History-making veteran Manny Pacquiao returned to his native Asia with aplomb in his penultimate title fight win, snapping his own lengthy run in the ring in the process.
Fresh from his controversial decision loss to Jeff Horn in a dubious loss in Australia, Manny Pacquiao returned immediately to a championship setting.
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And pitted with a stunning knockout artist in his bid to land the WBA welterweight crown, Pacquiao made the trip to Malaysia for the title showdown.
Snapping an unwanted record in the process, the Filipino star returned to his often-dominant ways in spectacular fashion.
Manny Pacquiao scored dominant knockout over Lucas Matthysse
Making the trip to Kuala Lumpur to challenge for WBA welterweight spoils against Argentine finisher Lucas Matthysse, Pacquiao made another piece of interesting history, competing for the first time since 2001 without legendary coach Freddie Roach in his corner.
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And having just lost his crown to the above-mentioned Horn in a controversial decision defeat, Pacquiao would compete for gold once again — launching his penultimate championship reign.
Turning in a wholly dominant victory over Matthysse, who had finished 36 of his 44 opponents up until that stage of his career, Pacquiao would put the Chubut native on the canvas three times.
Eventually finding a flush uppercut in the seventh round, Pacquiao scored a stunning TKO win, landing the crown and sending Matthysse into retirement.
With his technical knockout win to boot, Pacquiao had snapped a nine-year run of decision wins in the ring, having failed to score a stoppage since 2009.
Manny Pacquiao’s knockout win over Miguel Cotto
With nine years separating his knockout wins, Pacquiao’s sole knockout in that frame before his stoppage of Matthysse came opposite veteran Puerto Rican star Miguel Cotto.
Pitted with the defending WBO welterweight champion in 2009, Pacquiao would need all twelve rounds to eventually get the durable Cotto out of there, forcing a final frame finish with a technical knockout win to capture gold.
Notably, the finish in the final round came as Pacquiao’s fourth stoppage win consecutively, after his infamous wins over both Ricky Hatton and historic former world champion Oscar De La Hoya.