PACQUIAO PROVES HE HASN’T LOST THAT ‘EYE OF THE TIGER’
Pacquiao proves he still has that ‘Eye of the Tiger’
KUALA LUMPUR: Filipino Manny Pacquiao showed everyone that he’s not done yet in professional boxing.
Pacquiao, who will be 40 on Dec 17, put up an impressive show of power to strip Argentinian Lucas Matthysse of his WBA welterweight title at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil.
With a partisan Filipino crowd cheering him on, the Filipino icon and senator by day relied on speed to score a TKO (technical knockout) victory over Matthysse in the seventh round.
It was the first stoppage win for Pacquiao since 2009 when he was at the peak of his fighting career.
Pacquiao, the only boxer in history to win titles in eight divisions, thus claimed Matthysse’s WBA regular welterweight title with his 60th career win.
The main clash got under way under blinding phone flashes as Pacquiao step out of the arena first with the Eye of the Tiger song from Rocky III.
Matthysse appeared next accompanied by the Highway to Hell rock anthem.
But it was Matthysse who took the fall first when he was floored with an uppercut in the third round and went down again two rounds later.
The Argentine was dropped for the final time in the seventh round from Pacquiao’s powerful left uppercut.
After sitting up on one knee, Matthysse spit out his mouthpiece, which summoned referee Kenny Bayless to wave off the fight at 2:43 of the round.
“Thank God for this victory. This is dedicated to God and all the Filipino people. Thank you to our country and our president (Rodrigo Duterte) for watching this fight,” said Pacquiao, who last fought more than a year ago in Brisbane where he lost to Australian Jeff Horn.
“We did a good job in the training camp. We were not pushing hard like we did when we were very young,” said Pacquiao.
“We controlled ourselves in the training but it’s heavy training. Thanks to all my team members for working hard in this fight.
“It has been a long time since I scored this kind of win .
“From the beginning of the first round, I controlled the fight. Our strategy was to be patient and not to rush it but just focus on the hard and counter punches,” added Pacquiao, who was later met by President Duterte and Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in the changing room.
Matthysse also made it clear that he was not considering retirement.
“Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Today was my turn to lose and I lost to a great fighter and a great legend in Manny Pacquiao. I’m going to take a rest, take a break,” he said.
“I worked really hard and I want to go back home to my family. This is what boxing is all about.”