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If there was one man to make his mark in 2006, it was Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao. Big wins, big contracts and couple of lawsuits made up the stellar year for the most dominant fighter below 135-pounds.
He capped off the year in style, avenging a loss to rival Erik Morales of Mexico by coming back from a shaky start in the early rounds to stop Morales for the first time in his career in the tenth round. It was a bad battering down the stretch that left many fans wondering if Morales' career would ever recover, and it never did.
A return in July saw Pacquiao easily decision former super bantamweight champion Oscar Larios, before a frenzied crowd in his hometown of the Philippines. The month of November saw Pacquiao enter the ring for the third time in the year, in a trilogy bout to settle the war of words with Erik Morales.
The third meeting with Morales was not a competitive back and forth battle like their two counterparts. It was a one-sided destruction of a man considered by many as the best Mexican fighter of this generation. Morales was beaten, knocked down three times, and upon hitting the mat for the third time in the bout, in the third round - he motioned to his corner that he was not going to continue with the contest and took the referee's full count of ten. [details]
He capped off the year in style, avenging a loss to rival Erik Morales of Mexico by coming back from a shaky start in the early rounds to stop Morales for the first time in his career in the tenth round. It was a bad battering down the stretch that left many fans wondering if Morales' career would ever recover, and it never did.
A return in July saw Pacquiao easily decision former super bantamweight champion Oscar Larios, before a frenzied crowd in his hometown of the Philippines. The month of November saw Pacquiao enter the ring for the third time in the year, in a trilogy bout to settle the war of words with Erik Morales.
The third meeting with Morales was not a competitive back and forth battle like their two counterparts. It was a one-sided destruction of a man considered by many as the best Mexican fighter of this generation. Morales was beaten, knocked down three times, and upon hitting the mat for the third time in the bout, in the third round - he motioned to his corner that he was not going to continue with the contest and took the referee's full count of ten. [details]