LAS VEGAS - Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez threw a "perfect punch" to knock out Manny Pacquiao in the sixth round of their non-title welterweight bout on Saturday, earning his first win over the Filipino in four attempts.
The 39-year-old Mexican, who had lost twice and drawn once in their three previous meetings, sent Pacquiao crashing to the canvas with a stinging right hand with one second left in a bruising round at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The Filipino southpaw fell face first and lay motionless for a couple of minutes before being helped to his corner where he sat on a stool as his gloves were removed.
The Pacman, who has won world titles in an unprecedented eight weight divisions, was later taken to the nearby University Medical Centre hospital for a precautionary CAT scan.
"I knew Manny could knock me out at any time. I threw a perfect punch," said four-division world champion Marquez, who had his nose broken by Pacquiao.
"We always worked on that (counter-punch)," added the Mexican after improving his record to 55-6-1 with 40 knockouts.
"I put this fight as one of my greatest victories."
Back in the ring for the first time since beating Ukrainian Sergey Fedchenko in a unanimous decision to win the WBO light welterweight title in April, counter-punching specialist Marquez was confident he could out-box Pacquiao.
"I felt he was coming to knock me out in the the last three rounds and I knew he was going to be wide open," the Mexican said.
Pacquiao was knocked down in the third round but sent Marquez to the floor in the fifth and looked to be getting the better of the 12-round fight until he missed with a right and was stunned by a thunderous counter-punch.
"He's not an easy opponent," the Filipino said after slipping to 54-5-2 with 38 knockouts.
"I was just starting to feel confident and then I got careless. I did my best," said Pacquiao, who was given a pep talk by defeated US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney before the bout.
Asked if he would like to fight Marquez for a fifth time, Pacquiao replied: "Yes, why not? It's a good fight.
"If you give us a chance, we'll fight again." It was the second defeat in a row for the Filipino, who lost on a hotly disputed split decision to American Timothy Bradley in June. - Reuters
Marquez takes out Pacman
LAS VEGAS - Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez threw a "perfect punch" to knock out Manny Pacquiao in the sixth round of their non-title welterweight bout on Saturday, earning his first win over the Filipino in four attempts.
The 39-year-old Mexican, who had lost twice and drawn once in their three previous meetings, sent Pacquiao crashing to the canvas with a stinging right hand with one second left in a bruising round at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
The Filipino southpaw fell face first and lay motionless for a couple of minutes before being helped to his corner where he sat on a stool as his gloves were removed.
The Pacman, who has won world titles in an unprecedented eight weight divisions, was later taken to the nearby University Medical Centre hospital for a precautionary CAT scan.
"I knew Manny could knock me out at any time. I threw a perfect punch," said four-division world champion Marquez, who had his nose broken by Pacquiao.
"We always worked on that (counter-punch)," added the Mexican after improving his record to 55-6-1 with 40 knockouts.
"I put this fight as one of my greatest victories."
Back in the ring for the first time since beating Ukrainian Sergey Fedchenko in a unanimous decision to win the WBO light welterweight title in April, counter-punching specialist Marquez was confident he could out-box Pacquiao.
"I felt he was coming to knock me out in the the last three rounds and I knew he was going to be wide open," the Mexican said.
Pacquiao was knocked down in the third round but sent Marquez to the floor in the fifth and looked to be getting the better of the 12-round fight until he missed with a right and was stunned by a thunderous counter-punch.
"He's not an easy opponent," the Filipino said after slipping to 54-5-2 with 38 knockouts.
"I was just starting to feel confident and then I got careless. I did my best," said Pacquiao, who was given a pep talk by defeated US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney before the bout.
Asked if he would like to fight Marquez for a fifth time, Pacquiao replied: "Yes, why not? It's a good fight.
"If you give us a chance, we'll fight again." It was the second defeat in a row for the Filipino, who lost on a hotly disputed split decision to American Timothy Bradley in June. - Reuters
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