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Monday, September 12, 2005
Pacman regains lost pride, but Morales suffers defeat
MANNY Pacquiao is back, and with a bang.
His image somewhat tarnished by that heartbreaking defeat to Erik Morales several months back, Pacquiao regained some lost pride and put himself back on track with a sensational sixth-round stoppage of Hector Velazquez in their super featherweight clash Saturday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
Firing away punishing left straights, crisp uppercuts and killing right hooks, Pacquiao dominated Velazquez in a performance reminiscent of his destruction of the great Marco Antonio Barrera in 2003.
The 26-year-old Pacquiao started slow, but worked methodically as the fight went on to finish off his Mexican rival.
The Filipino boxing sensation, trained for only a month, ended the fight in the 6th round with a barrage of punches that had Velazquez constantly clinging to him for dear life.
A flurry of lefts and rights finally sent Velazquez on his knees late in the round.
He seemed to beat the count but the referee signaled the bout over.
The KO win was huge for Pacquiao not only because he was able to prove he is still a force to reckon with, but more importantly arranged a megabuck rematch with Morales in January next year.
But although Pacquiao came up with a win Morales got ambushed by Zahir Raheem.
Raheem beat the favored Morales by unanimous decision that seemed to jeopardize his rematch with the Pacman.
The loss was Morales' third in a 12-year career.
Morales, fighting for the first time in the 135-pound class, looked sluggish and ineffective from the start as Raheem, a 1996 Olympian from Philadelphia, kept the pro-Morales crowd of 10,584 in its seats.
After close and cautious early rounds, Raheem staggered Morales in the fifth, making him stumble with a right hand to the head.
Morales came back late in the round and dropped his hands, taunting Raheem.
Morales began taunting Raheem again as the fight stayed close into the 11th round.
He threw and landed several right hand leads in the round, nearly flooring Raheem once.
It was the only round Morales won on all three scorecards as Raheem returned to win the 12th round.
Raheem had a tougher time with the canvas than with Morales much of the night, slipping and falling five times in the fight.
The judged scored the bout 118-110, 116-112, and 115-113 in favor of Raheem, who improved to 27-1 with 16 knockouts.
It was the first time Morales had lost to anyone other than Marco Antonio Barrera, who beat him in 2002 and '04.
Morales weighed 134 pounds and his record falls to 48-3 with 34 knockouts. (With a report from AP)
(September 12, 2005 issue)
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