LOS ANGELES — Manny Pacquiao stopped Hector Velazquez by technical knockout in the sixth round of a scheduled 12-round super featherweight bout at Staples Center on Saturday night.
Pacquiao, 28, of Kibawe, Phillipines, trapped Velazquez against the ropes three times in the sixth round, finally bringing him to his knees in the final second.
The referee began the count, and Velazquez slowly stood up but could not continue and the fight was stopped.
In a bout that was considered a tuneup for a likely January rematch with Erik Morales, who was slated to fight later on the card, Pacquiao came out slowly in the first two rounds as Velazquez stunned him several times with right hands to the head.
Pacquiao rallied and dominated the next three rounds, delivering punishing hooks to Velazquez`s ribs. The southpaw Pacquiao staggered Velazquez late in the fifth round with a left to the face that brought the crowd, filled with Pacquiao`s Filipino fans, to its feet.
Pacquiao won the final three rounds on all three judges` scorecards. When the fight was stopped he was ahead 49-46, 48-47 and 49-46.
Pacquiao improved to 40-3-2 with 31 knockouts. Velazquez, 28, of Tijuana, Mexico, dropped to 42-11-2 with 31 knockouts. Both fighters weighed 130 pounds.
The win increases the likelihood of a Pacquiao-Morales rematch. Morales, 29, beat Pacquiao with an unanimous but close decision on March 19.
