Manny Pacquiao scored a devastating 10th round stoppage over Mexican legend Eric Morales this past Saturday night in Las Vegas. The two warriors spent a good 2 minutes feeling each other out in the first round and then quickly picked up where they left off in their first match ten months ago.
Pacquiao made several adjustments from the first fight including using a strong right jab in the first few rounds and also throwing a very hard right hook, which was absent for much of their first battle.
Morales gave as good as he got for the first 5 rounds and landed many jabs of his own and also some very hard right hands which seemed to nullify the jab of Pacquiao by the middle rounds. But Manny dug deep into his bag of tricks and started a mixing in some heavy body shots in round 6 which started the breakdown of Morales. The nose of Morales was also badly broken, as has become common in recent Morales fights.
From round 6 on Morales looked visibly tired and hurt from the punishment dished out by his opponent. By round 10 Morales was still fighting back like the brave champion he has been for the last decade, but he finally hit the canvas as the result of a combination from Pacquiao. He arose only to be dropped again, which led to the fight being waived off by referee Kenny Bayless.
For those of us who are excited by the idea Pacquiao (41-3-2, with 33 ko’s) now fighting Marco Antonio Barrera in a much anticipated rematch, there has to also be a bit of sadness in seeing such a great champion like Morales (48-4, with 34 ko’s) take such a beating after being a true ambassador for the sport of boxing for so many years.
Perhaps the years of back to back fights with the best fighters in the lighter weight classes has finally taken its toll on Morales just as much as the hard punches of Pacquiao did. Morales’s boxing resume is one of the most impressive in recent years.
Take a look…wins over champions such as Daniel Zaragoza, Junior Jones, Wayne McCullough, Marco Antonio Barrera, Kevin Kelly, Guty Espadas, In Jin Chi, Paulie Ayala, Jesus Chavez, Carlos Hernandez, and Pacquiao in their first fight….all tough fights. Very few of these bouts were easy for Morales.
A gifted boxer, he choose to show his pride and warriors heart in nearly all of these contests and often times choose to mix it up when his boxing ability may have made things easier. And in the case of the Barrera trilogy, all three of the fights could have easily gone either way on the scorecards. But like most Mexican legends, Morales went out on his shield.
After the fight Morales, who has now lost three of his last four bouts, said he intends to take a long rest before stepping in the ring again. No fighter deserves a well earned rest more than Morales.
For Pacquiao, he now has become the man to beat at super featherweight. The Barrera rematch makes the most sense for both fighters and fans alike. Pacquiao has insisted since the first match that had he been able to wear the Cleto Reyes brand of gloves the results would have been different the first time around. Perhaps he was right. Pac Man’s punches seemed to hurt Morales every time they connected, whether they were to the head or the body.
A hard shot in the 2nd round sent Morales back into the ropes where he kept himself from going down by holding onto the top rope with his right hand. The referee didn’t rule it a knockdown but he would have been justified if he had. But in the end it was the accumulation of hard shots the Mexican absorbed that put him away.
If Saturday’s fight was indeed the last boxing fans will see of Eric Morales in the ring, let us all be thankful that we were able to witness with our own eyes a true legend of the ring who will be talked about and remembered for generations to come.
Alex Thompson can be heard on WATD’s “Inside the Ring” every Sunday from 4 – 5PM Eastern time (9 – 10PM Irish time). You can listen over the web on 959watd.com or tune in on 95.9FM in the Boston area.
