Saturday night marked Manny Pacquiao's first win since 2011, and it was the Filipino who took all the headlines as a result of his unanimous-decision victory in Macau, China.
But what of the loser, Brandon Rios? Admittedly, the 27-year-old was outclassed in this fight. He faced a pedigree the likes of which he had never seen in his career before and added a second consecutive loss to his record in the bargain.
The fight statistics told the story of the encounter. Pacquiao outclassed his opponent in every aspect, hitting Rios with almost twice the number of punches that the American managed to land on him. The judges scored the fight 120-108, 119-109 and 118-110.
SportsCenter emphasised as much over Twitter in the fallout:
Although the difference in ability between the two boxers was clear, Rios need not be dampened about his losing display since it came against one of the best fighters ever to grace the sport.
Of course, one of the main stories to come out of the encounter was that this was Pacquiao's comeback statement—his way to bounce back from consecutive losses against Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez.
But the Filipino icon is a different figure now than he was then. He was moved by the tragedies to occur in his native Philippines and evidently eager to once again assert himself.
But the fact that Rios managed to go 12 rounds against Pacquiao is a testament to the Texan's stamina under constant pressure.
Pacquiao was relentless in his assault, yes, but while he may not be known for his knockout punch, it took a serious will to stand up to an onslaught of this magnitude.
Per The Guardian's Bryan Armen Graham, Rios remained resolute in the wake of the result, saying: "I never got hurt. I never got stunned. I think the quickness just threw me off guard. I feel good. I could go five more rounds."
It was admirable of Rios to even take this fight on the back of his loss to Mike Alvarado, which was another 12-round duel that ended with all three cards going in the opponent's favour.
Of course, the rewards of a win here would have been great. He could have claimed the vacant WBO international welterweight title, but Rios knew full well the downside of another loss.
For the experience, the fighter is better off as a result of the bout. He will now move on to opponents who are likely to offer less resistance, not to mention less of a constant attacking presence.
In the long run, he will benefit from his latest defeat, but the most visible of scars will need their time to heal.
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