Boxing Coverage updated 24/7 at MaxBoxing.com

Doug Fischer

Chief editor

Pacquiao Stops Morales in a Three-Round Thriller
By Doug Fischer (Nov 19, 2006) Photo © German Villasenor

Send this page to friend

Give us your feedback

LAS VEGAS – Manny Pacquiao won his rubbermatch with Erik Morales in electrifying fashion, dropping the Mexican legend three times and stopping him two minutes and 57 seconds into the third round of an abbreviated barnburner. It didn’t last as long as their first two encounters but the three-round junior lightweight thriller packed as much action and drama as any 12-round fight of the year candidate in recent years.

Pacquiao, who improved to 43-3-2 (33), was off-set by a sharp Morales jab in the opening minute of the first round, but the Filipino icon timed a hard right hook off of the Tijuana native’s chin mid-round, prompting the proud warrior to step in with a hard retaliatory one-two combination. However, Pacquiao took control of the round with a one-two combination of his own near the end of the stanza.

The second round was an instant classic as both national heroes had their moments in the opening minute of round, landing two- and three-punch combinations that ignited the Thomas & Mack Center’s electric sell-out crowd of 18,276. Midway through the round Morales backed Pacquiao against the ropes with a series of punches, most of which were blocked by the southpaw’s high guard. El Terrible’s brief surge got a rise from the Mexican fans, but it was short lived as Pacquiao landed a counter left that knocked Morales to one knee. Morales got up quick and rushed Pacquiao immediately in an attempt to regain the momentum he so quickly lost, and just like that the two resumed ferocious back-and-forth exchanges that lasted until the end of the round.

At the start of the third round, Morales looked like he’d already fought 10 or 11 hard rounds. He tried to keep the torrid pace that was set in the second round, but his punches lacked the zip and power that Pacquiao’s carried. Pacquaio landed hard three-and-four-punch combinations to Morales’ body and head that the former three-division champ tried to answer but only wound up catching more leather. After Morales absorbed a right hook a minute into the round that turned his already weak legs to rubber, a violent blur of punches sent him down for the second time.

Only Morales’s intense pride allowed him to get up and he instinctively attacked Pacquiao as soon as he was able, but the same warrior’s heart that allowed him to prevail in so many hard battles over the years only hastened the ending of this contest. After landing a good right hand that snapped his Filipino rival’s head back, Morales caught a series of accurate power punches that sent him down for the third and final time of the bout.

Morales, who dropped to 48-5 (24), wearily sat up and watched referee Vic Drakulich count to ten through glazed over eyes. The scene was reminiscent of Alexis Arguello sitting in bewilderment as he was counted out in his rematch with Aaron Pryor. The Nicaraguan hall of famer had to accept that he was in over his head vs. a bigger, stronger, faster, younger opponent.

Morales made the same realization tonight vs. Pacquaio, who landed 51 of 71 power punches in the third round according to CompuBox stastistics.

“He was too fast, too strong,” Morales said. “I did everything in camp necessary to win this fight. I didn’t win it. It wasn’t my night.”

After all the punishing wars Morales has been in over the last 10 years the question has to be asked if it will ever be his night again in the ring. To his credit, Morales understands this reality.

“For the first time in my career I felt the power of my opponent,” he said. “Maybe it’s getting to be that time.”

While one legend probably ended tonight, another legend only gained in momentum. Pacquiao is hands down the most exciting performer in the sport, worldwide, and is arguably the sport’s best fighter, pound for pound.

“I was faster than him and I was bigger than him,” Pacquiao said of Morales. “I could tell that he was surprised by my right hook, so I kept throwing it.”

Mega-fights loom for Pacquiao in 2007. The 130-pound division is one of the sport’s most talented and experienced weight classes and in Pacquiao, who hold no world title belt, the division has a clear leader who is willing to take on the best.

In the main supporting bout of the evening, Greece’s Mike Arnaoutis was outright robbed of a deserved title victory by the incredibly inept judging of the official judges, who somehow saw fit to award Ricardo Torres a 12-round split-decision victory that gave the Colombia native the vacant WBO 140-pound title.

Judge Jerry Roth got it right (barely), scoring the bout 114-113 in favor of the Greek southpaw. Judges Harry Davis and Adaladie Byrd scored the bout 114-113 and an absolutely ridiculous 116-112, respectively, for Torres, who improved to 30-1 (27).

“I thought I did enough to win,” said Arnaoutis, now 18-1-1 (9), who scored a knockdown in round seven. “I’m disappointed with the decision, but it was a close fight.”

