Diaz floored

LAS VEGAS (June 28) - Speed has been Manny Pacquiao's specialty ever since he was a scrawny 106-pound teenage brawler. When he stepped in the ring weighing 135 pounds on Saturday night, even his trainer wondered whether Pacquiao would lose some of his splendid speed with all that extra bulk. "I feel much, much stronger and more powerful at 135," said Pacquiao, the first Asian boxer to win title belts at four weights. "This is where I plan to stay. I did real well. I was really surprised it wasn't stopped sooner."
That theory evaporated with one look at David Diaz's lacerated, bloody face, even before it hit the canvas in the ninth round. Not only did Pacquiao keep his pace while winning the WBC lightweight title with a ninth-round knockout, the Filipino phenomenon got stronger along the way.
After winning a recognized championship fight at his fifth weight - including a nontitle victory over 126-pound king Marco Antonio Barrera in 2003 - Pacquiao (47-3-2, 35 KOs) definitely has the credentials to qualify as boxing's mythical pound-for-pound champion.