LAS VEGAS — Manny Pacquiao, taunting his handlers for appearing very nervous, took a giant step out of his dressing room at the Thomas & Mack Center here to win his biggest fight and claim instant immortality via a crushing 10th round knockout of Mexican boxing great Erik Morales yesterday.
The conquest of Morales, adored by his own countrymen as a national treasure like Pacquiao, was so total and merciless that promoters were left wondering if the rematch clause in the fight contract was worth honoring.
El Terrible, 29, who had never been floored in 51 previous fights, got a terrible beating. The courageous, complete boxer was a picture of total surrender when he was waved out by referee Kenny Bayless with 27 seconds left in the 10th round.
Morales was puffed — eyebrows busted, nose bleeding, lips cut. The handsome Mexican fighter appeared like a school kid who had been mauled by a gang of thugs at the end of the contest.
The numbing demolition, crafted before a big, restive audience that included world champions like Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Winky Wright, produced contrasting results in the 18,000-seat center.
While Mexicans stood blankly, some of them with tears in their eyes, Filipinos jumped, embraced one another and danced, some shrieking in supreme delight.
It was a scene out of Liberation, as Pacquiao’s scintillating triumph lifted the sagging national spirit.
Pacquiao, in a white and red outfit, a white bandana across his forehead, crossed himself, knelt and prayed in his corner upon entering the ring.
He was ahead at mid-ring at the first bell when he clipped Morales with stiff jabs and combinations.
He sustained his hot start through the second round but Morales recomposed himself and took charge in the next round until the fifth.
A mismatch
While their first encounter was a close one, bloody and dramatic, Pacquiao proceeded to turn the second fight into a mismatch starting in the second half by outgunning and overpowering Morales, who had to be rushed to a hospital after.
All three judges had Pacquiao ahead at the moment of stoppage, a tribute to the Filipino boxing superstar’s newfound skills and sharpness.
Paul Smith and Jerry Roth had it 87-84, Dave Moretti 86-85, all for Pacquiao.
The Inquirer scored it 87-84 for Pacquiao.
The fight was for the lowly World Boxing Council International super featherweight title, reserved for fighters ranked 11th and lower but the reward for Pacquiao last night was boundless.
Feat a first
The awesome feat was the first of its magnitude and impact for any Filipino athlete.
“I’ll be OK,” Pacquiao assured his handlers who were visibly shaking in their shoes when the sensational fighter was called into the ring.
His job done, Pacquiao returned to his dressing room to rib his now ecstatic team members.
“I told you I’d do it, di ba?” Pacquiao, sporting only a gash over the left eye, quipped.
Pacquiao, a poor boy from Mindanao, had his taste of boxing action while working in the construction company of Polding Correa, his first manager.
Correa was at ringside here yesterday, a special guest of Pacquiao.
Pacquiao, a former WBC flyweight champion, won his second world crown, the International Boxing Federation super bantanweight title, when he stopped Lehlo Ledwabah of Africa as a last-minute substitute in 2001.
He never gave up
His stock, however, rose prodigiously following his 11th-round demolition of Marco Antonio Barrera, a Mexican boxing legend like Morales, in Texas in 2003.
Barrera is the reigning WBC super featherweight champion and the possibility of him clashing with Pacquiao anew was revived following the humiliating loss suffered by Morales.
Pacquiao, a heavy favorite, was cut, bloodied and out-pointed by Morales in their first fight last March.
He, however, refused to give up.
He clamored for a rematch.
Yesterday, with the whole boxing world watching, Pacquiao’s boundless perseverance was rewarded with his instant elevation as one of the greatest Filipinos to put on boxing gloves.
