‘Smoking hot’ Pacquiao rolls back years to knock out Matthysse

In a dominant, devastating display, Manny Pacquaio knocks down Lucas Matthysse to collect the 60th win of his 23-year career.

Published : Jul 15, 2018 12:31 IST , Kuala Lumpur

 Fiery: Manny Pacquiao en route to his convincing win on Sunday.
Fiery: Manny Pacquiao en route to his convincing win on Sunday.
lightbox-info

Fiery: Manny Pacquiao en route to his convincing win on Sunday.

Manny Pacquiao rolled back the years as he stopped WBA welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse on Sunday — the 39-year-old Filipino icon’s first knockout win since 2009. It was a dominant, devastating display as “smoking hot” Pacquiao registered the 60th win of a fabled 23-year career that now looks certain to extend beyond his 40th birthday in December.

Pacquiao knocked down the big-puncher from Argentina as early as the third round with a stunning left uppercut that thudded around the Axiata Arena in Kuala Lumpur. The 35-year-old Argentine, who came in with a reputation as a big puncher, had no answer to Pacquiao's blistering speed and he dropped again in the fifth.

‘Good job in training’

When a right-left combination thudded home to send Matthysse crashing down for a third time in the seventh round referee Kenny Bayless stepped in to save him from further punishment. “It was a long time ago since I've done that. I came out smoking hot,” said Pacquiao who extended his record to 60 wins, seven losses and two draws.

Read: The heavyweight battler bringing back 'the old Pacquiao'

“I'm surprised I knocked him down so early — in the third, fifth and seventh. We did a good job in training. We were not pushing hard — we controlled our pace and ourselves. I'm no longer young, so thanks to my trainer and all my team members.”

Read: Eyeing a sixth world title, Mary Kom for 'smart' training

A shell-shocked Matthysse, who had come in with a record of 36 knockouts in 39 wins with just four defeats, conceded he had no answer to Pacquiao's speed, movement and power as the “old Manny” returned with a vengeance. “It's most difficult to be fighting Manny Pacquiao,” he said. “He's a great fighter. I lost to a great legend.”

‘First step to a dream’

On a great morning in Malaysia for fighters for the Philippines, Jhack Tepora earlier stopped Mexico's Edivaldo Ortega to win the interim World Boxing Association featherweight title. Tepora unleashed a wicked short right hand in the ninth round to knock down Ortega for the first time in what had been to that point an even contest.

He swiftly followed up with a barrage of powerful swinging punches that forced the referee to step in after 2min 38sec of round nine. “I didn't expect the win but I really trained hard for this fight for three long months,” said the big-punching Tepora who extended his unbeaten record to 22 wins with 17 inside the distance.

Tepora cited Pacquiao as his inspiration. “When I saw Manny’s story, coming from the streets, I thought one day I could be like that and this is the first step to that dream,” he said.

Defeat for Lu Bin

Lu Bin’s brave bid for a record world title win in just his second professional fight came crashing to earth when he was knocked out in the dying seconds of his battle with experienced WBA light flyweight champion Carlos Canizales of Venezuela. Lu was felled near the end of the 11th round for the first time in his short pro career.

Canizales went for the kill in the 12th and final stanza. After a barrage of punches a storming straight right dropped Lu and the referee waved it off. Moruti Mthalane from KwaZulu Natal in South Africa got off the canvas to take home the vacant International Boxing Federation flyweight title by outpointing Waseem Muhammad, who was bidding to become Pakistan's first ever world champion.

Sign in to unlock all user benefits
  • Get notified on top games and events
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign up / manage to our newsletters with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early bird access to discounts & offers to our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide to our community guidelines for posting your comment