Manny “The Destroyer” Pacquiao deserves a hero’s welcome despite losing to Mexican Eric Morales, Tourism Secretary Joseph Ace Durano said Sunday.
Durano is planning a grand welcome for Pacquiao who lost a 12-round bout against Morales at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday afternoon (Manila time).
Durano is one of the many Filipino boxing enthusiasts who trooped to the National Sports Grille in Makati City to watch the Pacquiao-Morales fight.
“We are preparing for a hero?s welcome for Manny. We still consider his contribution as a boxing champ. Request tayo for a rematch,” Durano said.
Unanimous decision
Morales scored a unanimous decision over Pacquiao Sunday.
In a wild round one, both fighters took turns hurting each other. Morales (48-2, 34 KOs) started to use his size advantage to outbox Pacquiao (39-3-2, 30 KOs) in round two.
Morales continued to have success boxing in round three although both landed vicious shots. Morales continued to dictate the pace in round four and opened a deep vertical cut over Pacquiao’s right eye with an unintentional head butt in round five. The cut was ruled to be caused by a punch.
Pacquiao came out more aggressively for the first half of round six, but Morales regained control over the round’s second 90 seconds. Big bombs were landed by both in rounds seven and eight.
Pacquiao appeared to pick up a second wind in round nine, and both fighters did well in the tenth. Morales appeared to have the edge in the eleventh.
Morales shockingly came out in the twelfth and switched to the southpaw stance where he immediately got tagged hard.
Pacquiao poured it on to the bell. In the end, scores were 115-113 on all cards.
Fighting blind
Pacquiao, 26, thrived on his ability to get inside three-division champion Morales using his superior hand speed, but the accidental head butt during the fifth round, rendered the Filipino champ virtually blind.
He worked up the fight in the early rounds, connecting to the body with a series of combinations and sometimes rattling Morales.
Morales, however, stood up to the fight, gaining steady pace from round five.
In round 10, Pacquiao lost his mouthpiece, prompting referee Joe Cortez to stop the fight.
The three judges saw it at 115-113, awarding Morales his 48th win while handing Pacquiao his third loss.
Boxing affictionados regarded the bout a super fight, filling up the 15,000 seats of the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Filipino politicians even flew to the US to show support for Pacquiao.
