Pacquiao stops Morales again

Erik Morales sat on the canvas, arms around his knees, and stared at his corner, stared at his father, Jose, who was urging him to get up, stared as referee Vic Drakulich counted out the final seconds of his super-featherweight match against Manny Pacquiao.

But Morales never moved, never made an effort to get back up and into a match he knew he couldn’t win.

In an overwhelming display of power and dominance against a fighter who was once labeled the successor to Julio Cesar Chavez among Mexican fighters, Pacquiao knocked Morales down three times, the final blow ending the bout at 2:57 of the third round at the Thomas & Mack Center.

“It was futile,” Morales (48-5) said of the option of continuing the fight. “There was no point.”

This was the same Morales whose nickname is “Terrible,” the same Morales who made a career out of swaggering into the ring and never backing down, the same Morales who had never been stopped before his second of three fights against Pacquiao in January of last year.

Pacquiao (43-3-2, 33 knockouts), who had lost their first meeting in March of 2005 when blood from a cut above his right eye blurred his vision, knocked Morales down twice in the final round of that second fight.

Add the three knockdowns Saturday night, including one in the second round, all with his left hand, and Morales went down five times in just under four rounds against Pacquiao.

“I was faster and bigger than him,” Pacquiao said. “He was coming to me, but he was not able to handle me.”

Morales attributed the second loss to the fact that he had struggled to get his weight down to 130 pounds. Saturday night, he had no excuses.

“He was too fast, too strong,” Morales said. “I did everything necessary in camp to win this fight, but it wasn’t my night.”

The announced crowd of 18,276, the second largest to watch a fight at Thomas & Mack, seemed evenly split between Pacquiao, who is from the Philippines, and Morales. Flags from both Mexico and the Philippines were waving wildly from the start.

But at the end, only the Pacquiao rooters could be heard as the 27-year-old fighter stood on the ropes in one corner and soaked in the accolades from his fans.

As for Morales, at 30, having lost three consecutive fights and four of his last five, he admitted he is considering retirement.

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Omar Nino (24-2-2, 10) of Mexico successfully defended the World Boxing Council light-flyweight title he won from Brian Viloria (19-1-1, 12) of Hawaii on a controversial draw. Viloria, who lost by decision to Nino in August, knocked Nino down twice. Nino’s glove touched the canvas in the fifth round after an exchange of blows and he went down from a solid overhand right in the eighth.

Judge Dave Moretti scored the fight 115-112 for Nino. The two other judges, Samuel Conde and Carol Castellano, scored it 113-113. The decision drew loud boos from the crowd.

“I don’t know what more I have to do than knock him down twice,” Viloria said. “I clearly won the fight. I don’t understand this.”

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In the semi-main event, Ricardo Torres (30-1, 27) of Colombia won the vacant World Boxing Organization 140-pound title by split decision over Mike Arnaoutis (17-1-1, 9) of Greece.

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Approximately 3,500 tickets have already been sold, according to Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy Promotions, for the May 5 Oscar De La Hoya-Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight, site unseen. The match will be held at either Staples Center or Las Vegas’ MGM Grand.

steve.springer@latimes.com