Pacquiao-Morales III now official

It's official.

Filipino boxing superstar Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao and his Mexican nemesis Erik "El Terible" Morales hope to put a definitive closure to their epic trilogy as they slug it out for the third time on November 18 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Promoted by Top Rank, the bout is scheduled for 12 rounds under the super featherweight (130 lbs.) division and will be televised live on HBO Pay-Per-View.

This was jointly announced yesterday by Top Rank chairman Bob Arum and Shelly Finkel, Pacquiao's American manager.

"Erik is very determined and he is anxious to take on Pacquiao for a third time," said Arum in a report by Fightnews.com.

"These two great champions have always given it their all, each and every second in the ring, especially against each other. I expect this third fight to be the most exciting of the trilogy - and that's saying something!" added Arum.

Finkel said Pacquiao looks forward to a third encounter with Morales with excitement and that his ward is raring to prove he's the best man inside the ring.

"Manny will start training in August. He is thrilled to have this rubber match to show he is the better man," said Finkel.

Pacquiao (42-3-2, 32KOs) and Morales (48-4, 34KOs) holds an even head-to-head record in their past two meetings - both considered "Fight of the Year" contenders - which drew over 700,000 pay-per-view buys combined.

During their first battle in March last year, Morales won by the narrowest of margins, but last January 21, Pacquiao exacted revenge in dramatic and historic fashion, flooring Morales twice in the 10th round to hand the Mexican his first knockout loss in his career.

Recently, Pacquiao retained his WBC International super featherweight title with a masterful 12-round demolition of Mexican Oscar Larios at the Araneta Coliseum in a match considered as his tune-up to a third showdown with Morales.