The 39 year-old looked ten years younger as he dominated and dropped Lucas Matthysse to eventually pound the Argentinian into submission and take his WBA welterweight title.
Pacquiao claimed an eleventh world title in eight weight classes on the night, in what was also the Filipino Senator’s first bout without long-term trainer Freddie Roach in almost two decades.
Using a jab/straight right-hand combination and arrow-like uppercuts, Pacquiao gave Matthysse a beatdown and the now former champion had no answer to the continued onslaught.
Down in the third, fifth and seventh rounds, Matthysse was waved off by referee Kenny Bayless after the trio of knockdowns as Pacquiao celebrated a 60th career win and first KO since 2009 in some style.
A fight with Briton and former stablemate Amir Khan could now be on the horizon for Pacquiao who proved there’s still plenty left in the tank despite turning 40 at the end of the year.
The Khan fight could lead nicely into a 2019 battle with Vasyl Lomachenko should Pacquiao be able to overcome the Bolton man, and if a deal can be agreed.
Undercard results:
Carlos ‘CCC’ Canizales halted Lu Bin in the final round to retain his WBA light flyweight title in dramatic fashion on the Manny Pacquiao v Lucas Matthysse undercard in Malaysia.
Canizales was seemingly on his way to a points win against the Chinese challenger, who was fighting in only his second pro bout on the night.
With just seconds to go until the final bell, Canizales connected with two straight right hands to drop and stop Bin to wild scenes of celebration in Kuala Lumpur.
The ending time recorded at ringside was 2:59 of the twelfth.
At featherweight, Jhack Tepora won the interim WBA featherweight title with a ninth round victory over Edivaldo Ortega.
Tepora dropped Ortega and piled on the pressure, forcing the official to step in and save Ortega from further punishment.
Improving to 22-0, Tepora moves closer to a shot at Leo Santa Cruz, whilst Ortega loses for the second time in his career.
Claiming the vacant IBF flyweight title for his efforts, Moruti Mthalane defeated Muhammad Waseem via a unanimous decision after dominating the early going.
Waseem was too late to the party as the Pakistan star dropped and pressured Mthalane in the final two rounds but by then the damage had been done by the South African.
Using intelligent and measured boxing, Mthalane racked up the early sessions to regain the red strap he previously held between 2009 and 2012 with scores of 116-110 and 114-113 twice on the cards.
Earlier, Juan Elorde kicked off proceedings with a third round knockout of Ratchanon Sawangsoda in the super-bantamweight division, whilst at welterweight, Theena Thayalan and Siddharth Varma fought out a four-round draw.
