Two

Manny Pacquiao vs. Erik Morales III

The Grand Finale!”

November 18, 2006

Thomas & Mack Center

 Las Vegas, Nevada

On HBO PPV

 

 

Super Featherweight Bout (12 Rds)

Manny Pacquiao (42-3-2, 32 KOs) vs. Erik Morales (48-4, 34 KOs)

 

_________________________________________________________

 

Manny Pacquiao vs. Erik Morales III

“The Grand Finale!”

Signed, Sealed And ready To Be Delivered!

Set For November 18 at Thomas & Mack

Live On HBO Pay-Per-View

 

LAS VEGAS , NV -  It's official. Three-division world champions Manny Pac Man Pacquiao and Erik

El TerribleMorales will get it on for the third time to determine who really is the best man inside the ring.

Pacquiao and Morales each own a victory over the other in their two previous fights – both considered “Fight

of the Year” candidates -- which have attracted over 700,000 pay-per-view buys combined. The

announcement was made by Bob Arum, chairman of Top Rank and Shelly Finkel, Pacquiao's manager.

Promoted by Top Rank, Pacquiao-Morales III will be a 12-round super featherweight bout, taking place

Saturday, November 18 , and televised live on HBO Pay-Per-View from the Thomas & Mack Center in Las

Vegas , NV .

 

“Erik is very determined and he is anxious to take on Pacquiao for a third time,” said Arum. “These two great

champions have always given it their all, each and every second in the ring, especially against each other. I

expect this third fight to be the most exciting of the trilogy – and that's saying something!”

 

Finkel put it more simply. “Manny will start training in August. He is thrilled to have this rubber match to

show he is the better man.”

 

Pacquiao, (42-3-2, 32 KOs), from General Santos City , The Philippines, returns to the ring looking for his

third victory of 2006. He won a 12-round unanimous decision over former world champion Oscar Larios on

July 1 at the sold-out Araneta Coliseum in The Philippines, the same arena that hosted Ali-Frazier III – the

“Thrilla in Manila .”

 

On January 21, Pacquiao avenged his previous loss to Morales scoring a dramatic and historic victory

dealing “El Terrible” his first-ever knockout loss, stopping him in the 10 th round, utilizing his secret weapon

 -- the savage punch known as “Manila Ice.” Pacquiao has gone 16-1-2 in his last 19 bouts with all 15 of his

victories coming by knockout , including a sensational stoppage of world champion Marco Antonio Barrera.

A former WBC flyweight, IBF jr. featherweight and The Ring magazine featherweight champion, Pacquiao is

the No. 1 contender and mandatory challenger for WBC super featherweight title and a consensus Top-3

“Pound-for-Pound” fighter. He is trained by Freddie Roach.

 

Morales, (48-4, 34 KOs), from Tijuana , Mexico , is universally recognized as one of the best boxers in the

world at any weight, pound-for-pound. He is also one of the most exciting and has fought in several of the

most sensational battles of recent years, including his 12-round unanimous decision victory over Pacquiao

in their first battle. A former WBC super bantamweight champion, two-time WBC featherweight champion

and WBC super featherweight champion, Morales became the second fighter from Mexico to win world titles

in three weight divisions – Julio Cesar Chavez was the first. Like Chavez, Erik is also a certain future Hall

of Famer.

 

Morales' Hall of Fame caliber resume boasts victories over Pacquiao, Marco Antonio Barrera, Carlos

Hernandez, JesusEl Matador' Chavez, Guty Espadas, Paulie Ayala, Injin Chi, Kevin Kelley,

Wayne McCullough, Junior Jones, Jose Luis Bueno, Daniel Zaragoza and Hector Acero-Sanchez.

 

Erik is also a class act as he displayed after his loss to Pacquiao in January.

 

"I ran into a guy with a lot of ambition who wanted to win very much,” said Morales. “He was in great

condition and was obviously well-prepared to fight me. It was a very tough, intense fight. I think I had some

good moments early, but was getting very tired as the fight was going in the later rounds. I have nothing but

respect for Pacquiao, he's a good person and he beat me. You won't hear any excuses from me.”

 

 

- Press Release issued by Top Rank with a little editing from us (color, highlights, etc...)

 

 

Subject to change

 

(7/27/06)