Conventional wisdom didn’t know what it was up against.
According to conventional wisdom, Zahir Raheem’s upset win scuttled the super-fight rematch between Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao. The follow-up to last March’s bloodbath won by Morales would be inked as soon as each combatant took care of their tune-up fight.
Pacquiao did his part by dumping Hector Velazquez in six rounds on that fateful September night at Staples Center, but Raheem shocked the world with a dominating unanimous decision over a sluggish, 135-pound Morales. The conventional wisdom was as open and shut as it could get. Raheem was relegated to the subtitles. The headline read “Super Fight Off.”
Conventional wisdom never met Erik Morales.
When Erik Morales wants something, really wants something—enough to put the steamroller force of his iron will behind it—an object immovable enough to stop him has yet to be discovered.
The super fight is still on, without even a delay. January 21, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Morales and Pacquiao will face off in a rematch. Something as inconsequential as a loss wasn’t going to stop Morales.
It didn’t the last time. At the end of 2004, Morales was smarting from another loss to arch-rival Marco Antonio Barrera. A twelve-round war that earned Fight of the Year honors from most sources ended in majority decision heartbreak for the proud Mexican. So crushed by the loss was Morales that he refused a post-fight handshake from the victor. The epic trilogy was over and Morales had lost. After winning the first matchup, Morales dropped the next two. The results were there in black and white. There was nothing Morales could do.
Except that no one told Morales. Reeling from the loss and unable to corral Barrera for a fourth installment, Morales did the next best thing. He fought the man that battered his rival. On the strength of Manny Pacquiao’s November, 2003 TKO of Barrera, Morales signed the bout with the big punching southpaw who also happened to be one of the top pound-for-pounders in the sport.
It was a foolish move by a proud man and disaster was sure to follow. Many observers, including the author of these words, thought it was too much too soon for Morales. He wasn’t mentally ready for such a dangerous opponent, on the heels of such a punishing fight against a hated foe.
Morales proved us all wrong taking a two-point unanimous decision. Just as he’d promised, he beat the man that had beaten the man. Barrera seems to be taking the bait, crowing for a rematch with Pac Man, and suddenly, an encore fight to the Morales-Barrera trilogy doesn’t seem out of the question.
All Erik Morales did in 2005 was take an unfathomable risk and defeat the most dangerous opponent he could find. All he did was take steps toward luring his enemy back in the ring despite having two of three victories in hand. But first Erik Morales wanted a rematch with Pacquiao.
Did Zahir Raheem really think he could keep Morales from getting what he wanted?
To hear Morales talk, it’s as if the Raheem fight never took place. On a recent media conference call, three questioners brought up the September loss. Morales’ answer never acknowledged that portion of the questions. On a recent Los Angeles radio appearance, he talked about letting people down with his last performance, never uttering Raheem’s name or mentioning the word “loss.”
“Without a doubt you know the last fight was an embarrassment,” he said near the end of the conference call coming close to admitting defeat, but never making it there. “You know a lot of people pay to get tickets. I could have done better. I should have done better. That never should have happened what happened in my last fight.”
When asked about his history of bouncing back from losses, Morales bristled, hesitant to focus on the three fights he’s dropped. “You know I believe in what I am doing. I believe that I am doing the right things, that I am preparing myself well, that I am doing the best that I can to win. I mean it shouldn’t, losses shouldn’t bring out the best in you but you know somehow they do in me. There is nothing you can do about those things that are already in the past but I know what I am capable of doing and what I want to do in this fight. Next question.”
While slow to accept defeat, Morales was willing to give in on one front in order to make the bout a reality. The first fight was overshadowed by a controversy over the fighters’ choice of gloves. Pacquiao claimed that the gloves chosen by Morales had too much padding, blunting the impact of the powerful Filipino’s shots. To nail down the rematch in light of the Raheem loss, Morales told Pacquiao to wear whatever he wanted.
“I think psychologically maybe for him his wearing the gloves makes him feel that he is a stronger puncher than he really is. I don’t know,” says Morales. “All I can tell you is that I fight with both kinds of gloves, and I knock people out with both kinds of gloves. So I know that the gloves don’t mean anything. It is just how hard a puncher you are. All I can tell you I know that in order to win a fight you have to be well prepare and you have to work hard and be ready to fight and that is what I do.”
“You know I think the gloves are just a side issue,” he continued. “It is not really important…As long as people see a lot of leather I don’t think they care which names is in the gloves.”
So despite the loss that should have ruined everything, despite two losses in his last three outings, Morales has what he wanted. Another bout with Pacquiao. There’s the nagging urge to say, “Be careful what you wish for,” but who can doubt Erik Morales’ will? Despite the thinner gloves and the score to settle, can Manny Pacquiao possibly stand in his way?
In true Erik Morales fashion, El Terrible gives the verbal equivalent of a shrug. “See if he has learned,” says Morales of the challenge presented by Pacquiao. “I think he has learned something from me and that I don’t respect anyone up in the ring. I do the best I can and no one is going to intimidate me up in the ring.”
And in the event that Morales loses, what then? “That is not the way I think. I never thought of it that way,” he says. “You know you prepare yourself to win. That is what I am going out there to do, to win. Losing is not in a winner’s mentality so all I am thinking about is winning, doing the best I can.”
As long as people are foolish enough to stand in his way, we’ll all pay money to watch the collision
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