LAS VEGAS, Nevada – This time, there was no doubt about it. Filipino boxing idol and Bacolod’s adopted son Manny Pacquiao knocked down Erik Morales, the so-called ‘El Terrible’ of Mexico, in the 10th round of their super-featherweight rematch to the cheers and wild applause of flag-waving Filipinos, a good number of them from Bacolod and Negros Occidental.
And Pacquiao won, decking him not only once, but twice in the 10th round of a very thrilling exchange of blows thrown in a much different style that caught Morales unaware and unprepared.
Set up by a furious series of right hooks and jabs, Pacquiao’s huge left hand to the head dealt Morales his first knockdown in his fabled career.
Morales stood up after eight counts but then the Filipino was like a lion ready to go for the kill on a wounded prey. Moments later, Pacquiao relentlessly charged at the winded Mexican, before referee Ken Bayless stepped in to stop the fight with 27 seconds left in the 10th round.
Pacquiao, who was apparently in the best shape of his career, and Morales fought in the presence of 14,618 fans at the Thomas and Mack Center where people from all walks of life had packed particularly those with Filipino and Mexican roots.
Both groups cheered lustily and chanted the names of their idols, rising to the feet and stomping depending on who had delivered a telling blow.
Pacquiao and Morales gave them a fight to remember.
The sixth round proved to be the turning point of the bout. Pacquiao bombarded Morales with a barrage of timely combinations on the body that had the Mexican backpedaling.
With the outcome still unclear, Morales had an open cut on his right brow and his nose was bleeding by the end of the round, inflicted by Pacquiao’s big left hands and combinations.
Just like in the second round, Pacquiao had Morales staggering by the eighth round with a flurry of combinations capped by his trademark left hook.
The Pride of Mexico had it in the 10th and the mighty Morales fell, got up and groggily fell again… ending the fight with Pacquiao a very clear winner.
The knockdown had been what the Filipinos had been praying for with some experts saying that there was no way Pacquiao could win against Morales on points.
Only the bell saved Morales from further damage and it was clear that Pacquiao, who carried the pride of close to 90 million Filipinos all around the world, was the better-conditioned warrior among the two.
From there, Pacquiao started to hit Morales, known for his counter-punching skills, with surprising regularity.
Pacquiao (41-wins, 3-losses, 2-draws) earned $2 million for the fight, a million less than Morales’ income. But the win, nevertheless ensured that Pacquiao stayed on his lofty status as a megabuck fighter with a rematch against Marco Antonio Barrera being lined up.
As the Wynn Hotel, the sponsor of the fight put it in their posters “the first battle was an epic” but now the Morales legend has ended and the Filipinos, Pacquiao and the win by decision of the Mexican in their first encounter has been fully vindicated. *NRL
