LAS VEGAS - Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao knocked down Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in the third round before going on to capture the WBC super featherweight championship by split decision on Saturday.

Judges Duane Ford and Tom Miller scored the fight 115-112 and 114-113, respectively, in favor of Pacquiao while Jerry Roth scored the bout 115-112 for Mexico's Marquez.

The two men had fought in 2004, with Marquez recovering from three first-round knockdowns to earn a draw.

There were no such early fireworks in the rematch, as Marquez, 48-4-1 with 35 KOs, scored well with sharp counter-punches and a tight defense.

However, in the third round, Pacquiao landed a right-left combination followed by a sweeping left which wobbled his opponent.

Marquez threw a right hand in response but a perfect counter left hand from Pacquiao dropped the Mexican fighter onto his back.

The defending champion hauled himself to his feet and survived the round in the face of a furious Pacquiao onslaught.

Pacquiao (46-3-2, 34 KOs) continued to press the attack in the fourth, landing at will with the left but by the end of that round, Marquez had recovered his poise.

A clash of heads in the seventh opened a cut above the Mexican's right eye and in the eighth, a right hand from Marquez left the Filipino with a wound above his own right eye.

"I thought I was in control of the fight," Pacquiao said. "But when my eye got cut, it made it more difficult."

Pacquiao seemed bothered by the cut and Marquez appeared to hurt him with a body attack immediately afterward.

By the ninth, Pacquiao looked confused and unsure how to respond as Marquez landed sharp combinations.

"Manny followed him around the ring too much. He didn't cut off the ring enough," Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach said.

However, Pacquiao's power was always evident and a strong counter left hand in the tenth staggered Marquez again.

Marquez stumbled forward and Pacquiao opened up with a furious two-fisted attack that backed Marquez into the ropes.

Again, however, Marquez survived.

The final two rounds were closely contested and the result seemed in doubt until the moment the scores were read out.

Marquez disputed the result.

"I haven't lost anything at all," he said.

"The people know I won this. The fight is not one round. I connected more punches, more jabs and I feel I won."

Pacquiao discounted the idea of a third fight with Marquez, expressing instead a preference to fight in the lightweight division.

"This business is over," he said of his rivalry with Marquez. - Reuters