PACQUIAO STORMS ACROSS THE PACIFIC
Morales suffers first KO in vengeance match

January 21, 2006
Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas

Ringside reportage by Mike Sloan , Victor Perea and Sean Wippert

Photography by Chris Cozzone

( Victor Perea ) How can one man make 92 million people happy all at once? Just ask three-time world champion, Manny Pacquiao and he’ll tell you.

With a powerful career-defining win over future hall-of-famer Erik Morales last night, Pacquiao avenged last year's loss to Morales at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.

Over 14,000 people witnessed what almost 92 million Filipino will eventually see what some would consider the renewing of vows between Pacquiao and his legacy to the Filipino people, and the boxing community.

In a fashion that could not have been written any better, Manny Pacquiao had many more ups than downs throughout almost 10 full rounds of truly championship boxing, earning a 10 round KO over Tijuana’s Erik Morales, who hit the canvas for what really is the first time in his career.

Pacquiao moved to show that not having the overwhelming distractions he had during his first fight truly made a difference in this fight.

“I was well prepared. Shelly Finkel and my team cleared all distractions from me.” said the Filipino southpaw.

The very beginning of the fight was met with a longer than usual feeling out process for these two crowd-pleasing gladiators, who where each 100% ready for tonight’s bout according to their perspective camps. As Pacquiao’s Promoter Gary Shaw stated earlier in the week, “Whoever loses this fight, will have lost only because they could not win, no excuses.”

Pacquiao appeared to be different this from the very 1st round, showing a bit more patience than what most believe he could. Pacquiao went to the body very early on. This allowed him to work Morales’ abdomen and make him drop his defensive right hand that seems to be permanently attached to his chin. In a round that saw more controlled action from Pacquiao, Morales was overwhelmed for the most part of the second round, debuting itself as the first round to have a clear cut winner.

The double jab followed by a straight right seemed to make good enough contact for Erik Morales to win two of the first three rounds on two of the judges scorecard. These connecting punches may not have been able to score a knock out but they were definitely enough to earn something on the judge’s scorecards. Pacquiao won a clear second round with speedy hooks to the body and head, while slowly but sure gaining more control of the ring.

Most of the first five rounds, with the exception of round two, where very close rounds that saw Pacquiao control the ring with quick hooks and right hands, only to be occasionally forced back by an incredibly game Morales. Morales seemed to be firing hooks and straight rights in spurts, only attacking when counterpunching and growing less successful in those attempts as the fight went on. Pacquiao’s offensive striking was obviously more thought through than in their first fight, that or this time Pacquiao stuck with Freddy Roach’s instructions that worked like clockwork.

It was apparent that Pacquiao’s body work, right hands and hooks were working. Allowing Pacquiao to wear down the former champion midway through the fight. “I feel him slipping. I think I have him hurt in the sixth round," Pacquiao would say later.

Pacquiao showed incredible growth in his fight game, seemingly adding an equally dangerous weapon to his arsenal, his right hand. Pacquiao who in the past has been known for over pursuing his opponents when they are hurt, showed great maturity by throwing hooks to the body and head that would connect and instead of lunging in for the kill, he wisely stepped back and used his right to keep Morales guessing as to where he would be coming from.

By the eighth round both fighters had taken some great shots and had both struck back when being heavily engaged throughout the fight. Morales had a cut on his eyebrow an his body showed signs that he knew his body wasn’t going to make it through the twelfth round. Pacquiao continued with his constant application of body work along with the straight left, uppercut and hook combinations. Morales seemed on the brink of being down several times throughout the fight, but with the heart of a true champion Morales came back and would pursue Manny as a way to stop the assault, at least temporarily.

The crowd who was split very closely down the middle each chanted for their Hero as the fight went on. Morales looked like a beaten man by the end of the sixth, although he stayed in the fight, at this point had yet to be completely out of it. Morales would answer the seventh with a strong desire to keep the pace up but that hungrier Pacquiao would not be denied his sweet revenge.

The tenth round started like most of the other rounds, having Pacquiao coming in to trade and Morales doing his best to stay in it. Morales’ body looked like it was saying it was done. With a cut over his right eyebrow and a chin that had been through the roughest of nights; Morales was dominated one last time in the tenth. With less than a minute to go, Pacquiao rocked Morales with the kind of power Morales claimed he had never felt before, and knocked him down for the first time in the fight.

