Erik Morales, who shocked just about everybody by pushing Marcos Maidana to the edge in losing a majority decision over 12 frenetic rounds at the MGM Grand on Saturday night, has been the subject of so many platitudes, truisms, and clich?s over the last few days that a sort of ?El Terrible? fatigue has begun to set in. Although Maidana, who ran roughshod over Morales early and late, appeared to deserve the close decision, sentimentality has given Morales a lopsided edge on the scorecards of the public.
Unfortunately for Morales, he looked uninspired for the first three rounds and suffered a badly swollen eye within a minute of the opening bell. But the leathery gladiator, whose self-belief is nearly spooky, came to life in the fourth round to smack Maidana all over the ring. From that point on, it was a desperate struggle between two men made of similar bark but of vastly different styles. All Morales really needed was diminished greatness to stay even with a younger, stronger, bigger opponent. That, and an edge in ring smarts and, more importantly, methodology. Like Bernard Hopkins, Morales can apparently compete simply because of superior technique. His right hand is threaded straight from the shoulder, his left hook is compact and turned over just before impact, his uppercut is accurate and his balance, even at 34 and after a slew of ring wars, still remains relatively intact.
Maidana, on the other hand, appeared more ragged than ever, especially when one takes into account the fact that he was fighting a former junior featherweight champion on the downside. Not even the minor adjustments he made against Amir Khan?a hard jab and slight head movement?remained. He was outthought by Morales throughout the bout and often looked foolish falling into traps set up by the veteran, who lead the Argentine around the ring at times with an invisible leash. But Maidana, whose success is predicated almost entirely on brute strength and intangibles, would not yield and so deprived Morales of the storybook ending rarely found in boxing. With the fight even (or worse from his perspective), Maidana summoned something from the vast deeps and pulverized Morales during the 11th and 12th rounds, escaping with a slim victory.
Despite being handicapped by an eye nearly swollen shut, Morales fought the middle rounds with the kind of courage and intensity that has marked his career since he stopped Daniel Zaragoza in 1997. In the end, he has the kind of eerie self-confidence, disregard, and pride that legendary bullfighters were said to possess. Accounts of Joselito, Juan Belmonte, and Manolete?facing down death in the ring week after week?repeatedly reveal that quality known to the bullfight aficionado as pundonor. Add to that concept a little contempt and what you have is a portrait of Erik Morales as a prizefighter.
*****
Even before James Kirkland was sent to the hoosegow, rumors had been swirling about the unreliability of his chin?being dropped by Allen Conyers was certainly a bad omen?but it took a 30-1 shortender named Nobuhiro Ishida (whose chances against Kirkland were unfavorably compared here to those of Antonio Inoki and the corpse of Mishima) to turn gossip into hard reality. Ishida demolished Kirkland in the first round, decking ?Mandingo? three times in less time than it takes to cook Minute Rice. Kirkland was dropped hard the last two times and Joe Cortez halted the contest with about a minute to go in the opening round.
After the fight, Kirkland managed to protest the stoppage and simultaneously justify it by sounding like a man who was coming off of a three-day drunk. Cortez has received criticism for pulling the plug, but it looked like the hapless Kirkland was prepared to bounce around the ring until The Rapture. To Cortez, whose blunders in the ring over the last few years make his every move circumspect, Kirkland probably appeared to be outclassed. In the end, when a fighter gets dropped three times in a round, he usually loses the benefit of the doubt.
Ishida earned an unexpected victory and his gleeful yet somehow humble postfight celebration was the rare instance of the Now comes the knee-jerk reaction to transform Ishida, who showed nothing particularly noteworthy in the ring on Saturday night, from a 30-1 longshot with an undistinguished record into Toshiro Mifuni in Samurai Assassin. Any talk about Ishida fighting Sergio Martinez should have everyone reaching for the Maalox. As for Kirkland, he is an exciting slugger, but getting blasted out by a Japanese import who only had six knockouts entering the bout tells you all you need to know about his future prospects.
*****
In a fight that was more of a wipeout than might have been expected, Robert Guerrero punished courageous Michael Katsidis over 12 lopsided rounds en route to a unanimous decision rout. Katsidis could not cope with Guerrero on the outside and did not pressure Guerrero enough until it was too late. A steady jab kept Katsidis on the perimeter and innumerable one-twos?as well as a few hard uppercuts?took their toll as the rounds went by. It was a fine performance by ?The Ghost,? too often the target of derision over the years. With the win, Guerrero puts himself in line for a possible fight with Juan Manuel Marquez. Katsidis might want to step off the world stage at this point and return to Australia or ply his trade more often in England, where he may still be able to play kick the can with Kevin Mitchell types.
*****
A number of fights over the weekend were declared ?upsets,? but most of them were actually bouts between evenly matched foes of limited ability. That, as strange as it sounds, is cause for celebration in itself. A competitive bout, no matter what level it takes place on, is such a rare thing in boxing that even B fights are welcome. Most of this ?upset? and ?prospect? nonsense, by the way, is self-perpetuating gobbledygook proffered up by the distinguished boxing press.
Before meeting Marco Antonio Rubio, for example, David Lemieux had proven nothing except that he could flatten junior welterweights and Arkansas circuit fighters. Rubio is not Carlos Monzon, but he is a competent professional, and that was enough to topple Lemieux on Friday.
As for Marcus Johnson, he has proven less than Lemieux has since turning pro, but somehow his dull loss to Dyah Davis was also chalked up as an upset. All Davis had to do was stay on the perimeter and move a little to flummox Johnson, whose disinterest in the ring, at times, seemed palpable. Similarly, Danny O?Connor and Willie Nelson, who both lost on Shobox, were ?prospects? only in the minds of those who traffic in that kind of nonsense on a regular basis. In the end, the only difference between some of these fighters is the size of their press kits.
*****
One of the negative byproducts of Morales-Maidana is the fact that sadistic matchmakers get to continue their butchery with virtual impunity. Eric Gomez, principal executioner for Golden Boy Promotions (by proxy, of course), gets to pat himself on the back and can now make even more matches featuring 30-1 underdogs and faded veterans who have shown nothing in the ring for half a decade, retired from boxing for a couple of years, are two or three weight classes above their primes, and who complained of headaches after their last fight. Giving carte blanche to Gomez is like giving a flame thrower to a pyromaniac.
Golden Boy can go ahead and schedule more iffy bouts now that they can point to Morales and Ishida as examples of miracles to be found in boxing. Of course, out of every 100 fights in the U.S. probably 10 are upsets. If those kinds of odds appeal to you, stay away from the race track and from Bookmaker.com. So, if/when Brandon Rios faces off with Marco Antonio Barrera are we going to see similar selling jobs from the press? Or how about when Antwun Echols fights again? Will retractions be made concerning Shane Mosley and his chances against Manny Pacquiao?
*****
Walking wounded Vivian Harris was whacked out in one round by Jessie Vargas on the latest So-Low Boxeo disaster. Snuff films are more competitive than the fights on Telefutura, and Harris did his bit by staggering around the ring like a man suffering from Jake Leg. His next boxing-related engagement should be with a CAT Scan machine or a neurologist, but, hey, now that Ishida and Morales have proven that heavy underdogs and over-the-hill veterans are not a 100% certainty to be pole-axed, maybe Harris will one day have his chance at moral victory, too.
