Mexican legend Erik Morales could retire from boxing in the wake of his sensational stoppage defeat to Manny Pacquiao in Las Vegas Saturday night. Speaking to the press after his soul-destroying knockout loss to the Pac-Man a crushed Morales said he was ‘tired of boxing’.
Triple-weight champ Morales had only been down once before – six years ago in a questionable flash knockdown to great rival Marco Antonio Barrera – but he looked decidedly vulnerable to the Pac-Man’s power here. This tenth round TKO defeat, where at times Morales had to burn at his very soul just to remain competitive, seems to confirm what some of us feared when he was humiliated by Zahir Raheem last summer: Erik Morales is a lion-heart in winter.
El Terrible has now lost three of his last four fights, to Pac-Man, to Raheem and, perhaps most painfully of all, to Barrera in their November 2004 rubber match.
The extended time in the trenches has taken a toll on even this magnificent solider.
“I was tired, and it was an accumulation of all the hard fights. But I was just tired,” Morales said. “I fell down because I was tired. I was tired because of making weight. The body can’t take much more, and I was exhausted. It’s hard to tell if I can make this weight (130lbs) again. I am going to take a vacation. I’m just tired of boxing.”
Was that a prelude to a serious think about his future in boxing? It seems so…
Anxious Morales’s fans will undoubtedly point out that their hero – and hero is the word – nearly had Pacquiao down in the opening round (the Pac-Man’s glove very nearly touched the canvas after he was slammed by a right) and that Morales has outboxed his tormentor for much of the 19 completed round they have shared.
But perhaps 48-4 (38) – and with five world championships annexed from three separate divisions, super-bantam, feather and super-featherweight – is where the forward march stops.
Or perhaps not. Giving in is not something one can image Morales excelling at…
Certainly, Pacquiao says he will give the fallen champion his shot at atonement.
“If he wants a rematch, I will give him a rematch,” Pacquiao said. “There should be a third fight.”
What do YOU think? Should Morales now go into the night and quit boxing? He’s lost – badly – twice in a row now, is he shot? Or can he triumph in a rubber match if only he uses different tactics? Will a long rest rejuvenate El Terrible, or it is all over for the three-division champion? HIT THE BLUE ATE BUTTON BELOW and SEND US YOUR THOUGHTS.
