Filipino star Manny Pacquiao edged Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez in a majority decision Saturday, stretching his win streak to 15 fights but adding more controversy to their heated rivalry.
Two judges handed Pacquiao the victory by margins of 116-112 and 115-113 while the third scored the fight a 114-114 draw, giving the Asian southpaw two triumphs and a draw against Marquez and possibly a rematch with him next May.
"It was clear to me that I won. I clearly won," Pacquiao said.
But the result prompted a chorus of boos from Marquez supporters so loud that Pacquiao's post-fight comments into a microphone could not be heard, a harsh end to an exchange-filled fight that drew cheers from start to finish.
"The fans are fans of Marquez. I understand how they feel," Pacquiao said. "But I blocked a lot of his punches. He's a counter puncher. He head-butted me a lot."
Marquez's claims he truly won a 2004 draw with Pacquiao and a narrow one-point loss in a 2008 rematch helped create the third fight and his shouts that he was robbed yet again could set the stage for a fourth fight.