Career at a crossroads

Monday, Jan. 23, 2006 | 8:45 a.m.

As he sat on his stool after the sixth round Saturday night, having taken a vicious pounding from Manny Pacquiao's fists, Erik Morales looked every bit a man on the way to his third loss in four fights.

Earlier, in Round 2, Morales nearly hit the canvas when Pacquiao connected with a big left hand. But Morales bounced back from that blow to win the next three rounds on the judges' scorecards, a rally that appeared to set up a compelling homestretch in the super featherweight bout.

That is, until Pacquiao changed the course of the fight in the sixth round, using jabs, straight lefts and combinations to render Morales virtually defenseless.

After Round 6, Morales didn't look like a fighter prepared to engineer a sustained comeback or another rally.

Sitting in his corner after Round 6, Morales just looked tired.

"Pacquiao hit me with some good, clean hard shots," Morales said. "I got more tired as the fight went on."

Four rounds later it was over, as Pacquiao put the finishing touches on his sensational performance at the Thomas & Mack Center by knocking Morales down twice on the way to a victory by technical knockout at 2:33 of the 10th round.

It was the first time Morales (48-4) was stopped in his 13-year pro career.

Pacquiao landed 171 power punches, according to CompuBox statistics, in avenging his loss to Morales by decision last March. Pacquiao said the sixth was the fight's pivotal round.

"In the sixth round I knew he was getting tired when I hit him with one punch to the body," said Pacquiao (41-3-2, 32 knockouts), a national hero in his native Philippines. "But I had to take my time with him because he's a great boxer, too. In the 10th, I tried to knock him out."

With the impressive victory, Pacquiao established his dominance in the 126- and 130-pound weight classes. In a featherweight fight in 2003, Pacquiao stopped Marco Antonio Barrera -- Morales' fiercest rival -- in the 11th round.

Pacquiao's win Saturday was so decisive that there probably won't be much call for a third fight against Morales, a Tijuana native and Mexican favorite. After his losses to Barrera, Zahir Raheem and now Pacquiao since 2004, Morales' career has reached a crossroads.

"Erik has to make that decision (whether to fight again)," Morales' promoter Bob Arum said. "I'm not in favor of it or ... (opposed to) it. It's his call to make, not mine."

Morales was taken to Valley Hospital as a precautionary measure Saturday night and was not available for questions from reporters.

Pacquiao said he thinks Morales has some fights left in him, perhaps a couple of years' worth.

"I think he can come back," Pacquiao said. "It was (only) his first time (an opponent) knocked him out."

Unlike the first fight, this time Pacquiao was contractually permitted to wear Reyes, his preferred brand of gloves. Leading up to the fight, Pacquiao was asked about the difference in the gloves -- whether Reyes really are "puncher's gloves" or if he was just mentally more comfortable with them than with the Winning brand gloves he wore in the first fight.

On Saturday night, the difference between the gloves was as real as the lumps and welts on the top of Erik Morales' head.

"I took a lot of shots to the head," Morales said immediately after the fight. "At the end I felt very slow."

Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer, said a revamped game plan also was crucial to the victory.

"The biggest differences were the body attack and the right hand," Roach said. "Last fight, Manny tried to knock him out with one left hand. But Morales is too smart to get knocked out by one punch. (This time) the body shots wore him down by the end."

Although another match with Barrera looms as a possibility, Pacquiao, secure in his place as one of the biggest stars in boxing's lighter weight divisions, said he hasn't given thought to his next opponent.

"Not yet," he said. "First, rest. I'm going to go back to my country and celebrate my victory."

Jeff Haney can be reached at 259-4041 or at haney@lasvegassun.com.