DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Above, Bobby Vilaver put the head gear on Jesus Salud last night before his three-round exhibition against Manny Pacquiao. Gary Vidal was at right.

Pacquiao dominates Salud

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Star-Bulletin staff

Former world champion Jesus Salud wanted to put on a show last night, but it was Manny Pacquiao who controlled the dramatics during their three-round exhibition at Blaisdell Arena.

The fight was an undercard bout for two "Showdown in Honolulu" title matches.

But the Salud exhibition showcased the bright 25-year-old Pacquiao (34-2-1, 25 KOs), the IBF's junior featherweight champion.

Pacquiao was too quick for the 39-year-old Salud (63-13, 39 KOs), and he connected on a variety of punches and combinations.

"I went in to have fun," said Salud, who's living in Kapolei. "I wanted to put on a show for the crowd, and he took it a little more seriously than me. He was awkward, and throwing punches from the hip, so it was hard to familiarize myself with that style. I could have prepared myself better. I caught him with a few punches, and (in the future) he can't be taking punches like that all the time."

Salud made Pacquiao miss a lot in the first round and backed him into the ropes a few times, but Pacquiao always escaped without damage.

DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM Salud and Pacquiao felt each other out early in the bout.

By the second round, Pacquiao connected at will with a bunch of combos to the head and body, and he sent Salud across the ring and against the ropes with a punch to the body.

Pacquiao, who said he was impressed with Salud's power on the few times he connected, did more of the same in the third round.

"Manny's at the top of his game," said trainer Freddie Roach, who also trains Hawaii's up-and-coming flyweight Brian Viloria. "Jesus had his day and Manny's day is now."

Roach said possible future fights for Pacquiao may include Johnny Tapia and Marco Antonio Barrera.

"We wanted to introduce Manny to Hawaii," Roach said. "HBO loves him and he's catching everyone's attention."

Pacquiao knocked out Jorge Julio on the undercard of the Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson fight in June.

"We're appreciative of Jesus for giving us a few rounds of work," Roach said.

In one co-main event, Hawaii's Teddy Limoz Jr. (8-1, 7 KOs) captured the WBO Asia-Pacific welterweight championship with a ninth-round TKO of Pimnimit Sitaran (38-8-2, 28 KOs) of Thailand. It was Sitaran's first loss by knockout.

In the other co-main event, champion Gerry Penalosa (44-4-2, 28 KOs) of the Philippines and Seiji Tanaka (11-4-3, 2 KOs) of Japan were in the fifth round of their WBCInternational super flyweight title bout late last night.

Juanito Rubillar of the Philippines started off the night with a TKO of Takayuki Korogi. The fight was stopped in the third round.