The long-awaited trilogy bout between Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales is upon us. The two fighters will meet Sunday at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas ? the main event on HBO’s pay-per-view telecast.
The odds are heavily stacked against Morales. Most boxing insiders are not giving him much of a chance to win. It’s not hard to see why Pacquiao is a heavy favorite in when you consider that Morales has lost three out of his last four fights. Pacquiao hopes to secure another impressive win in order to force a 2007 championship showdown with Marco Antonio Barrera. Recently, the WBC ruled that Barrera must face the winner of Pacquiao-Morales.
That being said, the staff of BoxingScene comes together to voice their opinions, strategies and predictions for the big fight.
Ron Borges: Morales has taken advantage of old champions himself in the past, never probably thinking that one day he might be on the opposite side of that equation. Pacquiao, only three years Morales’ junior but far less used up despite having been stopped twice himself early in his career, is among those who believes now is his time. He has youth, strength and punching power on his side, plus a confidence born from rendering Morales helpless 11 months ago. Prediction: Pacquiao.
Tim Smith: Manny Pacquiao will pick up where he left off last time, leaving little room for Erik Morales to stay off the canvas. Prediction: Pacquiao by TKO in nine.
Terence Dooley: Look for a reinvigorated Morales to win a unanimous decision after a tough fight. People forget that Erik looked jaded in the second fight yet was out-boxing Manny in the early stages in much the way he did in the first fight.
Manny showed some extra skills and body-shots, yet Erik crumbled rather than found himself being blasted aside. Wear and tear may have played a part, yet Erik has been able to refresh and regroup.
Can Manny bring something new again or have enough to beat Erik a second time? As far as I see it, Erik out-boxed him for most of two fights until he crumbled in the second bout. Erik is the better boxer, and he will show that world-class skills beat a world-class attack. Prediction: Morales by decision.
JE Grant: When Manny Pacquiao met Erik Morales in March 2005, it was a giant fight despite the fact that Morales lost his previous bout to Marco Antonio Barrera. Morales, Barrera and Pacquiao were so good that fans knew going in that any one of them had a solid chance of winning on any given night.
Unfortunately for Morales, while Barrera and Pacquiao have continued at a blistering pace, he has clearly fallen behind.
Although he’s just 30 years old, a 52-fight career has taken its toll on Morales’ body and fighting spirit. He has lost three of his last four fights but the recent drubbing by Pacquiao was the most telling of all. Despite his best efforts, the wheels weren’t turning as fast or furiously as they were a couple of years ago. This fight will merely provide the exclamation point on what we really all know to be true: Morales is at the end of a Hall of Fame career and there’s no going back. Prediction: Pacquiao by KO in five.
Ronnie Nathanielsz: Before I saw the extensive video coverage of Erik Morales’ grueling training grind, I thought Pacquiao would win easily. But I now realize that Erik has dropped weight in a very organized and scientific fashion without having to starve himself.
He is also set to wear Cleto Reyes’ gloves, which means ?at least in the early rounds ? he could hurt Pacquiao. But if Manny gets careless he could be in trouble. Pacquiao has trained harder than ever before and his tremendous speed and punching power should prevail in the end. But it won’t be as easy as I believed before seeing the training video. Prediction: Pacquiao.
Bradley Yeh: Erik Morales has had so many great performances that I felt a little moved when considering my prediction. It’s never fun to announce that an old friend is a little out of date. However, that’s similar to the way I felt when forced to compare Morales to Manny this time around.
Morales has been in too many wars. That, combined with his inflexible attitude in the ring (which previously served him well) will make Erik unable to adapt to Pacquiao’s speed. Prediction: Pacquiao.
Eric Rineer: Erik Morales has meant a lot to the sport of boxing. He is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the modern era and this could be his last fight. Look for Erik to enter the ring with a lot of pride and give it his all on Saturday night. I think you will see flashes of his greatness against Pacquiao. However, I don’t believe Erik’s best will be enough to tame the tiger that awaits him.
