BOXING Pacquiao wins with seventh-round TKO

Stoppage of Matthysse champ’s first since ’09

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Manny Pacquiao clinched his 60th victory with a seventh-round knockout Sunday of Argentinian Lucas Matthysse, his first stoppage in nine years.

Pacquiao (60-7-2, 39 KOs) said he worked hard but was surprised by the swift win in the World Boxing Association welterweight title fight.

“Thank God for this victory,” Pacquiao said. “This is all dedicated to God and all the Filipino people. Thank you to our country and our president for watching this fight.”

Pacquiao rebounded from his disappointing loss last year to Australian Jeff Horn and his victory could extend his boxing career that had taken a backseat to his political life as a Filipino senator.

“We did a good job and my team in training,” Pacquiao said. “We were not pushing hard like we did when we were very young. We controlled ourselves in the training but it’s heavy training. Thanks to all of my team for working hard in this fight.”

Matthysse (39-5) was accepting of the defeat, which came in one of his more lethargic outings.

“This is part of boxing. You win some, you lose some,” Matthysse said.

Matthysse hailed Pacquiao as a “great legend” and said he will take a break after his loss.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad also attended the fight, the biggest boxing match in the country since the 1975 heavyweight clash between Muhammad Ali and Australian Joe Bugner.

Duterte said: “I would like to congratulate Sen. Manny Pacquiao for giving us pride and bringing the Filipino nation together once more.”

Yam G-Jun The Associated Press Manny Pacquiao, center, celebrates after defeating Lucas Matthysse with a seventhround TKO Sunday to win the WBA welterweight title in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.