KUALA LUMPUR – Manny Pacquiao rained power punches on Lucas Matthysse all throughout their title showdown Sunday, which resulted in the Argentinian hitting the deck three times en route to a seventh round stoppage win for the Filipino icon.
CompuBox, which records the punches in boxing matches, showed Pacquiao being the busier fighter, throwing a total 344 and landing 95 for a 28-percent rate. Matthysse, for his part, had a punch output of 246, 57 of them finding their mark (23 percent).
The big factor though was the power punching d e p a r t m e n t , w h e re Pacquiao dominated Matthysse by landing 79 of the 181 power shots he unleashed for 44-percent connect rate. The defending champion landed only 36 power blows out of 131 (27 percent).
Pacquiao sent Matthysse down thrice – one each in the third, fifth and seventh rounds – through uppercuts and right hooks for his first knockout victory since stopping Miguel Cotto in 2009.
The Filipino icon later on said he had Matthysse figured out by the first round.
“From the beginning of the first round, I had it in my mind that I can control the fight,” he said. “I just focused on throwing punches and counters.”
Those power shots got the job done.