Pilipino bomber Manny Pacquiao waged a war of aggression that Mexican legend Erik Morales, for the first time in his career, found too much to withstand. The rematch of these courageous champions was torrid throughout, the early going fast paced and laced with great exchanges. Pacquiao, 41-3-1 (32) took to the offense as he had in their first fight with Morales, 48-4 (34), trying to answer back in kind instead of utilizing his superior boxing technique. That would be something of an omen. But action was just what the fans at the Thomas and Mack Arena in Las Vegas chanted for and what HBO Pay Per View viewers expected.
The fighters were probing and charging from the opening bell, with some serious leather being traded from bell to bell. In the second round Pacquiao, whose speed of hand was showing up in this fight early, pummeled Morales, with the three time champion fighting back more on instinct than clear headed conviction. And that was only the second round. Morales was heading out for the third round already having been hit with more left crosses than he’d been tagged with in 10 rounds during the first go around. And Morales had been seriously hurt by Pacquiao’s power, so the impenetrability of the Morales chin was already shown to be suspect, another first for Morales.
Showing his championship heart, Morales sensed he needed a rally and in the third Morales was again a dangerous two handed fighter. For the first time in the fight Morales’ left hand was amply supported by his famous right hand. But instead of being able to hit on the counter, Pacquiao’s early success had Morales leading and gambling more than he might have otherwise. What was not in evidence, as he promised it would be, was the Morales jab, not until the fourth and fifth rounds. Without the left lead, Morales had seeded the power alleys to “The Typhoo” far too often. Having taken up areas he could attack from, Pacquiao was far more confident during exchanges with Morales on Saturday night. Still, it was Morales jabbing and letting his right hand dictate some of the best exchanges in the fifth, which seemed to settle Morales. In the past, that kind of round would have been a springboard for the great Mexican.
However Pacquiao took to the sixth intent to drive home his superiority, strength was aided by an ability to target his speed, the consequences being some screaming combinations. And late in the round Morales’ legendary resistance, his ability to absorb and punish in return, evaporated. For in the late stages of the sixth, Pacquiao’s humming lefts hurt Morales. In that crucible of the seventh, the Morales Era in boxing began to wane into history; Pacquiao found himself able to dictate the on the inside, his physicality taking the fight out of Morales. When a hard combination slammed into Morales face, his nose was broken, his eyes blackened. The Pilipino continued his domination with rights and lefts in the eighth, almost beyond reason, Morales made one last attempt to reverse Pacquiao’s tidal wave domination. And at the close of the eighth it was Morales doing the punching.
But Pacquiao knew he was in the ascendancy for the balance of the fight and he punished whatever part of Morales the Mexican gave to him. Morales trying to fight with enough conviction so as not to appear beaten, but he surely was all but beaten. In the tenth, Pacquiao surged, hammering Morales with both hands decking Morales once and then for a second time. At the second dropping of Morales to his knees, referee Kenny Bayless had seen enough and stopped the slaughtering of a legend at 2:33 of the tenth. The two knockdowns from the fists of Pac Man were the first and second times in Morales’ career he’d even been off his feet. The symbolism was there for all too see.
On the card: Mexican Martin Castillo, WBA super-featherweight champion, had another difficult night proving his talents superior to Venezuelan rival Alexander Munoz, 28-2 (26), as the two fighters pounded it out over 12 rounds with Castillo, 30-1 (16), nabbing a split decision victory. Munoz’s frustration continued Saturday night against the man who took his WBA title December 2004. He did come out storming from the opening bell, with the champion looking to box his way into a dictating rhythm. It was rough early for Castillo, as the champion hit the deck in the first round courtesy of a Munoz heat-seeking flurry.
Throughout a pitched battle, the punches were sharp, heads coming together often, with Munoz’s head opening up two cuts on the champion. The jab and combination exchanges had the right eye of the ex-champ – “El Explosivo” – closed by the middle frames of the fight. The seventh, eighth and ninth rounds had some of the best action since the first, each fighter find pay-dirt for their best combinations. Time and again, both fighters were more than willing to exchange and charge into the hitting zone, each feeling they could stop the other. In the end, endurance proved the marginal difference in this tight affair for the feisty Castillo, who was the busier fighter in the championship rounds. The champion ripped into Munoz in the last minute of the eleventh, continuing his solid hitting for the balance of the twelfth.
Referee Dalby Shirley was again the dissenting voice as he saw Munoz winning 112-115; Richard Houck saw the fight for the Mexican champion 116-111 and Glenn Feldman had the fight the reverse of Shirley’s awarding the championship contest to Castillo 115-112.
Up and coming super-bantamweight prospect Juan Manuel Lopez of Puerto Rico remained undefeated in scoring a knockout against tough Jose Luis Caro 10-4-1 (9) before an impressed crowd at the Thomas and Mack Arena. The southpaw has yet to hear the bell for the fourth round as a pro, his stoppage of Mexican Caro coming at 1:44 of the third, after scoring a knockdown in the second.
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