Ringside Boxing Report: Manny Pacquiao – Erik Morales 2

Revenge was in order for last nights HBO PPV mega rematch between super featherweight stars Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales. The relentless power punching “Pacman” was simply not going to be denied, despite the heroic efforts of “El Terrible” Morales. The Filipino phenom wore down the Mexican legend and stopped him under a barrage of punches at 2:33 of the tenth

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round. A left cross to the side of Morales’ head put him down for the first legitimate knockdown of his career. The always game Morales rose at the count of nine, but there was no way Pacquiao was going to let “El Terrible” off the hook, and bombarded him with punches against the ropes, forcing Morales to the canvas again, and prompting referee Kenny Bayless to wave off the fight.

Boxing fans in attendance at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada and pay per viewers around the world were treated to a sequel that easily lived up to its hype. This was simply two of boxing’s best warriors giving everything they had, much to the delight of the 14,618 roaring fans in attendance.

The opening round was explosive as Morales backed Pacquiao into the ropes a few times and landed some hard power punches. Pacquiao was up to the challenge and did enough to earn the round on two of the three judges’ score cards. Pacquiao had a good second round, but then Morales gave Filipino fans reason for concern as he controlled rounds three through five with his great left jab and long, countering right hands. At the end of the fifth, it was looking like the first fight all over again, with Morales in control. However, Morales’ strong early efforts may have expended a lot of his energy as Pacquiao turned the tables in round six with his assault, consistently backing up and hurting Morales to take the round decisively. Morales face was by now showing some serious welts high on the nose and forehead, but being the ultimate warrior that he is, the Mexican came out strong in the seventh to try and turn the momentum back his way, landing some great shots. The ever improving Pacquiao, under world class trainer Freddy Roach, showed great poise under fire, and came back strong with combinations to win the round on all three judges’ scorecards and further deflate the Tijuana native’s strong will.

Into the eighth round, it was apparent that Morales was tired and lost much of the bounce in his legs. Compounding that problem was the fact that he had the machinelike Pacquiao in his prime, just walking him down and throwing better two-fisted combinations than he ever had in his career. Southpaw Pacquiao has been criticized in the past for being a one fisted fighter, but has been working long and hard with trainer Roach to employ the right hand in his attack. The strong right hand was evident with hooks, jabs and uppercuts, along with strong body work, something that Pacquiao may have neglected in the first fight, despite hurting Morales with a body shot in round one of their initial encounter last year.

Morales was almost floored at the very end of round nine and couldn’t have been too excited about coming out for round ten as the warrior knew he given all he had and didn’t have much left against the Filipino phenom. Unlike some of the recent fights we fight fans have witnessed where the fighters played it safe to survive and bore us, Morales tried to stage an attack in the final round with nothing left and went out on his shield, from pure exhaustion as much as anything. It was a privilege to watch these two champions stage another classic.

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Contact Mark DeSisto: bostonsmarkd@yahoo.com