Manny is arguably the best pound-for-pound puncher in the sport. He is at the top of his game and he’s hungry. This guy is known to train at all hours of the day or night and I highly respect that dedication. I also give Manny an advantage at the weight they are fighting at (130 pounds). Erik has had a tremendous career, but I think it will come to a close in Las Vegas. Prediction: Pacquiao by TKO in seven.
Tom Donelson: This is Erik Morales’ last stand, and I see it ending with Morales on the canvas. Morales is still a great fighter, but he is much closer to the end than Pacquiao. Manny has the speed advantage, and his power matches up to Morales. Prediction:Pacquiao by late-round TKO.
George Phillips:This will be a close and entertaining fight, but all three judges will see it for Morales. Prediction: Morales by unanimous 12-round decision.
Glenn Wilson: We really don’t know exactly how much Morales has left. He’s been through some tremendous wars in the past few years. Morales’ camp seems to think that dropping weight for each fight has started to take its toll on Erik, who took a different approach to losing weight this time believing it will keep him strong for the fight. The counterpoint to this is that Pacquiao seems to be at the top of his game right now and that means trouble for Morales. Prediction: Pacquiao.
Dan Horlock: Morales has lost three of his last four fights, and I’m predicting that Pacquiao will bring about the Mexican’s retirement from the sport. In his prime, in shape and with his lightning fast hands, there is no one in this division that can hang with the ?PacMan,’ least of all an aging Morales. Prediction: Pacquiao by KO in six.
Brent Matteo Alderson: First of all, let me pay homage to a warrior and clarify that I think Erik Morales is a legend, one of the greatest Mexican fighters of all time. But I think all the wars have caught up to him and Erik’s stint as one of the world’s finest fighters has come to an end.
People are making a big deal about his special conditioning and nutritional team, but I think it’s more hype than anything. Seriously, you don’t think Erik was super-motivated to beat the PacMan in the second fight after he came in heavy and was thoroughly out-boxed by Raheem four months earlier. Of course he was, Morales wanted to beat Manny the second time to erase the stench from his performance against Zahir, but he just didn’t have it. Even though Morales lost the fight, I still feel the second fight was one of the year’s best fights.
I was at Edwin Valero’s title-winning effort in Panama and still I think Morales-PacMan II was a better fight, and this one will actually be worth paying for. It’s because Morales is going out with the guns blazing. It’s his mentality and even though he has a shot to stop Manny, especially since Oscar Larios had him stunned in their summer bout, I think Manny’s youthfulness will lead him to victory in one of the year’s best fights.Prediction: Pacquiao.
James Blears: Coming back from the adversity of the first knockout defeat in his glittering career, is an awesome challenge for Erik Morales and I think he’s more than equal to it.
For that second fight against Manny, Erik skimped and didn’t gain the stamina boost from training. His weight-loss program was also chaotic. Both of these factors have now been rectified.
Manny is in tremendous shape and ready to go to war. So Erik must use his extra reach, height and superior boxing skills to keep his swarming rival at the end of a ramrod left jab. If Erik decides to participate in a slugfest he’ll get knocked out. If he still retains the discipline and immense concentration required to hand Manny another boxing lesson, he will be able to pull out one last incredible career-defining performance. But with Manny’s power and determination it’ll be like playing Russian roulette.
People close to Erik say he still wants to go for a world title in a fourth weight category. This just isn’t practical, and after fifteen years of dishing out thrills and spills, he should be sensible enough to retire following what I believe will be an extraordinary turn around — a hard fought points win over Manny.
I also have a sneaking feeling that the cut men are going to earn their wages again. One of them if not both will end up cut, and it’ll need to be stemmed to maintain what should be a thrilling contest.Prediction: Morales by decision.
TK Stewart: One thing about boxing fans is that they sometimes have a short memory. I’m surprised at the number of people that are writing off Erik Morales as though he were now a shot veteran. I don’t see it that way at all.
