LAS VEGAS--Bobby Pacquiao found himself disqualified in his scheduled 12-rounder yesterday against Mexican Hector Velazquez due to repeated blows way south of the border in the main event yesterday at the 800-capacity The Joint of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino here.
Referee Kenny Bayless stopped the fight off at the 2:56 mark of the penultimate round after Velazquez went down again in the eleventh round following several infractions in earlier rounds.
Pacquiao, who had been stripped of his title at the weigh-in for failing to make weight, had been deducted one point each in rounds three and five.
Pacquiao started strong in the fight, sweeping the first two rounds by using his jab and superior lateral skills, before landing a big right uppercut to score the only legitimate knockdown in the third round. However, Velazquez retaliated with his own big shots that shook Pacquiao, before Bayless tolled a one-point deduction on the Filipino.
"I had told Freddie Roach three times to tell his boy to avoid the lowblows, but he continued doing it," said referee Bayless in a post-fight interview.
Two judges had Pacquiao leading in the fight entering into the eleventh round.
The loss sent Pacquiao's record crashing to 27-12-3, 12 KO's, while Velazquez picked up the WBC Continental Americas super-featherweight title.
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