?Oh yeah, I?ve seen that guy fight before. He?s pretty good isn?t he??
These are usually the words that come out of the mouths of most casual boxing fans when they set their eyes upon former WBC and IBF super featherweight champ Erik ?El Terrible? Morales. He?s probably the best-known unknown on the scene today, a lot like the late, great Mexican featherweight Salvador Sanchez was during the 1970s and early 80s.
To the hard-core fans though, Morales and Sanchez need no introduction, as they are two of the best Mexican fighters of their era, or any era.
Tall, wiry Morales appears to have it all: speed, stamina, power, a solid chin and a fiery passion that?s hard to match. But after a grueling career, that has featured many draining fights, will he have enough left to beat People?s Featherweight champion, Manny ?Pac Man? Pacquiao when they face off this Saturday, at the MGM Grande in Las Vegas?
The 28-year-old native of Tijuana, Mexico started his professional career like many of his fellow countrymen by entering the ranks when very young – at the tender age of 16, back in 1993. His first 16 bouts were fought in Mexico, in which he racked up Mexican and North American titles even though his career was barely three years old.
Morales? tenaciousness and skill in the ring shouldn?t have come as any great surprise. He laced up the gloves for the first time when he was only five years old. Boxing pumps through his veins.
His father Jose, who now trains him, was a boxer and his brother Diego is a former WBO flyweight champ who now fights as a bantamweight. Morales had an extensive amateur career of over 100 fights and won 11 titles on his way to becoming a pro.
Erik Morales started his career at bantamweight but quickly moved to 122 pounds where he had his first taste of success as a pro, winning the NABF title in 1994. He fought some decent fighters such as Enrique Jupiter as well as the formidable Hector Acero Sanchez, to earn his first world title shot three years later against veteran Daniel Zarazoga. In a grueling fight Morales became only the third man to stop ?The Mouse? after felling him in the 11th with a body shot. That in itself was an achievement, but skeptics noted Zarazoga was 39 years old and at the end of his career.
Erik defended his new crown three times before facing his third name opponent, Junior Jones in 1998. Jones entered the bout with a remarkable record of 35-0 against Mexican boxers and already had two wins over Morales? future nemesis, Marco Antonio Barrera. This bout would be fought on Erik?s home turf, and after a fast start by Jones it turned out to be no contest. When the pace settled down, Morales stopped his man by TKO in the only the fourth round.
?El Terrible? defended the belt four more times including impressive wins over Angel Chacon, as he knocked him out in the second round, and a unanimous decision over the excellent Wayne McCullough, in another war. It was his next defense though, that would turn Morales into a star of sorts.
He took on Marco Antonio Barrera in a brutal, vicious and bloody affair that will go down as one of the greatest fights of the modern era. They went at it for 12 action packed rounds. Many observers thought Barrera had wrestled the belt from Morales but it wasn?t to be, as El Terrible was handed a split decision. Morales was downed for the first time in his career in the 12th and the epic battle was considered the fight of the year by all those who saw it.
It was evident at this juncture, though, that Morales was having difficulty making the 122-pound weight limit and would have to move up a division. He did so four months after the clash with Barrera when he entered the ring for the first time as a featherweight and stopped the ordinary Mike Juarez in the third round in June, 2000.
His next bout was for the WBC interim featherweight belt against Kevin Kelley, who was \”interim champ\” because champion Guty Espadas Jr. was out due to injury. He knocked Kelley out in the seventh round and became the true champ five months later when he won a controversial decision against Espadas himself.
Light hitting but tough Korean In Jin Chi was next on the list and Morales won a unanimous decision over him in July 2001. Although criticized for his lethargic performance, this win looks a lot better now, in the light of Chi?s extraordinary draw with England?s Michael Brodie and subsequent win to earn him the WBC belt.
The fight everyone wanted to see was a rematch with Barrera, and Morales agreed to put his WBC Featherweight title on the line against him.
The fight took place in June of 2002 and it was more a tactical affair than slugfest. If the first fight was a furious war, the second pitted two men wary of one another. Barrera put in a highly negative performance, backing off and keeping out of range, and minimizing the exchanges throughout.
This time most ringside observers had thought Morales just about deserved the verdict. Despite being floored in the seventh round, and well outboxed in the middle stages, Barrera was declared the unanimous decision winner. Although controversial, most people felt that 1-1 was a fair score between two well-matched peers.
Morales had won the fight between the ropes, but not the WBC title. When Erik declared he would not pay a sanctioning fee, the fight was more or less a \”non-title\” fight and when Morales lost, the WBC declared the title vacant.
Less than five months later, Morales fought Paulie Ayala for the \”vacant title\” and pounded out a unanimous decision from the tough Texan.
He defended it a couple of times before knocking out Espadas in the third round in a rematch in late 2003.
Morales was now intent on becoming only the second ever Mexican fighter, next to Julio Cesar Chavez to win titles in three weight divisions as he moved up to super featherweight to take on WBC champion Jesus Chavez, in February 2004. Morales decked him twice in the second round on his way to a unanimous decision.
The following July he added the IBF super featherweight belt to his collection, comprehensively beating Carlos Hernandez. (Erik soon discarded the IBF belt.)
Last November, Erik squared off for the third time against nemesis Barrera. In an extraordinary fight that featured elements of its prequels, the two engaged in twelve rounds of aggressive, as opposed to passive boxing. It featured controlled, rather than all-out, warfare. Trailing early, a strong Morales finish was almost enough to secure a draw.
But Barrera made the headlines, winning a close fight to take his own third title in as many divisions.
Although Erik finished strong, it is rumored that his nose was broken in the second round, and he looked a bit beaten up by the end.
Many question his decision to jump into such a dangerous fight with Pacquiao so soon afterward. But Erik Morales is one tough hombre.
It?s a toughness that has allowed him to beat every man he has ever faced.
