sport news Manny Pacquiao breaks his silence after referee cheated to give him win over ... trends now

Eight-division world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao has finally broken his silence on the cheating scandal surrounding his title fight against Australia's Nedal Hussein and flatly stated nothing inappropriate happened during the bout.

Hussein took on Pacquiao for the World Boxing Council International super-bantamweight title in the Phillipines in 2000, losing by a dubious stoppage despite knocking out the Filipino legend with a jab in the fourth round.

Pacquiao was given 18 seconds to recover by Filipino referee Carlos Padilla, who admitted to cheating during a sensational interview released by the World Boxing Council (WBC) governing body last week.

Padilla also confessed that he found an excuse to stop the fight early because he thought Manny would not win if the bout was decided by the judges.

The contest was called off due to a cut on Hussein's face, which was caused by a Pacquiao headbutt but was ruled the result of a punch by Padilla.

The referee said he signalled to the ringside doctor to wave the bout off, then unexpectedly threw his arms into the air to call the action to an end, handing Pacquiao the victory. 

On Thursday, Pacquiao addressed the furore surrounding the result after a training session in his homeland.

'It is not cheating,' he said.

'We just got favoured because we were on our home court.

'As a boxer I just did the right thing. For me, I'm only just a boxer. I just did my job in the ring.'

A furious Hussein is now seeking justice from the WBC, asking for the bout to be ruled a no contest in a correction similar to the one the body gave his countryman Jeff Fenech, who was recently awarded a fourth world title

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