Morales recovered in time to make the count and give a valiant effort, as you could see that his mind was telling him that he should not stand up. Instead to just stay down as his body was done; but Morales’ with the heart of a Lion, managed to stand up on courage alone. Facing Pacquiao once again, Morales hoped to make it through the round, a feeling he had never felt before in his professional career. Morales stayed true to form and engaged Pacquiao even while still dazed. Pacquiao seized the opportunity and with the might of an entire country flurried hooks to the whole of Morales until he crumpled to the ground and referee Kenny Bayless stepped in and stopped the bout, declaring Pacquiao the winner by KO at 2:33 into the tenth round.

Pacquiao felt confident about his win, saying he always knew what was in him: “I was ready. Morales said I made excuses before--well, there no excuses today."

As a precaution, Morales was taken to Valley Hospital for precautionary reasons and has since been released from the hospital.

CASTILLO SURVIVES AND DEFEATS MUNOZ AGAIN!

(Mike Sloan ) Alexander Munoz had waited thirteen long for this fight and he came so close to avenging his lone professional loss Saturday night. Munoz was hoping to steal back the super flyweight belt that Martin Castillo had taken from back on (when), but "El Explosivo" fell short of realizing his dream. After a torrid twelve round affair, Castillo was the one who had his arm raised at the battle's conclusion, now twice a victor over Munoz.

Their first encounter was an epic duel between two of the world's best at 115 pounds, a war so close and so enthralling that boxing fans across the globe who were lucky enough to capture Castillo/Munoz I eagerly awaited the rematch. Munoz had vanquished dozens of foes in the years leading up to his initial encounter with Castillo, scoring highlight reel knockouts over the likes of Eiji Kojima, Sornpichai Kratingdaenggym, Benjamin Rivas and Over Bolanos. Munoz was touted as possibly being mentioned in the same breath as the top ten fighters in the world pound-for-pound and a win over the talented and dangerous Castillo would have catapulted him into such a lofty honor.

However, everything didn't go as planned when they first met and Munoz fell victim to his first professional defeat. In the months succeeding the bitter taste of defeat, Munoz bided his time and anxiously waited for the moment to get another crack at his nemesis. Munoz eventually did land that second chance at Castillo and was awarded the opportunity to recapture his lost belt. When the moment arrived, Munoz almost capitalized quickly as he came a few punches away from taking Castillo out in the opening stanza of their rematch.

As it turned out, Castillo survived the initial onslaught that led to a knockdown midway through the first and Munoz wasn't able to finish him off. Munoz badly staggered Castillo again in the eighth, but the majority of the fight belonged to Castillo, who barely nipped Munoz via split decision. Castillo was awarded victory when he was given the fight with tallies of 116-111 and 115-112. Munoz was given the fight 115-112 on the other card, which was nullified by the other two cards.

The fight, much like their first duel, was a white hot back and forth battle of action with both men coming dangerously close to being dropped. Munoz (28-2, 26 KOs), from Bolivar, Venezuela, opened up two nasty lacerations on Castillo; one above his right eye and one below the left. The cuts were ruled from headbutts, but they bothered Castillo nonetheless.

Castillo was the smoother fighter and had better stamina. Munoz tired greatly towards the end of the fight and in rounds eleven and twelve, he was staggered from flurries courtesy of Castillo. Still, the tough as nails Munoz refused to stumble and remained erect throughout the duration of the battle. It was a great win for Castillo, who improved to 30-1 (16). After the fight, Castillo hinted at hoping to fight either Jorge Arce or Fernando Montiel.

LOPEZ VS. CARO

( Victor Perea ) In a scheduled 6 round featherweight bout, Puerto Rico’s highly touted Juan Manuel Lopez kept his loss column empty while improving to 9-0 with 9 KO’s.

His opponent, Jose Luis Caro. now 10-4-1 (9 KOs), was outclassed over three rounds en route to a third round KO at 1:44.

Lopez successfully landed a solid right hooks doubling up to the body and then back to the head. Lopez dropped the largely head-hunting Caro with a whaling overhand right with about 2:00 to go in the 2nd round. Lopez finished the bout untouched and shows great promise as a future contender with a ways to go.

