Manny Pacquiao scored a seventh-round a seventh-round knockout over Lucas Matthysse to claim the WBA regular welterweight belt at the Malaysian International Trade and Exhibition Centre on Sunday.
Official time of the stoppage, which was Pacquiao's first since 2009, was 2:43.
The Pacquiao-Matthysse "Fight of Champions" undercard started promptly at 7 a.m. with a matchup between Filipino youngster Juan Miguel Elorde against Ratchanon Sawangsoda of Thailand.
The first two rounds of the fight were rather uneventful with both boxers failing to land any meaningful punches. The action lit up in the third round when Elorde decked his opponent with a powerful left hook.
Sawangsoda made it back on his feet but he didn't stay upright for long as he was floored by another Elorde left hook. Gabriel "Flash" Elorde's grandson then went for the kill as he cornered the Thai fighter, unleashing another flurry of punches before ending the fight for good with a right straight.
Veteran Filipino referee Ver Abainza stopped the contest at 2:58 of the third round for a technical knockout win for Elorde, who moved up to 26 wins against a single defeat with 14 stoppages. Sawangsoda suffered his third loss in 15 fights.
"I just tried to get the right distance before I threw my power punches," said Elorde after the match. "When I saw the opening, I took it."
In the card's first title fight, South Africa's Moruthi Mthlane regained the IBF flyweight title with a unanimous decision victory against Pakistan's Muhammad Waseem.
Mthlane started well as he won all the first four rounds in all the three judges' score cards. However, Waseem picked up steam midway through the match and scored a knockdown in the 11th round. The two fighters exchanged heavy leather in the 12th round with Waseem getting the better of it. Mthlane was rocked in the final seconds of the match, which forced him to hold on to his opponent to survive.
The South African won via unanimous decision with scores of 114-113, 114-113, and 116-111.
The next title fight featured China's Lu Bin who was trying to beat the record of Vasyl Lomachenko and Saensak Muangsurin by winning a world title in his second professional fight. However, reigning WBA light flyweight champion Carlos Canizales gave him a rude welcome to big-time boxing.
The Venezuelan fighter used his experience and power punching to make life miserable for Lu. Canizales peppered him with heavy leather sending him to the canvas once in the 11th before scoring a technical knockout victory in the final round.
Meanwhile, Jhack Tepora scored a 9th round TKO of Edivaldo Ortega to win the WBA interim featherweight belt.
Ortega was in control of the fight until the 2:38 mark of the 9th when Tepora landed a right uppercut to send his opponent down. Ortega got back up but Tepora unloaded until the referee stopped it.
Other results:
Theena Thayalan (Malaysia) versus Siddharth Ravindra Varma (India): Split Draw
ESPN5's JC Ansis and Sid Ventura contributed to this report.