Erik Morales harbors a mean streak inside that borders on sadism. Remember his taunting pose over a defeated fighter two years ago?
Though most see the Tijuana gladiator on his best behavior, at times the dark side of Morales emerges. He loves combat.
When Morales faces Filipino star Manny Pacquiao (39-2-2, 31 KOs) on Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, the fight world will be curious to see which version appears: Will he be Morales the sadist, or the elite fighter capable of using his boxing skills for 12 rounds? The fight will be shown on HBO pay-per-view.
In the last five years, the fighter known as “El Terrible” has attacked like a hungry dog. From In-jin Chi to Marco Antonio Barrera, Morales’ fists flashed angrier than anyone else’s in the 130-pound division.
But in the past, Morales has proven he can be as scientific as anyone, such as in his wins against Guty Espadas in their first fight and vs. Paulie Ayala.
In Pacquiao, he will face a fighter who has left 31 foes in a prone position.
“Pacquiao’s a great warrior, the battles with Juan Manuel Marquez and Marco Antonio Barrera showed that,” said Morales (47-2, 34 KOs) by telephone. “He’s always going forward. It’s obvious they think he will be able to do the same thing with me.”
Morales, 28, strives to be Mexico’s No. 1 fighter, the defender of Tricolor. It’s what drove him to fight Barrera three times. Growing up in a border town can tend to make a person feel inadequate. In deep Mexico, many consider Tijuana to be more American than Mexican. It’s probably this type of thinking that drives Morales and others from his town toward extraordinary accomplishments.
And when someone mentions Barrera’s name, it’s like poking Morales with a white-hot iron prod.
“I don’t even care what Barrera says,” said Morales, who then made some derogatory comments about one of Barrera’s parents. “I don’t care what he says, I could care less.”
But it’s the Mexico City-born Barrera that fuels Morales’ passion.
When Barrera suffered a crushing knockout defeat against Junior Jones in 1996, then a successive loss to the Brooklyn fighter, Tijuana’s Morales jumped right in and destroyed the feared knockout puncher in four rounds.
Morales abhors aristocratic Barrera and his middle-class upbringing more than he acknowledges.
“Barrera wants to see me get beat; I don’t care what he says in public,” said Morales, anger resonating in his voice. “I fight the best that I can.”
The lightning-fast fists of Pacquiao are in Morales’ way. He knows it won’t be an easy task. But it’s the only way to erase the stench of defeat at the hands of Barrera in November.
It was two years ago, November 2003, when Pacquiao met Barrera in San Antonio and promptly steamrolled him.
Then, in May, the fighter known as “PacMan” met another Mexico City fighter, Marquez, and proceeded to drop him three times in the first round with his thunderous left hand. But it wasn’t enough to end the fight, as the scientific Marquez recovered and boxed his way to a draw. Marquez kept his IBF and WBA featherweight belts, but barely.
It was back-to-back impressive performances against two-thirds of Mexico’s triumvirate of terror. Now comes the final curtain.
“Morales is more popular than Marquez, so it will be more exciting,” said Pacquiao, 26, while training at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood. “He has a different style than Barrera.”
Freddie Roach, who trains Pacquiao, said the fight against Marquez taught his prot?g? a lesson in boxing.
“There were a lot of things Manny could have done to win that fight,” Roach said at his Wild Card gym. “Now that he’s been through it, he realizes he has to do more to beat a guy like Erik Morales. He has to use his boxing skills.”
Morales realizes he faces a daunting task but relishes an opportunity to show that he and his native city are more than capable.
“All I’m thinking about is winning the fight; if a knockout comes, great, all I’m going to do is give a great fight,” Morales said. “Something the fans can remember me by.”
