Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao stopped Erik Morales in the 10th round of the super featherweight fight in the main event of “The Battle” late Saturday night (early Sunday afternoon in Manila) at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Referee Kenny Bayless halted the fight at 2:33 in the round when Morales hit the canvass after receiving a series of explosive punches from Pacquiao.
In the previous round the 27-year-old Pacquiao intensified his attack by forcing the Mexican to the ropes while launching a barrage of punches to the body.
Morales was unable to withstand the blows in the round. He hit the canvass and was counted out.
The Filipino slugger pocketed $2 million for the fight while the Mexican got $3 million. Both fighters will get a cut of the pay-per-view revenue.
Pacquiao improved his record to 41 wins, 3 loses and 2 draws, while Morales suffered his third loss opposite to his 48 wins.
In their first fight, Pacquiao lost a unanimous decision but many in the crowd and the millions who watched the encounter on television felt it would have had a different ending if the Filipino icon not suffered an accidental head butt in the fifth round.
Morales, on the other hand, came off from a defeat by Zahir Raheem, in which “El Terrible” appeared flabby and uninspired. That was the second in three fights for the Mexican legend, who also lost the WBC 130-pound division title to countryman Marco Antonio Barrera in their third fight on November 27, 2004.
A year before that fight, Barrera had been picked apart by Pacquiao in San Antonio, Texas, a victory that launched “The Destroyer” into the boxing stratosphere.
Pacquiao earned the right to challenge Barrera for the WBC and International Boxing Federation belts he now holds.
The Pacquiao-Morales fight is being aired on a delayed telecast over ABS-CBN Channel 2 and Solar Sports.
