This weekend Erik ?El Terrible? Morales will step into the ring for the 57th time as a professional when he meets up with late replacement Francisco Lorenzo in Tijuana, Mexico. Morales has carved out an illustrious career, one that saw him win titles in three division?s while facing the world?s best fighters, but he is considered past his best at 34 years old and his business this weekend has been slightly overlooked.
While Morales doesn?t grab the headlines like he used to his return to the sport following a brief retirement in August of 2007 has been surprisingly successful, as he has notched victories over former titleholder Jose Alfaro and Glasgow’s Willie Limond this year. While thinking of Morales? fight on Saturday night I couldn?t help but recall some of his greater performances during his peak years.
Wanting to discuss Morales? career further I reached out to boxing historian Bert Sugar to find out what memories he had of the all-action fighter.
?He?s fought so often and in so many great fights that they all start merging together,? Sugar reflected of Morales. ?I just knew when I saw this very gaunt, very thin man who had a face almost like a Mayan Indian, he just didn?t look like a fighter. He looked fragile. But if anything he was one of the most powerful punches I had ever seen.?
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Sugar pointed out that his fondest memories of Morales will always be his three electrifying battles with Marco Antonio Barrera in Las Vegas between February 2000 and November of 2004. The two bitter rivals created a certain kind of suspense in the air that comes around only so often and Sugar points towards their drastically different backgrounds as reason for the tension.
?Barrera came from Mexico City,? An astute Sugar pointed out. ?Erik Morales was raised in a hut in Tijuana. There was a tremendous rivalry, not just amongst the fighters, but their fan bases at the arena was just as activated and motivated because they were representing different, if you will, groups from different areas of the country. Psychologically different and geographically different.?
Morales defeated Barrera in the first fight via split decision at the Mandalay Bay in one of the decade?s finest battles but would be upended in the following fights at the MGM Grand. Sugar said the energy at all three events was a feeling to behold.
?It was one of the most exciting atmospheres that the two of them brought into the ring and into the crowd. When Morales and Barrera are fighting there is never a moment of quiet.?
I asked Sugar what his opinion was on the tradition of Mexican brawlers within the sport and he noted that the history goes back to the 1930?s when the WBC organization was initially formed to recognize fighters from the country. Sugar revealed that Los Angeles-based promoter George Parnassus was a huge force in helping the WBC become a reality.
As for the fighters themselves, Sugar kept his feelings short and sweet.
?They always had this reputation of being ferocious fighters. You don?t see a cutie from Mexico.?
Morales? defeat to Barrera in their rubber match was such a bitter loss that people wondered how he would recover from it. Showing his true mettle, Morales took on the challenge of Filipino sensation Manny Pacquiao, still somewhat of a new face to American audiences at the time. Coming into the fight Pacquiao was the clear favorite as he was coming off of a thorough trouncing of Barrera in San Antonio and a frenzied draw with outstanding Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas in May of 2004.
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While some pointed to the Pacquiao fight as perhaps Morales? last stand, he surprised everyone by taking the initiative on that night and outfighting Pacquiao on the inside. The fight was very competitive and full of two-way action yet Sugar insists when looking back at the fight that Morales still found a way to put on a clinic of different sorts.
?He fought a brilliant fight. He would keep him at arms length and move aside. You gotta move to the side so Pacquiao can?t just rush in on you. He fought a brilliant fight. He wasn?t just a puncher. He had smarts.?
That fight would be the last great victory of Morales? career, as he would be upset over twelve frustrating rounds by Atlanta slickster Zahir Raheem six months later and stopped by Pacquiao in ten rounds in their January 2006 rematch and blown away in three in their third fight near the end of the year.
His comeback this year was certainly met with its share of doubters but to his credit Morales has performed like a professional and could be in line to face off with Marquez, the reigning WBA and WBO lightweight champion, sometime next year if he can get past Lorenzo. Sugar has obvious admiration for Morales and insists that if he has the urge to continue fighting that he should be welcomed with open arms.
?If Bernard Hopkins can fight as long as he did, Erik Morales has the right to fight as long as he can. He?s one of the great fighters of recent times. And I say that straight out.?
For a detailed, picture by picture look at Erik Morales? legendary career please check out Remembering the great pride and stubborn nature of Erik Morales.
Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at [email protected]
