In his prime, he was a model of Mexican machismo. Tough, proud, fearless.
But now it appears Erik Morales has met with the same fate as many of boxing’s other great warriors.
Too many wars.
When Manny Pacquiao knocked Morales out in the 10th round last week at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, it did more than add another loss to the record of “El Terrible.” It signified the beginning of the end to the career of a great Mexican champion.
Morales likely will fight again. But it’s hard to imagine him rallying from his third defeat in four bouts.
Pacquiao punished Morales in the 10th and sent him to the canvas for only the second time in his career.
It was the first time Morales has been stopped, but perhaps we should have seen it coming. In addition to three epic fights against Marco Antonio Barrera, megabouts against Jesus Chavez, Injin Chi, Junior Jones, Wayne McCullough and Daniel Zaragoza have taken their toll.
He had already fought Pacquiao once. Morales won, but it took 12 bruising rounds.
Morales is only 29, but he turned professional at 16 after 114 amateur bouts. He has had 52 professional fights, totaling 242 rounds.
There have been few easy nights for Morales. He has struggled to make weight more often than not in recent fights, another sign of decline.
His future? No one knows. But his past is such that if he hung up the gloves tomorrow, he’d retire a hero and a Mexican icon.
In the end, he went out the same way he went in — tough, proud, fearless — and fighting to the end. And still a model of machismo.
Parade for Pacman: It’s really never let up, but “Manny Mania” reached new heights in the Philippines when Pacquiao returned to the archipelago after his victory.
More than 3,000 police reportedly were assigned to assure the prizefighter’s safety during a five-hour parade honoring the Filipino champion that snaked through Manila and Quezon City.
It caused the biggest fuss since Imelda Marcos’ shoes.
Reyes ready to fight: Don’t look for an upset when unheralded Rolando Reyes takes on Jose Luis Castillo (53-7-1, 47 KOs) on Saturday at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso.
Reyes (26-3-2, 16 KOs) replaced Diego Corrales after Corrales suffered a rib injury that forced him to pull out of the fight.
Reyes fought 11 times for Top Rank, Castillo’s promoter. His new promoter is Gary Shaw, who also promotes Corrales.
You think Shaw would jeopardize the huge payday that a third Corrales-Castillo fight would bring?
No way. Castillo knocks him out in six.
Hitman, for sure: Thomas “Hitman” Hearns, 47, returns to the ring Saturday night at The Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich., where he will take on Shannon Landberg, 40. Hearns’ son, Ronald, a middleweight, will fight on the same card.
But apparently the ring legend takes his nickname a little too seriously. On Thursday, Hearns was sentenced to nine months of probation, counseling, community service and anger management after pleading no contest to a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery.
He was accused of striking his 13-year-old son — with an “open-handed slap,” according to police — during a dispute.
Juarez wins: Rocky Juarez of Houston scored an easy victory over Backlin Medrano (9-3-1) on Jan. 21 in Kinder, La.
Juarez (25-1, 18 KOs) knocked Medrano down five times before Christy Martin, Medrano’s co-trainer, decided her fighter had had enough at 3:00 of the fourth round.
It was the second-straight victory for Juarez since his loss to Humberto Soto in July.
Short hooks: Former heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko reportedly will run for mayor of Kiev, the capital city of his native Ukraine … Fernando Vargas plays a kidnapper in the upcoming Nick Cassavetes film, “Alpha Dog,” which stars Justin Timberlake, Bruce Willis and Sharon Stone … Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., stunned when his Dec. 16 bout against Carlos Molina was ruled a draw, is scheduled to meet Molina in a rematch Feb.18. The main event on the pay-per-view card has Antonio Margarito meeting Laredo’s Manuel Gomez for the WBO welterweight crown … Ring legend Sugar Ray Robinson will be featured on a U.S. postage stamp in April.
Boxing notebook: Injury shelves Mendez for Feb. 10 card
Promising San Antonio prospect Fernando Mendez is off the Feb. 10 card at Roseland Ballroom. Mendez (2-0-1, 1 KO) had to pull out because of a hand injury, organizers said.
The six-bout card, promoted by Top Rank, is headlined by Cesar Bazan (44-7-1, 29 KOs) versus Eleazar Contreras (27-4-2, 10 KOs) in a 10-round welterweight bout.
Junior welterweight Victor Ortiz (12-1, 8 KOs) of Oxnard, Calif., will headline the co-main event. The tentative opponent is Noel Rodriguez (8-1) of McKinney.
Telefutura will televise.
Exciting San Antonio women’s fighter Maribel Zurita (7-7-1, 1 KO) is scheduled to appear in a six-round bout. She was set to fight Stephanie Dobbs (18-20-2, 10 KOs) of Moore, Okla., but negotiations fell through. Promoters are seeking a replacement.
Carlos Perales (1-0), a local junior lightweight, is scheduled to meet Juan Antonio Reyes (1-0) of Pharr in a four-round bout.
Tickets ($50 and $20) can be purchased at starticketsplus.com or by calling 1-800-585-3737.
Villarreal bout: San Antonio women’s fighter Elizabeth Villarreal (2-0) has landed a fight Feb.15 in Edmonton, Canada.
Villarreal, a featherweight, is scheduled to take on Amanda Carriere (4-0, 2 KOs) of Calgary in a four-round bout. Villarreal is trained by Paulie Ayala at Zarzamora Street Gym.
Amateur rankings: Jonathan Gover of San Antonio ended 2005 as the nation’s No. 2-ranked amateur lightweight by USA Boxing behind Dayton, Ohio’s Michael Evans. Gover and younger brother Justin are expected to compete in the regional Golden Gloves tournament next month.
On the women’s side, Bainaca Ledesma of San Antonio was ranked No. 2 at 106 pounds, even though she turned pro in June.
