Erik Morales has been in a lot of ring wars. And at 29, he is getting somewhat old for a man fighting in the lower weights. After being stopped by Manny Pacquiao in the 10th round of a thriller Saturday at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Morales was taken to Valley Hospital for precautionary measures.
The word Sunday was that he had a CT scan that proved normal and except for some bruises and a few stitches over his right eye, Morales was apparently no worse from the wear.
But all things considered, one must wonder if Morales’ time is up. He already is arguably one of the greatest Mexican fighters in history. He has made way more money than most small fighters will ever see, so why not retire? No one would blame him. He is 1-3 in his past four fights.
“It is really up to him,” Morales’ promoter, Bob Arum, said Sunday. “We are going to discuss the situation and we will come to a conclusion. I felt bad the fact that he lost, but right now, I’m into football and I’m not even thinking about it.
“There is no hurry. No decisions have to be made in a week or two. Everybody should reflect and then we’ll meet and make a decision.”
Morales was reflective Monday after returning to his home in San Diego.
“Last Saturday I ran into a guy with a lot of ambition who wanted to win very much, he was in great condition and was obviously well prepared to fight me,” Morales said. “It was a very tough, intense fight. … I have nothing but respect for Pacquiao; he’s a good person and he beat me. You won’t hear any excuses from me.”
Morales said he was looking forward to spending some time with his wife, Andrea, who is expecting their first child next month. He said he will make a decision soon on his next move.
There was a rematch clause in Saturday’s contract for a third fight between Morales and Pacquiao, who have a win apiece. But Morales said he can no longer make the super featherweight limit of 130 pounds. The sides could agree to fight at a catch-weight of, say, 132 pounds.
Morales made a guaranteed $2.75 million Saturday and will make more from pay-per-view upside. Pacquiao made $2 million plus upside.
Pacquiao, trained by Freddie Roach out of the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood, said before the fight that the Reyes gloves he used Saturday would make a difference, and perhaps they did.
Pacquiao, in his decision loss to Morales last March, never came close to hurting Morales then the way he did Saturday. Both fighters used Winning gloves for the first fight, much to the chagrin of Pacquiao, who preferred the puncher’s gloves that are supposedly Reyes.
But contractual language prohibited him from using Reyes gloves in the first fight.
“The gloves made a big difference,” Pacquiao said. “I really liked my gloves.”
Zab Judah, despite his shocking decision loss to Carlos Baldomir on Jan. 7, will still get his chance at Floyd Mayweather Jr., unless he is foolhardy enough to hold out for the money he would have made had he beaten the mediocre Baldomir.
Arum, who promotes Mayweather, said he has signed Mayweather for the fight, which will take place April 8 at Thomas & Mack Center.
“As far as Mayweather is concerned, as far as I’m concerned, as far as Don (King) is concerned, it is a go,” Arum said.
King promotes Judah.
“He (King) has to conclude his deal with Judah,” Arum said.
After Judah lost to Baldomir, Arum agreed that a good deal of luster had been lost on a Mayweather-Judah fight that, when signed, was contingent upon Judah beating Baldomir.
Arum on Sunday said that, although the fight is a tougher sell, some people will be able to look past Judah’s loss to Baldomir. They will understand that Judah was simply looking past a fighter he should destroy to a giant fight with Mayweather.
Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions today will formally announce the fight between Marco Antonio Barrera and Jesus Chavez. It will take place March 25 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Barrera, of Mexico City, is 61-4 with 42 knockouts. Barrera is currently the WBC and IBF super featherweight champion, but he will be moving up in weight to challenge Chavez for his IBF lightweight title.
Chavez, of Austin, Texas, is 43-3 with 30 knockouts. He stopped Leavander Johnson in the 11th round in his last fight Sept. 17 at MGM Grand. Johnson later died from head injuries sustained in that fight.