Morales won their first fight hands down in my opinion. Sure, Erik was fortunate that Manny suffered a horrible head gash from a clash of heads and that Manny was also distracted by outside of the ring goings on, but the end result is that Erik Morales won that fight and he looked decent in doing it.
In the second fight, Erik Morales did pretty darn good for the first five or six rounds. The fight was relatively even when Morales started to get pummeled. However, I’m convinced that the real culprit in that fight was Morales’ failure to train properly and get into the type of condition that he needed in order to beat Pacquiao. Morales, in his words “hit a wall”. It’s one thing to make the weight, it’s quite another to do it the right way.
For this third fight, it appears that Erik Morales is going to end up making weight the right way. As a result, I think he’ll look good and while he’s light years away from his prime he’ll still put up a very good fight.
I think Morales has the type of style that will always trouble Manny and he also has size and strength advantages. Morales said in the first fight that he didn’t even really feel Pacquiao’s punches and that they didn’t hurt him. I’m going to go out on a limb here and go against the grain. I think Morales will turn in one last great performance on Saturday night.Prediction: Pacquiao by decision.
John Hively: The fight becomes tougher to call if Morales comes in heavier, but Pacquiao wins in a possibly tough fight nonetheless. Of course, it’s quite possible Morales has little or nothing left, in which case Pacquiao wins in five rounds or less. As I see it, the stars and my gut say it all boils down to a win for Pacquiao one way or the other.Prediction: Pacquiao by decision or KO if Morales comes in at 130 pounds or less.
Larry Tornambe: Manny is catching Erik at the right time for a PacMan victory. Morales looked heavy in all the pre-fight gatherings and will lose a little zap with the required weight loss. The latter part of the fight will be Morales’ undoing as Manny pulls away to a unanimous decision victory. Prediction: Pacquiao.
Rusty Rubin: Morales makes weight early enough to be strong for the bout. Pacquiao is old school, training non-stop with trainer Freddie Roach in his corner. Prediction: None.
Jim Cawkwell: The expectations placed on Manny Pacquiao in this fight are high. Many believe that he will end the career of Erik Morales, simply picking up where he left off in the tenth round of their fight earlier this year. I don’t agree at all. Morales has always been a more complete fighter than Pacquiao. Neglect of his boxing ability in favor of going to war is a choice that has made Morales a legend.
But Mexican legends don’t go out quietly.
If Pacquiao were to win and win in style, it would affirm that he is indeed a special fighter; however, Morales will arrive healthy and ready to dominate the fight from the first to the last round. It will go to a decision, and a hard and bloody one at that. But Morales, with the threat to his career, his legacy, so severe, it is time to produce another memorable performance. Prediction: Morales.
Ryan Songalia: Despite Pacquiao’s dominance in their last fight, I don’t expect this to be the washout many anticipate. Morales has it in his mind that this is his last hurrah, that this is going to be the last fight that he will have to motivate himself to perform at such a high level. As much as Morales is coming to fight, Pacquiao is going to have that much more going for him on Saturday night. It’s just Pacquiao’s time; he’s in his prime and is going to come in with all the confidence of having knocked him out the last time.
Morales for his part doesn’t seem to have suffered a shift in mentality, he doesn’t see himself as any less than he did when he was champion despite having lost three of his last four. This fight just reminds me of the Pryor-Arguello fights, a great featherweight on the slide making his last stand against a vicious predator. It will be an incredible fight, but Pacquiao’s will and tenacity will overwhelm Morales in eight. Prediction: Pacquiao.
Richard McManus: Pacquaio is still the younger, stronger man and one of the best fighters in the world. Morales has turned into a bit of a cagey vet like his predecessor, Daniel Zaragoza ? who only gets up for the big fights at this point in his career. Pac should have the edge, but I think Morales has one more trick left in his bag. Prediction: Morales by unanimous decision.
Ron Gallegos: This will absolutely be a war. Neither fighter has the word quit in his vocabulary. Will the relentless PacMan prevail? I hasten back to the fight he had with Juan Manuel Marquez, where he floored Marquez three times in the first, yet Marquez was able to figure out where the right was coming from and when he solved that puzzle he literally coasted the fight to gain a draw on the cards.
