Manny Pacquiao v Erik Morales III

Manny Pacquiao sent Erik Morales crashing to the canvas three times on his way to a third-round knockout victory on Saturday night.

In what proved to be a short but brutal bout in Las Vegas, Pacquiao (43-3-2, 33 KOs), dominated Morales (48-5, 24 KOs) with a series of relentless battering punches.

It was the third time these super featherweights have met in 20 months and it was a fitting end to a thrilling triology even if it didn’t last nearly as long as the previous two bouts.

Despite a slow start to the contest, both men through plenty of heavy punches in the second round and thats when Morales went down for the first time – from a big right hand.

At the start of the third and final round, Pacquiao showed Morales no mercy as the tough Mexican suddenly looked weak at the legs.

Morales was sent to the mat for the second time and although he got back to his feet one last time, it wasn’t long before more big combinations from the Filipino phenomenon put him back in trouble.

Eventually Morales went tumbling for the third and last time and looked to the corner as if to indicate he had enough and the referee gave Pacquiao the third-round knockout win.

Both fighters split their previous two enthralling contests so this victory means Pacquiao can proudly say he’s come out on top in one of boxing’s most exciting recent trilogies.