Manny Pacquiao Knocks Out Erik Morales in 3rd Round

After the victory in World Pool Championship last week, the country is celebrating yet again for another historical feat. Pinoy boxing hero Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao defeated Mexican boxing legend Erik “El Terrible” Morales after knocking him down thrice in the third round of their 12-round matchup in Las Vegas, Nevada.

From the blow-by-blow coverage of ABS CBN:

Before a sold out crowd at the Thomas and Mack Arena, Pacquiao quickly humbled his Mexican rival at the opening bell, landing vicious body punches against Morales who responded in kind.

Pacquiao first sent Morales tumbling to the ropes after a vicious left to the face in the second round.

The third round saw Morales dropping to the floor early in the third round before being poleaxed by the Filipino champ?s fists.

Pacquiao will next face WBC World Featherweight champ Marco Antonio Barrera.

The General Santos City native received a guaranteed purse of $3 million (P150 million) from the Morales fight, excluding his shares from television and merchandise revenues. Morales received the same amount.

In their first encounter on March 19, 2005, Morales escaped with a 115-113 decision. But on January 19 of this year, Pacquiao avenged that loss with a 10th round technical knockout victory. Morales had not accepted any other challenge after that loss.

Extreme joy

President Arroyo said she was extremely joyful after hearing of Pacquiao?s victory

“My heart beats with extreme joy with another victory for the Philippines. It was a battle well fought and we congratulate both fighters for their courage and grit. We all gathered around in our homes and places of work, in the streets and farms to pray for Manny,” the President said in a statement.

“Manny will always be our hero, the bearer of the Filipino dream of winning the good fight in all fields of human endeavor. He will always be the people’s champ for toughness, discipline, hard work and the ability to beat the ends,” she added

Another Filipino also won his match in the undercard of the highly anticipated showdown. Bernabe Concepcion defeated Mexican Jocksan Hernandez to win the WBC Youth Super Bantamweight title.

Meantime, Filipino-American Brian Viloria failed to avenge his loss to Mexican champion Omar Ni?? ?s his 12-round match ended in a majority draw.