Manny Pacquiao bamboozled and bewildered in equal measure to outpoint Brandon Rios in Macau on Sunday morning.
The Filipino icon was returning to the ring almost a year since his brutal and devastating knockout defeat to Juan Manuel Marquez.
And he won every single round to keep alive hopes of a $300 million super-fight with Floyd Mayweather Jnr.
 Pacquiao had suffered back-to-back defeats to Marquez and Timothy Bradley and was without a knockout victory in four years.
And although he failed to reverse that statistic in front of a crowd that included David Beckham and Paris Hilton, the 34-year-old, eight-division world champion showed that he retains much of his scintillating speed and mesmerising movement.
In the Philippines, meanwhile, thousands of survivors of the typhoon that has wreaked havoc in Pacquiao's homeland, crammed into a damaged sports stadium to watch the fight on television.
And although two of the judges at ringside took pity on Rios in awarding him one and two rounds respectively, in truth this was a complete shutout.
 Fan: Paris Hilton watches Manny Pacquiao's fight with Brandon Rios during the 'Clash in Cotai' in Macau
Star: David Beckham (above) was also at the WBO International Welterweight title fight
Celebrity: Paris Hilton (left) speaks to Stephen Baldwin as they watch Pacquiao fight Rios
Comfortable: Pacquiao (right) was never in danger against the rugged but limited Rios
Rios, 27, was himself bidding to return to winning ways after losing his rematch with Mike Alvarado, had insisted he was neither a punchbag nor a tune-up fight.
But he was outclassed from the first bell to the last as Pacquiao kept alive the lingering hope that he will meet the pound-for-pound No 1 next year.
Rios was on the canvas in the first round but it appeared to be from a slip rather than any devastating work from Pacquiao, who could earn as much as $30m tax-free from the bout.


It was the Filipino who had the better of the exchanges in the opening round, and it was the same again in the second as he rained in some powerful combinations which had the American listing just before the bell.

Rios landed a heavy shot to the head of Pacquiao in the third, but he was being outclassed by his opponent, who moved him around the ring at will in the fourth.
With Pacquiao dancing round the ring with ease and a cut opening up above the left eye of Rios, it was tough to make a case for the American having taken a single round by the halfway stage.
The pace slowed a little as the fight moved into its second half, but by now Rios was in need of a knockout.
Given that he could barely land a shot, that seemed unlikely.
Rios finally landed some blows in the ninth, but it was far too little too late to bring him back into the contest.With Pacquiao now doing little other than staying out of trouble the contest began to lack spectacle until he finished with a flurry as the partisan crowd roared him on.
Rios smiled as the final bell sounded, perhaps just happy he had made it to the end, but there was no doubting the winner.
'Recovering from the knockout and giving a good show like the young Manny Pacquiao is what I was trying to show tonight,' said Pacquiao.
'I'm very careful. I learned in the last fight that if the knockout comes, it will come but I was very careful.
'He's one of the toughest opponents in my career. He took a lot of punches but he was still standing.'