No it wasn’t. The Greek clearly out-boxed the crude slugger in no fewer than eight of the 12 rounds.

Arnaoutis jumped out to an early lead on the strength of his jab and excellent footwork. The stick-and-move strategy prevented Torres, a devastating puncher, from getting his offense started. However, Torres, who dropped to 29-2 (27), warmed up in the fourth round, marching forward with a two-fisted attack that sent Arnaoutis backpedaling. Torres stayed the aggressor through round five and continued to charge forward in round six with little regard for Arnaoutis’s return fire, which was a mistake as the Greek boxer buzzed the Colombian puncher with a right hook near the end of the round.

In round seven, Arnaoutis went one further by dropping Torres with a beautiful one-two combination punctuated with a right hook. Torres was pummeled in the remainder of the round and through round eight and rendered ineffective by the superior skill and technique of Arnaoutis in the final four rounds of the bout.

In the opening bout of the HBO Pay-Per-View broadcast, Guadalajara’s Omar Nino retained the WBC 108-pound title with an unpopular majority draw verdict over former titlist Brian Viloria, who scored two knockdowns (a questionable one in the fifth and a hard one in the ninth round) during the nip-and-tuck contest.

Judge Dave Moretti scored the bout 115-112 for Nino, while judges Samuel Conde and Carol Castellano scored the bout 113-113 (or seven rounds to five in favor of Nino, but minus two points for the two knockdowns; Moretti only scored the ninth round 10-8 in favor of Viloria).

Viloria, who was lackluster in a decision loss to Nino this past August, was much improved in tonight’s rematch, fighting with more intensity and taking more chances. However, Nino’s awkward stick-and-move style continued to trouble the 2000 U.S. Olympian from Hawaii. Every time Viloria caught Nino with a single power punch (left hooks early in the fight, right hands over the second half of the bout), Nino would answer back with two-and-three punch combinations and body shots before stepping out of range.

Even though Nino’s punches lacked the speed and power that Viloria’s carried, the Mexican national was more consistent with his offensive output, pumping a bothersome jab and punching with both hands. Viloria fought in spurts throughout the fight, occasionally catching Nino with one or two power punches but then failing to capitalize on the opportunity by pressing the action.

In the fifth round, Viloria caught Nino off-balance and forced one of the titlist’s gloves to scrape the canvass. Referee Joe Cortez called it a knockdown but instant replays showed that Viloria did not land a clean punch. Viloria failed to land clean punches in rounds six, seven and eight, stanzas that Nino did very little but won on the scorecards of all three official judges probably because of one punch – the jab. Nino utilized it, Viloria did not.

“The first knockdown was push, it shouldn’t have counted,” said Nino, now 24-2-2 (10). “I controlled the fight with my jab.”

However, in round nine, Viloria landed a crisp right-hook-right combination that put Nino down for real and set the Filipino fans in attendance on fire. Unfortunately, Viloria did not fight with enough fire in the final three rounds of the bout to impress the judges who unanimously scored rounds 10, 11 and 12 for Nino, although the rounds looked fairly even in terms of action from press row, where the majority of the media saw a close victory for Viloria.

“What more can I do?” said a disappointed Viloria, now 19-1-1 (12). “I scored two knockdowns.”

CompuBox data, which credited Viloria with only a 9% connect rate with his jabs (19 out of 223), would suggest that Hawaiian could utilize his jab more. Most observers also believed the 25-year-old could have let his hands go more consistently throughout the fight, especially following the times he hurt Nino.

THE UNDERCARD

In the opening bout of the Top Rank-promoted card, 18-year-old Bernabe Concepcion, of The Philippines, captured the WBC 122-pound “Youth” title with 10-round decision over 20-year-old Joksan Hernandez, of Mexico, in an entertaining slugfest. Concepcion, who won by scores of 116-113 (twice) and 118-112, improved to 19-1-1 (10) with the victory and should mature into a formidable featherweight over the next two or three years if he continues to develop. The game Hernandez dropped to 11-1 (6) with the loss but remains a prospect worth watching.

Junior middleweight prospect Vanes Martirosyan improved to 11-0 (7) with a technical stoppage over Edgar Reyes after four one-sided rounds. Ruiz, who dropped to 10-6 (3), was unable to continue and the Mexican journeyman’s corner waved it off in-between the fourth and fifth rounds.

Junior featherweight contender Fernando Beltran Jr. improved to 28-2-1 (17) when his opponent, Edel Ruiz, was disqualified by referee Kenny Bayless in the fifth round after landing five low blows. Ruiz dropped to 27-16-5 (16) with the DQ loss.