Regardless of whether you bought into Freddie Norwood?s nickname of ?Lil? Hagler? during his short term as featherweight champion in the late ?90s, it is quite possible that the highly anticipated Erik Morales-Manny Pacquiao pairing will live up to the label of the ?Little Hagler-Hearns?. Almost twenty years after that all-time classic, it pits together two of the proudest and most fierce competitors in the sport today.
When Marvin Hagler defended his undisputed middleweight belts for the eleventh time against former welter and junior middleweight titlist Thomas Hearns, it was a hard fight to pick coming in. Whereas Hagler was a skilled technician with an invincible chin and great stamina, the more vulnerable Hearns could box superbly behind a snaking jab and was able to generate wicked power with his long arms. The clearest prediction, by the average fan or trade experts, was that it would be a superb fight.
For every expert who picked the natural middle to be too much for a lighter man who could fall apart when hit right, another would point to the Detroit ?Hitman?s? flashier repertoire and more spectacular performances against common opponents like Roberto Duran and Marcus Geraldo. Southpaw Hagler outpointed both of these, but struggled a little with Duran?s precise counter punching until making late adjustments. Hearns, meanwhile, blasted both away very early which some felt to be a significant edge.
When the two squared off, few could have anticipated the utter fury that broke out, shocking that it was only the first round. Hearns, pumped up from watching kung fu films in his dressing room, and believing his power was too much for anyone, initiated the action with stinging rights. Hagler, stunned and cut, paid him back. Science went out the window. By the end of the greatest round in history, Hagler had Hearns, his right hand broken, looking shaky.
After an opening frame that featured more sustained action than many distance fights, the pattern was set out. A punched out Hearns boxed from a distance, but his gangling legs weren?t up to the task of carrying him out of harm?s way and was caught repeatedly. Hagler, with a deep cut over his eye, needed to end the fight before the referee could have a chance to stop it. In danger of losing his titles, he came on strong in the third, mugged Hearns on the ropes, wobbled him with a wide right hook right and stopped him with a follow up.
Many have likened Manny Pacquiao?s super featherweight debut against Erik Morales as potentially akin to that amazing piece of condensed fury. Although few would predict a third round knockout, already the Filipino star is classed as the Hagler, who will stop Morales? Hearns. One could be forgiven for this comparison. The lanky Morales shares with Hearns a similar build, and carries his power on his travels up the weight divisions. The shorter Pacquiao shares a left-handed stance with Hagler and while a solid puncher, likewise prefers to grind his foes down gradually.
In a twist, however, Morales has never had stamina problems, having featured in many furious bouts with superb fighters such as Daniel Zaragoza (KO11), Junior Jones (KO4), Marco Antonio Barrera I and III (W12, L12) and Wayne McCullough (W12), and has never to this point been stopped. Although rocked numerous times in his career, he is always able to rally back, and his best rounds often follow ones in which he?s been on the receiving end. Erik?s Evander Holyfield level of fierceness dismisses the notion that he will allow Manny to walk through him.
Significantly, it is Pacquiao who is moving up in weight, contrasting the peerless, long reigning Hagler. An ex flyweight whose power moved up to both super bantam and featherweight, he may encounter physical barriers this time out against a man who has filled out naturally at 130. And while Manny is a more openly fierce fighter than the more workmanlike Hagler, he lacks Marvin?s legendary chin. Despite shrugging off the best shots of Barrera (a natural super bantamweight), he was hurt at least once by natural feather Marquez last year. Morales hits a lot harder than Marquez.
The key variable in Pacquiao?s favour is a significant one. Morales prefers to stay on the outside and fight at a reasonable pace, and has yet to encounter anything truly unorthodox. Although he has beaten high quality southpaws Zaragoza and Paulie Ayala, Pacquiao is something else entirely. On form, as when he fought Barrera, Manny is able to leap in with razor sharp combinations from unpredictable angles, and then dart away to the sides to hurt and confuse opponents. In this case, it is extremely difficult to both defend oneself, and to land adequate counters.
A solid defence and alert boxing brain are necessary to compete with Pacquiao, and even fighters blessed with these attributes have encountered severe trouble. After nullifying Naseem Hamed?s rushes, Marco Antonio Barrera was elevated to the status of ?master boxer?, but was battered almost into submission by Manny in a 2003 bout. Morales, however, has never been difficult to hit. While he could get away with this deficiency against the light hitting McCullough and Carlos Hernandez, he now risks being outworked.
To Morales? credit, he is able to punch his way out of difficulty. He rallied back after being under fire from two-time Barrera conqueror Junior Jones, stopping him in the fourth, and also overcame what appeared to be a significant points deficit to stop the crafty Zaragoza late in their tough fight, despite being a green twenty-one year old. Even in the recent losing effort against Barrera, a storming finish was nearly enough to salvage a draw, and convinced many experts that he did so (this writer had Barrera winning: just).
Pacquiao, by contrast, is an outstanding ?on top? fighter: effective so long as he can maintain the pressure. This was the case against Barrera, who simply had no answer for the leather flying in his direction. But against a fighter able to make adjustments, Manny is less effective. After being floored three times in the opener, Juan Manuel Marquez neutralized Pacquiao?s stinging left hand and countered with his own right. Although Manny may have had trouble ?getting up? for the fight after it was all but ended, it cannot be forgotten that he was frustrated and unable to win many subsequent rounds.
Both men would appear to be extremely well matched, and it seems difficult to pick a winner. But the bout will be lent a more ferocious edge by means of one final parallel with Hagler-Hearns. After Hagler?s difficult victory over former lightweight Duran, and Hearns? stoppage loss to Sugar Ray Leonard four years previous, each had a great deal to prove, and ended up doing so to one another. Neither Morales nor Pacquiao were able to win their last big fights, Morales edged by Barrera, Pacquiao held to a draw by Marquez. We can expect a similar intensity.
The only difference is that Pacquiao will not need to be stung into action, and Morales will be sure to give plenty of jolting answers of his own.
