Wow Pacquiao! Pacman Gobbles El Terrible in Three!
by Gabriel Montoya (Nov 19, 2006) Photo © German Villasenor
In front of raucous sell out crowd of 18,276(the second largest in the arena’s history) at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, Manny Pacquiao blew out Erik ‘El Terrible’ Morales in three explosive, action packed rounds to claim supremacy in their trilogy.

The crowd was electric all night long with chants of ‘Manny’ and ‘Morales’ drowning each other out every time either man’s face appeared on the Jumbotron leading into the bout. Both men looked in peak form warming up in the dressing room and coming into the ring.

The action started with both men looking to establish the jab and trying to back the other up. Morales, circling to his left, landing the jab. Pacquiao landed a hard uppercut to the body and it seemed as if every time both men thought about throwing a shot, the crowd would go wild. Morales landed a solid double jab left hook combo and seemed intent on boxing from the outside while Pacquiao looked to get inside behind a hard right jab and straight left. Pacquiao landed a
hard right hook and Morales came back with left-handed flurry to punctuate the action.

Round two Pacquiao came out fast and strafed Morales along the ropes with lefts and rights but Morales came back with a flurry of his own landing a double jab followed by a right hand. Pacquiao came back with a double right jab and left hand off Morales’ miss. And big left from Pacquiao sent Morales to his knees but the game warrior got to his feet and went after Pacquiao, which would prove to be his undoing. Morales has a history of abandoning the game plan when he is hurt and tonight was no exception.

The third round began with Morales pursuing Pacquiao and digging to the body. A right by Morales gave hope to the large Mexican contingent in the crowd but a flurry from Pacquiao in what was quickly becoming a brawl would signal the beginning of the end for Morales. Morales would land a good shot to the body and an uppercut. Pacquiao would land a big right hook that stunned Morales and would follow up with a left that would put Morales down for the second time. Speed at this point was indeed killing Morales. Morales would rise and jump on Pacquiao landing a left right combo with a Pacquiao flurry to follow. A huge, brutal left and then another by Pacquiao and Morales hit the canvas for the third a final time. As he rose to a knee, Morales looked over to his corner and shook his head in defeat. He began to rise shakily but referee Vic Drakulich wisely stopped the action at 2:57 of the third round.

For Pacquiao the sky is the limit with a potential showdown rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera on the horizon. For Morales, the only thing on the horizon is the sun setting on his glorious career. Retirement is very possible with nothing left to prove but being the warrior Morales is, he may fight on.


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Gabriel at: Coyotefeather@gmail.com
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