For almost 15 years, Erik Morales has been entertaining boxing audiences with ferocity, high-volume punching, and determination under fire. It would require general anesthesia and a straight jacket to put him in a boring fight.
It is a tribute to Morales’ ring identity that he headlines a PPV show gunning for the WBC lightweight champion David Diaz in the twilight of his career, on Saturday (4th August). The fight, which plays on Morales’ legend and Diaz’s Chicago following, pits an ageing great against a bigger and fresher foe. Although Diaz, at 31, is three months older than his challenger, Morales is much older in ring years.
Wars with the best that the super bantam, feather and super featherweight divisions had to offer have left him an old hat at the age of 30. If Morales is past his prime, there is the worry that Diaz has missed his best – a two-year absence (from September 2000 to September 2002) may have damaged his development as a fighter.
But he received a head start when the WBC awarded him the title after it was unceremoniously stripped from Joel Casamayor.
Morales’ recent string of defeats – against Zahir Raheem and Manny Pacquiao, twice by knockout – notwithstanding, this might be Diaz’s toughest assignment to date, as well as his biggest stage. But David has been itching for the big one for quite some time, and the southpaw will be eager to make the most of it, especially in his hometown.
“Now I get to defend my title which is even better and against a great legend like Erik Morales. So I mean you can’t ask for anything better. I mean I’ve waited ten years for this. So I get to do it and get to do it at home so I’m very happy about it,” said David, one of three Diazes to hold a lightweight crown (alongside Juan, the WBA and WBO holder, and Julio, IBF titlist, all unrelated).
If successful, Diaz will find himself in with another big, if ageing, name – Cuba’s Casamayor has been declared interim champion, who’s been granted a shot at Saturday’s winner.
Coming into this fight with a notable win last year over Jose Armando Santa Cruz, Diaz had only stepped up in competition once before, suffering a knockout loss in 2005 against Kendall Holt. His crowning achievement to date might have come as an amateur in the 1996 Olympic Trials when he beat Zab Judah for the U.S. light welterweight spot. He has work to do.
Knowing that to hesitate would be to allow his foe into the fight, Diaz promises to show no respect to Morales, “Man, respect stays out of the ring. There’s no respect in the ring. If you give the guy respect in the ring, he’s going to eat you up. So my respect is only outside the ring. You can’t knock what Erik has done over his career. I mean you got to give him that. And that’s what I plan on doing. I respect him outside the ring but inside the ring we just got to go and fight man.”
For Morales, the Diaz fight is another match in a long line of title-contending efforts, resulting in world titles in three different weight classes, and a quest this Saturday to add a title in a fourth – something no other Mexican has achieved. It’s a huge motivation for a man who has been on the biggest stages, “I really didn’t want to leave without fighting at 135. I think at this weight I feel very comfortable; I feel very strong at this weight. I think you’re going to see a good show. I thing you’re going to see a great fight; and to be honest with you, I really think I can (win).”
In addition, it will be Erik’s first official world title fight since November of 2004, when Barrera edged him in their rubber match – if that wasn’t motivation enough.
“El Terrible” has been in the ring with some of the best fighters of his time. His last few ring outings against Pacquiao, Barrera, and Zahir Raheem have made it clear that he is well past his prime – the legs and the reflexes haven’t been the same. Nonetheless, Morales’ fade may have been exaggerated by some of the finest, and most difficult, in the world. Has he saved something for an opponent hardly in the same class as Barrera and Pacquiao?
Having strained to make the super featherweight limit, Morales may have something to give in the 135-pound class, where he gets one last world title tilt. Just as the sacrifices making weight left him vulnerable, the opportunity up at 135 could give him that spark that’s been lacking in the losses to Pacquiao, “In reality, the shot that he (Pacquiao) was hitting me with were very simple shots and a very…It was more that my body just couldn’t take the shots because of the straining that I had to do to try to make 130 pounds. There are times when you say, ‘Okay. Let’s go; let’s keep going.’ They’re trying to say, ‘You know what? That’s it’, and that was one of those times when you just say, ‘That’s it.’ “
There is the doubt, however, that having waged war in twenty world title bouts, he may not be able to keep going.
But Morales has been there before, an advantage that the Mexican legend is eager to press, “You know it’s the experience of fighting in big fights and also the way that I can move around the ring and know how to move and how to go from side-to-side against him.”
Despite doubts about Morales’ form and the worth of their title fight, the pairing could make for an entertaining matchup. Both fighters like to come forward, out-hustle, and eventually break down their opponents. For Morales, this could bode well for him in that his offense relies on a stiff jab and straight right hand: key weapons for an orthodox fighter stepping into the ring against a southpaw coming in straight lines. For Diaz, Morales’ tendency to come forward and occasionally over-commit with the right hand could set up counter-uppercut shots. The counter-uppercut could be key in Diaz’s offense: it was this shot that set up the win against Santa Cruz last year, in a fight that he was well behind on the scorecards up until the tenth round bomb.
Diaz-Morales, on HBO PPV, meets stiff resistance in Showtime’s Rafael Marquez-Israel Vazquez sequel on the same night in Texas. It’s an action packed encounter, which pits the top two fighters in the 122-pound division without question.
But Morales has carved out his niche with exciting fights at the highest level for the past ten years, making him an irresistible brand name alternative to this weekend’s ‘fight of substance.’ One of the most exciting fighters of modern times, Erik has faced every opponent the public wanted him to – Daniel Zaragoza, Marco Antonio Barrera, Paulie Ayala, Junior Jones and many more – giving value for money with very few exceptions.
Faced with one of the most aggressive lightweights in the world, “El Terrible” may be hard to miss out on – one more time.
