Erik ?El Terrible” Morales (51-7-0, 35 KOs) is a sure-fire hall-of-famer. If he retired after the trilogy against Manny Pacquiao, the boxing world will still say he is one of the very best fighters to lace up a pair of gloves. However, his decision to resume his boxing career was received with mixed reactions.
Nobody gave him a shot at defeating David Diaz for his WBC lightweight title. They said he got the title shot entirely because of his connections and his colorful history. Morales, as he often does, shocked the world by knocking down the champion in the first round. For that brief moment, I started believing the old Morales magic again. But he came up short, losing a very close unanimous decision. He announced his retirement after that fight and I thought it was a very good way to go. He gave a legitimate word champion in his prime all that he can handle.
Morales decided to cancel his retirement plans when he climbed back in the ring three years after, winning two fights over Willie Limond and Francisco Lorenzo. After that, he requested a fight against the dangerous Marcos Rene Maidana of Argentina.
I feared for the health of Morales in the days before that fight. I knew I was going to cheer for him come what may but I was afraid he was going to get seriously hurt. All my fears came true in the first few rounds of the fight. Morales? right eye was swollen up in the very first round and his much younger opponent was beating him to a bloody pulp. But Morales started fighting back in the middle rounds, even stunning his much younger foe with a big right hand. The latter rounds were a give and take affair and although Morales lost the fight, he regained the respect of the entire boxing world. He reminded everyone of his greatness and made us all reminisce about the good old days of boxing, the days when fighters did not have another care in the world other than giving the fans their money?s worth.
