LAS VEGAS, Nevada, 23 January 2006 — Manny Pacquiao stopped Erik Morales in the 10th round of a super featherweight eliminator here Saturday, avenging his defeat last March with an impressive display of speed and power.
Pacquiao sent Morales to the canvas for the first time in his career and completed the victory when the referee stopped the fight at 2:33 of the 10th.
The Filipino fighter improved to 41-3-2 with 33 wins inside the distance.
Mexico’s Morales, who had posted a unanimous 12-round decision over Pacquiao in March, fell to 48-4, with 33 wins inside the distance.
In their first encounter, Pacquiao was looking for a knockout against the hard-chinned Morales, but instead ended up bloodied by Morales who earned the close decision. The first half of Saturday’s fight at the Thomas and Mack Center followed the same script as the 130-pounders traded a flurry of punches, practically from the opening bell.
Morales had the upper hand as he outboxed Pacquiao, winning rounds three, four and five.
However, that effort seemed to sap the energy of the 30-year-old Mexican as he offered less resistance to Pacquiao’s pressure as the fight progressed.
Pacquiao finally put away the valiant Morales when he dropped him with a left hook with just under a minute remaining in the 10th round. Morales sprung up at the count of nine, but Pacquiao quickly pounced and again floored Morales, prompting referee Kenny Bayless to stop the action.
With the victory Pacquiao was installed as the World Boxing Council’s No. 1 contender in the division in which Mexico’s Marco Antonio Barrera holds the title.
On the same card, Mexico’s Martin Castillo won a 12-round split decision over Venezuela’s Alexander Munoz to retain his World Boxing Association super flyweight title.
Castillo, who finished the fight with two cuts on his face, was given the win by two of the ringside judges, 116-111 and 115-112, while the third judge saw it 115-112 for Munoz.
The Mexican fighter was on the canvas in the first round but survived to improve to 30-1, with 16 wins inside the distance.
Munoz, a former champion in the division, fell to 29-2, with Castillo responsible for both of his defeats, the first in December of 2004.
Former Heavyweight Contender Tua Accused of Drug Taking Before Bouts
Former boxing world heavyweight contender David Tua has been accused of taking a banned drug before big fights, according to court documents which surfaced in Wellington yesterday amid a public row between Tua and his sacked manager.
Kevin Barry, recently axed as Tua’s manager following a lengthy and bitter court battle over the fighter’s finances, alleged in an affidavit that Tua was fed the banned stimulant ephedrine.
The Sunday News newspaper reported that in the seven-page affidavit produced in a New Zealand court, Barry had claimed Tua knowingly took ephedrine to lose weight.
They were allegedly put on to the drug by a Los Angeles chemist before Tua’s world heavyweight bout against Lennox Lewis in 2000, the paper said.
The World Anti Doping Authority has banned ephedrine use from sports because of its performance enhancing aspects. Tua told the newspaper he took a product known to him as “thermo fusion” but claimed he did not know it was a banned drug.
