With the rubber match between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo postponed due to Corrales’ rib injury, the return bout between Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales on January 21st live on HBOPPV, has become the main focus of the boxing universe and for good reason. Their first bout, which Morales won by a close, but unanimous decision in March of last year, would have been the frontrunner for 2005’s Fight of the Year had Corrales and Castillo not waged one of the greatest ring wars of the modern era two months later.
All fights as action-packed as the first Morales-Pacquiao battle breed high drama for the return, but anticipation for this fight has heightened even more due to the events that took place during the months following their bloody first encounter. Not only did “El Terrible” Morales lose to Zahir Raheem in what was supposed to be an easy tune-up, but Pac-Man has accorded this rematch more significance than any other in his illustrious career and has treated it thusly. For the first time, he underwent a traditional training camp, away from the media, fans and all other distractions. He trained longer and more intensely, too, and emerged recently to inform the media that he has developed a few new weapons and will not rely so heavily on his straight left hand, a habit that has cost him dearly against elite competition.
For Pacquiao, 40-3-2, 31 KO’s, that’s the good news. The bad news is that Morales, 48-3, 34 KO’s, doesn’t need to add any more weapons to his arsenal to be considered the more versatile boxer of the two. “El Terrible” is the complete package. He can brawl and he can box, though he is happier on the inside. He has several devastating punches, a great chin, and a true warrior’s spirit. Additionally, any edge in motivation Pac-Man may have felt his quest for revenge gave him was nullified by Morales’ stunning loss to Raheem, a skilled, but unheralded ex-Olympian. With two losses in his last three starts (the other coming in his rubber match against Marco Antonio Barrera), Morales has as much, maybe more, to prove than Pac-Man does. Some observers have questioned if his 13-year professional career is beginning to catch up with him, and the intensely proud Mexican is determined to prove that the Raheem slip-up was an aberration, the result of him fighting outside his weight division, and that he is still one of the best fighters the game has to offer.
A win for Morales would cement his superiority over one of his chief rivals at 130 pounds, and would pave the way for a fourth match with Barrera for the junior lightweight championship. A Pacquiao victory, however, would produce a much more fascinating situation for the victor. Pac-Man would be in a position to fight Barrera, whom he defeated at featherweight in November 2003, for the junior lightweight championship, a match which Barrera is surely eager to sign for. Other options for Pac-Man would include a rubber bout with Morales, or, perhaps more interesting than that would be a second fight at 126 pounds with Juan Manuel Marquez, the man who exposed Pacquiao’s one-dimensional style during their draw in May 2004.
The Marquez fight can be viewed as a microcosm of Pac-Man’s career. That is, his unearthly power is enough to stop most opponents, but those select few who figure out a way to deal with it can be successful against the Philippine sensation. Marquez, 44-2-1, 33 KO’s, was dropped three times by Pacquiao in the opening round, but the savvy veteran kept his composure, gradually figured out the southpaw and won the majority of the remaining 11 rounds to earn the draw. Once “Dinamita” had Pac-Man’s left hand timed, he went to work as a counterpuncher and kept Pacquiao at bay.
That fight sums up Pac-Man very well: a one-dimensional fighter with shocking power in his straight left, but no plan B in his repertoire. While Marquez adjusted after the initial bombardment, Pacquiao remained fixed on his singular strategy. His one-dimensional style has proven less destructive as the level of competition rises, and his three biggest fights to date have yielded mixed results. A decisive TKO victory over living-legend Barrera in late 2003 seemed to indicate that Pac-Man the Destroyer was preordained to conquer his entire weight class in a manner not seen since Mike Tyson stampeded through the heavyweight division in the late-1980s. The Marquez fight ended that fantasy, and then came the loss to Morales, which confirmed that Pacquiao is human after all. Morales proved his mortality against Raheem, the only fighter besides Barrera to defeat “El Terrible.”
Perhaps that is what makes this bout so fascinating, that the two combatants, both undeniably among the greatest pound-for-pound fighters in the world, will enter the ring not as reigning kings, but as mortals. They have both suffered recent setbacks, and both have a lot on the line. Come Jan. 21, fight fans can be sure that both men will leave every ounce of themselves between the ropes. They are both fighters in every sense of the word from their boxing styles to their desire to take on all-comers to their need to be recognized as the best. That third trait is what governs the other two, as both men rose through the ranks to become champions by fighting the creme de la creme of their division, and by going right after their opponents without hesitation, but with an extraordinary willingness to give and receive punishment, fight after fight. And this, the fight of both of their lives, will be conducted accordingly.