Will Morales with his never quit heart be able to overcome the Pacquiao onslaught? Both belong among the great fighters of our day. I look for the PacMan to prevail with a mid-fight stoppage, probably in the 7th. Prediction: Pacquiao.
Dan Creighton: I see Erik Morales winning by way of a split decision.
Adam Pollack: Even if Erik Morales is in better shape this time, he’s been looking shopworn and was easily handled and KO’d the last time. I see no reason why this fight is even happening. At best, I see Erik lasting the distance, but that just depends on how much better prepared he is, if at all, and what adjustments he makes. But, in the end I don’t see Erik winning. Prediction: Morales.
Paul Gallegos: This is one of the rare bouts with national pride on the line for both fighters. Both boys are more than qualified to own the belt as well as carry the colors of their nations. This could be a fight for the ages.
I don’t see either boxer taking a backward step. As of right now, Manny has the edge in speed, power and, more importantly, between the ears. He is the only person to stop Erik Morales. Both men are extremely strong for the division and are never at a lack for obtaining a late-round KO.
When this fight was first announced, I didn’t think that Erik had a chance ? too many wars, too much Barrera, and the fact that his skills have slipped in his last couple of fights. But, Erik has always had the heart of a warrior on his side. There is something strange about Erik, who has always had the ability to rise to the level of competition. I don’t think that he took his training as seriously as he should have in his last effort against Manny. I think that he will be well-prepared for this contest.
Manny on the other hand, has always proven himself to be the consummate professional. He loves to start fast and maintain the pressure. Juan Manuel Marquez can attest to that.
I see a back-and-forth fight with both men fighting in a phone booth for the better part of the early rounds. Manny will score early and often. Erik will be staggered early, but will come back to take the bout into the championship rounds. Both men will suffer and endure a tremendous amount of damage. Body punching will be a telling factor in this fight. Whoever can land their left hooks during the first half of the bout will have a decided edge during the latter.
The 12th round will be a round for an instant classic as both fighters will feel an extreme need to win the last round in order to secure the belt over his shoulder. Prediction: Draw.
Alphonso Costello: So will the fearless matador with the attitude of a bull show up for his rubber match against Manny Pacquiao? Or will it be the fatigued, battle-scarred warrior who lost his last two fights? Pacquiao is a steaming freight train with superhuman abilities, but he is not invincible. Morales is a grand champion who can’t be under estimated by Pacquiao. Given his fighting spirit and surly mentality, Morales will spill his blood and guts to the very last drop. Prediction: Pacquiao by KO.
Jacquie Richardson: This will be a war, with two fighters who are ready to fight. Morales’ pride will bring him to the fight with the passion to annihilate the PacMan. However, his age, weight issues and history will bring a Morales that cannot withstand Manny’s youth, passion and persistence. PacMan is more mature and more focused than ever before and I think this is Morales’ last big fight. Prediction: Pacquiao by KO.
Joe Harrison: The first time Morales and Pacquiao met, Manny seemed uncomfortable with Morales’ aggression and counter-punching. In their rematch, Pacquiao seemed to be more focused, and Erik didn’t seem physically prepared. This time around, both men should be in their best condition. However, I truly believe that Pacquiao is one of the best pound-for-pound boxers today. He showed his true form in the second fight. Even if Morales is at his best, I think Pacquiao will be too much for him. Prediction: Pacquiao by unanimous decision.
Mike Casey: I think Erik Morales is undoubtedly one of the all-time great fighters. At his best, he possessed the rare quality of being able to switch his game plan and re-shape his style ? often in mid-fight ? to solve the problem of a difficult opponent. But Erik’s naturally ‘macho’ tendencies got him into punishing wars that he didn’t need to be in, which have now caught up with him. I feel we have seen the best of him and I don’t believe that he has enough left to hold off a whirlwind fighter like Manny Pacquiao in their rubber match. Morales was very disappointing in their last fight and seemingly unable to work his old magic of finding a solution. But for me, it was the previous, shock defeat to Zahir Raheem that rang the alarm bells. Nothing would delight me more than to be wrong about this one, but I have to go with Manny. Prediction: Pacquiao by TKO.