ZERTUCHE TOPPLES PRIMERA IN SNOOZER

(Mike Sloan ) In what was the opening bout of the televised portion of the card, Jose Luis “El Elotero” Zertuche, Guanajuato, Mexico, ignored the constant boos and jeers from the restless crowd and dominated Marcos Primera over ten rounds. The fight itself was a total bore and was as one-sided as they come. Zertuche never came close to stopping his opponent until he dropped him with a left hook with about twenty seconds remaining in the contest. Round after round the two pugilists did as little as they could without being disqualified for non action. Zertuche won a unanimous decision via tallies of 100-89 (twice) and 100-88 to improve to 18-2-2 (13). Primera, from Puerto Cabello, Venezuela, fell to 19-13-2 (12).

UNDERCARD RESULTS
MONTANO & DE OCA DRAW

(Victor Perea ) In a six-round welterweight bout between local scrappers, Juan Pablo Montes de Oca (6-8-2, 3 KOs) and Ramon Montano (8-2-1) fought to a draw.

PROKSA POLISHES NEWTON

(Mike Sloan ) Promising unbeaten prospect Grzegorz “Super G” Proska, who hails from Wêgierska Górka, Poland, continued his impressive string of victories by dispatching opponent Gene Newton. Proska, a 2004 Polish Olympian, systematically broke apart Newton and after three grueling (for Newton) and one-sided rounds, the ringside physician persuaded referee Robert Byrd to stop the contest. Newton suffered a nasty laceration over his right eye late in the third round and once the round ended, the fight was scrapped after further examination of said cut. The nasty cut erased any doubt whether Newton would have been able to withstand any further punishment from Proksa.

Proksa simply dominated his foe from start to finish, crippling his adversary with a lethal barrage of body shots. Proksa ventured upstairs from time to time, but the bulk of his work was toward the midsection. Newton, Reedsburg, WI, couldn't keep Proksa off of him and was unable to effectively fight back. Proksa wound up winning via TKO at the end of the third round, improving his professional record to 5-0 with his fourth knockout. Proksa looks promising indeed and should be able to bolster his record considerably over the next few years and eventually attempt to tackle some higher-echelon fighters in the junior- and middleweight division. Newton, as game and tough as he was, fell for the first time as a pro. He now stands at 4-1-1 (1).

JACA BLOWS AWAY HERNANDEZ IN 1ST

( Sean Wippert ) The second match of the card featured Geronimo Hernandez of Diaz Ordaz, Mexico against crowd favorite Jimex Jaca of Negros Oriental, Philippines. Early on Hernandez put it to Jaca with good hooks. Jaca returned fire and seemed to back Hernandez up fast. Jaca, sensing this, attacked even harder, landing a heavy left hook that dropped Hernandez. Once Hernandez was able to beat the count and allowed to continue, Jaca attacked yet again. The following barrage ended with a skull-rattling left that ended Hernandez' night. Referee Joe Cortez didn't bother to count once Hernandez hit the deck, stopping the bout at 2:43 of the first round. An impressive fight amps up Jaca's record to an exceptional 25-1-1 (11). Hernandez falls to an even 15-15-1 (5).

GARCIA STUNS VALCARCEL

( Sean Wippert ) Puerto Rico's newest native son, 2000 Olympian Carlos Valcarcel, saw his unbeaten professional record come to an end tonight as he was upended by tough journeyman Sal Garcia of Los Angeles. The action was slow to warm but picked up with solid body attacks from both fighters. Garcia seized control early on and as the fight progressed, he gained momentum. Valcarcel tried to get back into the fight, but Garcia was able to stagger his foe with a sneaky left hand late in the third round. It seemed as though Garcia had his foe's number and wasn't about to let it go. Round after round seemed to follow this template as Garcia pressed the issue. Valcarcel picked up the pace in the fifth and sixth rounds, but was unable to capitalize. Outside of a few low blow warnings, it was all Garcia in good fashion. The decision rendered was 58-55, 60-53 and 59-54, all in favor of Garcia. Garcia moves to 13-3-2 (6) while Valcarcel falls to 8-1 (4).

BONUS PHOTOS