Super featherweights Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao delivered a ferociously fantastic performance Saturday night, frequently bringing a boisterous sellout crowd of 14,623 to its feet at the MGM Grand Garden.
But Morales’ size was the difference in a unanimous decision victory in a back-and-forth battle that seemed to end too soon to suit the fans. All three judges — Paul Smith, Chuck Giampa and Dave Moretti — scored the fight 115-113, or seven rounds to five for Morales.
Morales, who has one of boxing’s sturdiest chins, took the best shots Pacquiao had to offer and never budged. Morales, though, hurt Pacquiao frequently with straight rights and appeared to have him in difficulty several times. Morales is the naturally bigger fighter and at times, it seemed like a heavyweight facing a middleweight.
“I really feel I was too big for him. That’s it. I was just too big,” Morales said.
Morales cut Pacquiao above the right eye after landing a stinging left hook midway through the fifth round, though televised replays seemed to indicate that an inadvertent clash of heads on the follow-through was primarily responsible. Pacquiao said he had difficulty seeing after the cut.
“I couldn’t see out of the one eye,” said Pacquiao, 129 1/2 pounds, who fought back furiously whenever he was in difficulty.
One of the game’s best brawlers, Morales credited his boxing skills for his victory. He dominated Pacquiao with his jab, landing 96 of 303 while Pacquiao connected on just 34 of 349.
The jab set up the right hand that Morales used to frequently rock Pacquiao and force him back.
“I knew the guy was quick, so we wanted to jab and bob and weave, but the real plan was to use the jab,” Morales said.
Pacquiao and trainer Freddie Roach were irate at promoter Murad Muhammad, who gave away the choice of the gloves to Morales. The Nevada Athletic Commission no longer requires fighters to wear the same brand of gloves unless stipulated in the contract. Muhammad signed the contract and agreed to Morales’ request to wear Winning gloves without asking Pacquiao.
Pacquiao normally wears Reyes gloves, which have less padding around the knuckles and are known as a puncher’s glove. Roach was reluctant to say it was the difference in the fight, but said the extra padding in the Winning gloves negated Pacquiao’s power.
“I think they were a big issue,” Roach said. “They were like pillows. Neither guy could hurt the other with those big things. Manny landed some good shots and was hanging right in there, but with those big gloves, it was pretty hard to hurt anyone. It’s unbelievable that someone gave away one of Manny’s rights without even checking with him.”
But Roach said Morales “fought a good fight and did what he had to do.” Pacquiao abandoned the body attack he was having success with early and tried to go head-hunting.
It was a mistake, Roach said, that Pacquiao paid for dearly. By the fourth round, Morales had reversed the trend and was moving forward, stalking Pacquiao, though Pacquiao wouldn’t back down.
It led to a series of high-velocity exchanges, but Morales more often than not got the better of them. Morales landed 265 of the 714 punches he threw, 37 percent, while Pacquiao connected on 24 percent after landing 217 of 894.
Morales said he respected Pacquiao coming in, but his respect grew after watching Pacquiao keep coming after taking the hard shots he did.
“He was a tough guy and I hit him with everything,” said Morales, 48-2. “We knew he was tough and I had to work hard to beat him.”
Pacquiao said he wanted a rematch and Morales was agreeable to it. However, Morales said he would fight arch rival Marco Antonio Barrera for the fourth time later in the year if the fans demand it.