Mike Indri: This fight should be another tremendously exciting battle ? while it lasts! Morales will do all he can, for as long as he can, eventually succumbing to Pacquiao’s nonstop, tenacious attack. Prediction: Pacquiao by TKO.
Dave Wilcox: I think the rubber match between these two warriors will be more of the same from the second bout. At this point in Morales’ career, he’s been involved in too many tough bouts that had to of taken their toll on him. At his age,the fact that he has to drop so much weight to make the limit scares me. I think Pacquiao will be too quick and too powerful. Prediction: Pacquiao by KO.
Carlos Irusta: Pacquiao looks like a fighter that suffered minor damage in his career. On the other hand, Morales, a tremendous boxer, has been involved in some many wars that retirement must be on his mind.Prediction: Pacquiao by decision. Ernest Gabion: Morales will be at a point where it’s not possibly for him to be more ready for a fight. He trained long for this and knows this is a make or break fight. Prediction: Pacquiao by TKO.
Kevin Kincade: Saturday night will be Erik Morales’ last great effort. His tremendous pride has forced him to alter his training habits so as to get his body properly adjusted to make weight and give himself the best chance of victory. Unfortunately for him, it won’t be enough.
Manny’s riding momentum and looked much more versatile in his last fight with Morales. I think Erik will take a more tactical approach to the rubber match, like he did in the initial encounter, and I believe he will be stronger this time than in the last match; but he won’t be able to stave off Pacquiao’s assault for all 12 rounds and dictate the pace. This will be a hard fought battle of wills and technique and, in the end, Manny will have his hands raised by way of unanimous decision. Prediction: Pacquiao by unanimous decision.
Sammy Rozenberg: Erik Morales by TKO after the fight is stopped because Pacquiao suffers a serious cut during the action.
Jerry Casarez: I refuse to buy into the whole ?Erik Morales will get destroyed by Manny Pacquiao’ theory. Nobody has ever walked through El Terrible. Even a victorious Pacquiao in their second fight would tell you that it was no walk in the park. Experts are so quick to forget that for the first four rounds the fight resembled their first encounter with Morales boxing well and brawling in spots. The problem in that fight was conditioning. You can say that the fight was lost in the gym.
Look for Morales to establish his jab early to set a pace he will maintain but not without resistance from the PacMan. Manny will come out and test Morales early and often to see how much the former 3 division champion has left.
I believe this fight will go the distance with El Terrible pulling out a hard-earned but most gratifying win. Erik asked the public to believe in him one more time when this fight was announced. While most the media has chose to remember the Morales that was defeated by TKO last January, I will remember the Zona Norte warrior and believe in him one more time. Prediction: Morales.
Jose Aguirre: Manny Pacquiao will stop Erik Morales within eight rounds.
Rick Reeno: Until Erik Morales ran out of gas in the rematch it was a very competitive fight. Morales is without question the hungrier fighter, but one has to wonder if all the talk about him being a shot fighter has warped his focus for Pacquiao. In most cases, when a fighter is stopped for the first time in his career, especially late in his career, he is never the same fighter. After the way Pacquiao knocked out Morales earlier this year, I just can’t picture him being able to fully recover. He is showing bigger stones than Marco Antonio Barrera by jumping right back in the ring with Pacquiao, something Barrera has been unable to do for three years.
It would have probably been the smarter thing to do if Morales had one or two easier bouts prior to a third meeting with Pacquiao, but the warrior’s heart of Morales could not make him take an easier fight.
I think Morales will do much better in this fight, but I see Pacquiao pulling out a close decision in what should be a better fight than their previous two meetings. Prediction: Pacquiao.
