PACQUIAO'S POWER TOO MUCH DELIVERS THIRD-ROUND KNOCKOUT VS. MORALES.

Byline: ROBERT MORALES Staff Writer

LAS VEGAS -- Manny Pacquiao had looked so good during some of his training sessions that it seemed to many experts like Erik Morales might stand little chance to defeat him Saturday night.

They were right.

After a first round in which Morales did well, Pacquiao knocked Morales down in the second round, then knocked him out at 2:57 in the third round in a display of vicious power punching rarely seen in the super featherweight main event in front of 18,276 screaming fans at Thomas & Mack Center.

Each fighter appeared to have about half the crowd behind him, as there were scores of Mexican and Filipino flags flying.

Morales was game, no question about that. He even hurt Pacquiao with a right hand to the head after getting up from the first of two knockdowns in the third round.

But with all the power Morales was throwing at Pacquiao, the brutal punches Pacquiao delivered were simply devastating.

Then the end came. With Morales trying everything he could to stay in the fight, Pacquiao came back and hammered Morales with another big left hand, sending the former three-division world champion from Tijuana to the canvas for the third time.

Morales was awake, but he never really tried hard to get up, perhaps because he was trying to surmise what was happening to him. Referee Vic Drakulich counted Morales out.

``I'm glad he came out at me,'' said Pacquiao (43-3-2). ``It gave me a chance to knock him out. I was faster and bigger than him. He was coming at me, but he wasn't able to handle me. I was so much faster and stronger. Now I think he has felt my power.''

It was the rubber match of what has turned out to be a thrilling trilogy, one in which Pacquiao has demonstrated that he is one of the top fighters in the world, pound-for-pound.

``I did my very best,'' said Morales, 30, who is 48-5. ``I was in great physical condition. Pacquiao was too much. I did my best.''

Morales, who said afterward he would retire, said he never tried to get up because he knew it wouldn't matter.

``I was looking at my corner urging me to get up,'' he said. ``I knew it was futile. No point.''

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(color) Erik Morales, foreground, gets knocked out by Manny Pacquiao during the third round Saturday night in Las Vegas.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News