Morales cut Pacquiao in the fifth round

After a wild first round, Morales took control of the contest behind his long jab and solid rights.

Pacquiao suffered a horrific cut over his right eye in round five but rallied to push Morales all the way.

However, Morales weathered a 12th-round storm to take the fight 115-113 on all three of the judges' scorecards.

Morales said: "He was a tough guy. I hit him with everything. I knew boxing would be the key because he was so fast."

Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach said: "It was a close fight with a lot of close rounds. Morales landed the bigger punches but Manny landed more combinations."

Morales preserves his record of having only been beaten by Marco Antonio Barrera in his 48 professional fights.

Pacquiao, who beat Morales' nemesis Barrera in 2003, falls to 39 wins, three losses and two draws.

Some 30 million of Pacquiao's countrymen and women watched the fight live on television and the president's husband was at ringside.

On the undercard, Martin Castillo of Mexico retained his WBA super flyweight crown with a unanimous decision over Puerto Rico's Eric Morel.

And Mexico's Jorge Arce knocked out Australian Hussein Hussein in the 10th in a WBC flyweight title elimination bout.