Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao easily defeated Joshua Clottey of Ghana by a unanimous 12-round decision to retain his World Boxing Organisation welterweight title in Texas.
Pacquiao, recently named Fighter of the Decade, ran his win streak to 12 straight fights with a dominating performance in front of a crowd of more than 50,000 at the home of American football's Dallas Cowboys.
Pacquiao's punishing assault was reflected on all three judges scorecards as he won by totals of 120-108, 119-109 and 119-109.
This marked the second consecutive true welterweight fight for Pacquiao, who was the heavy favourite despite giving away a 4.5kg advantage.
Clottey, who barely threw a punch through the first few rounds, proved to be an easy target for Pacquiao, who was the more aggressive fighter through all 12 rounds.
Pacquiao, who last lost to Erik Morales in March of 2005, defended his title on the same date he was to face unbeaten American Floyd Mayweather before negotiations broke off over a drug-testing dispute.
With Clottey out the way, Saturday's victory could set the stage to reopen talks between Pacquiao and Mayweather's camp.
