Former three division champion Erik ?El Terrible? Morales staked his claim to pound-for-pound greatness by defeating Filipino dynamo Manny Pacquiao by close unanimous decision at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday night.
At the conclusion of the contest all three judges pegged Morales the winner by the slimmest of margins, scoring the bout 115-113 apiece in favour of the Mexican warrior. Despite many heated exchanges there were no knockdowns in the bout.
Pacquiao, 39-3-2 (31), who has previously held sanctioning body titles at 112 and 122 pounds along with the Ring magazine featherweight belt, appeared to come into the ring cold and as a result struggled to start the fight with his trademark whirlwind fury.
Fighting his first bout since losing to hated rival and fellow countryman Marco Antonio Barrera in a rubbermatch in November last year, Morales fought cautiously in the opening round, obviously wary of Pacquiao?s explosive handspeed and phenomenal power. After two minutes of ebb and flow action, Pacquiao landed a southpaw left hook to Morales? body that seemed to hurt the former super bantamweight, featherweight and super featherweight champion.
Morales, 48-2 (34), survived the round be keeping his elbows tucked in and in the second stanza came out firing, intent on regaining control of the action. With Pacquiao still looking cold, Morales was able to back up the Filipino for most of the round with lead right hands and jolting left uppercuts.
The third round belonged to Pacquiao, who was beginning to find his rhythm. Straight lefts, right hooks and a dual fisted body attack were the order of the day as the 26-year-old took the fight to seasoned veteran.
By the fourth round the pattern of the fight had been firmly established. Pacquiao would sting Morales with his sharp, fast punches before the Mexican warrior would storm back with lead right hands and left hooks that sent the defenseless Pacquiao into retreat.
A nasty looking L-shaped cut appeared in Pacquiao?s right eyebrow in the fifth that referee Vic Drakulich incorrectly ruled was caused by an unintentional headclash. The sight of blood only seemed to invigorate Morales, who made the weeping red wound the express target of his lead right hands. The cut seemed to bother Pacquiao, who appeared visibly distressed by the facial laceration that sent blood streaming into his right eye.
Pacquiao came out hard and fast in the sixth and seventh rounds, landing the heavier, more accurate shots in what looked like an act of sheer desperation designed to avenge any deficit caused by the cut.
The eighth and ninth rounds were closely contested with Pacquiao returning to the body attack in an attempt to slow down his tenacious opponent.
Morales had established a certain rhythm by the tenth, using his reach advantage to box effectively from the outside and back Pacquiao up. To his credit Pacquiao never stopped trying to come forward and landed some good flurries to the body and head whenever he got the opportunity, but Morales punished him whenever he got in close, dislodging his mouthpiece late in the round.
With the fight seemingly locked up going into the penultimate round, both fighters dispensed with the finer points of boxing and opted to stands toe-to-toe in an act of overriding machismo designed to determine who was the king of the phone booth. Dropping two-handed bombs on each other from close quarters, both durable warriors were rocked on occasion only to retaliate with more fury and unbridled rage than before. Both men displayed true grit and determination simply to make it through the round as they attempted to spark out their opponent before the final round.
Going into the twelfth it was anyone?s guess who was ahead but it was Pacquiao who finished the stronger, edging a close round by virtue of his workrate and more damaging punches.
With the victory Morales has effectively cleaned out the super featherweight division. If a fourth fight against Barrera cannot be made, expect to see Morales move up to lightweight to challenge the big boys.
Pacquiao on the other hand is faced with a quandary. Does he stay at 130 pounds and look for a rematch with the rejuvenated Barrera, or possibly a fan friendly fight with newly minted IBF champ Robbie Peden? A move back down to featherweight wouldn?t be out of the equation, but unless a return bout with Juan Manuel Marquez can be made or an enticing match-up with undefeated but unproven featherweight Rocky Juarez can be negotiated, it?s hard to see where Pacquiao will make the kind of purses he is fast becoming accustomed to.
Interesting times ahead.
