxing career and he may have gotten more help than he asked for in 2000 when he fought Nedal Hussein.
Pacquiao won the fight via technical knockout after Hussein was ruled unfit to continue in the tenth round of the fight. However, when Pacquiao was knocked down in the fourth round of the bout, referee Carlos Padilla admitted in a recent interview that he gave the Filipino boxer extra time to get off the canvas.
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Manny Pacquiao attends the charity marathon event to provide shelter for children in the Philippines at City Football Station on May 22, 2022 in Tochigi, Japan.
(Jun Sato/Wire Image)
“That fight, I’m about to go and leave the next day, and they said, ‘Carlos, please… this is an important fight for Manny Pacquiao because the winner will get a chance to fight for the world championship.'” Padilla said in an interview on the World Boxing Council YouTube channel.
“So, you know the opponent, Hussein, or whatever his name is. He’s taller, younger, stronger, and [a] Dirty Fighter, directed by Jeff Fenech. So in the seventh round, I think, Manny got knocked down, I thought he was going to get up, but he was cross-eyed (laughs). I’m a Filipino and everyone watching the fight is a Filipino so I dragged out the count. I know how to do it.”
According to bloody elbowPacquiao had 18 seconds to recover from the fall.
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Nedal Hussein, right, lands a right hand to the face of Oscar Larios during a WBC World Super Bantamweight Championship fight at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on November 27, 2004 in Las Vegas. Larios defeated Hussein by unanimous decision.
(Al Bello/Getty Images)
Padilla said the cut Hussein suffered, which ended up costing him the fight, came from a headbutt from Pacquiao. Padilla said during the fight that the cut came from a punch.
“Because he (Pacquiao) is shorter, he headbutted the other guy, and there’s a cut, but I called it a hit,” Padilla added. “If there’s a headbutt, you have to stop the fight and call the judges a point deduction, but I didn’t do that, which means the fight could go on.”
Hussein responded to the clip on Instagram, calling Padilla a “putrid dog.”
Hussein would have a shot at the WBC super bantamweight world title in 2004, but would lose via unanimous decision. He ultimately finished 43-5 in his career with 27 knockouts.
Padilla’s interview took place in October, but his comments about Pacquiao went viral this week.
Muhammad Ali, right, punches Joe Frazier, left, in the head during the seventh round of their boxing match. Referee Carlos Padilla, Jr., center, oversees this heavyweight bout in Manila, Philippines, in 1975.
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Padilla was also a referee in the famous “Thrilla in Manila” fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.