It was generational warfare in the junior-welterweight division on Saturday, with a pair of grizzled veterans facing off against a couple of youthful, undefeated hotshots. The results of those matches amounted to a standoff of the ages.
Erik Morales, age 35, was supposed to have defended his WBC 140-lb. crown against sizzling newcomer Danny Garcia. However, Morales weighed in at two pounds over the junior-welterweight limit, and therefore surrendered his title on the scales. The fight went on, though, giving Garcia the opportunity to seize the belt with a victory. Had Morales won, the title would have remained vacant, but the ever-accommodating WBC would no doubt have given ?El Terrible? a chance to regain the green strap somewhere down the road.
Morales didn?t win, though. Taking full advantage of the occasion, the 24-year-old Garcia outworked and outpunched his savvy foe. Garcia dropped Morales in the eleventh frame, and punched him around the ring in the twelfth. There was no moral victory this time, for Erik, as there had been in his losing effort against Marcos Maidana last year. This time, Morales was well and thoroughly whupped, even though he gave his customary gutsy effort round after round and had his moments, such as in the eleventh right before he got decked.
It was up to Zab Judah, 34, to defend the honor of the old heads. Which he did, stopping heralded upstart Vernon Paris in the ninth round of their encounter. A notoriously hot-and-cold performer, Judah was definitely hot on Saturday. With his speed, experience and still-potent punching power, Judah basically ?educated? Paris, who was clearly in over his head.
So, where do these results leave Morales and Judah? It appears that Morales has slid a couple of steps back in the junior-welterweight ranks, while Judah?s position is essentially the same. The 140-pounders happen to be one of the most-laden divisions in boxing at this time. The top three are Timothy Bradley (who faces Manny Pacquiao in an upcoming bout) and Lamont Peterson and Amir Khan (who will meet in a rematch of the bout that saw Peterson score a controversial decision over Khan). Judah has already lost to Khan, and it?s hard to see him beating Bradley or Peterson. And Morales would be an underdog against any of the three leaders of the division.
A jump to welterweight would not be advantageous to either, even though the scales may be suggesting such a move to Morales, and Judah once held a world title in the higher division. The big-money fights there would be with Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather Jr., and neither superstar would have much incentive to take on Morales or Judah at this time, even though they are all about the same age.
Even though their chances for advancement are not good, however, neither man is likely to retire anytime soon. Mid-thirties is not all that old for a fighter these days. Judah has had 51 fights, and Morales 60 ? a lot by today?s standards. Both fighters have absorbed plenty of punishment in some of their ring battles. Remember Morales?s pair of trilogies against Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera? And the beatings Judah absorbed from the likes of Miguel Cotto and Mayweather (although Judah had actually outboxed Floyd in the early going when they crossed gloves back in 2006)? Judah and Morales are both worse-for-wear at this stage of their careers.
That won?t stop them from going on, though, just as it hasn?t stopped Shane Mosley or Roy Jones Jr. One day, Morales and Judah ? and even Mosley and Jones ? will finally hang up their gloves. But not just yet. In the meantime, more young lions will be on the prowl, looking to move up at the old heads? expense.
Charles R. Saunders is the author of several books including Sweat and Soul: The Saga of Black Boxers in the Maritimes from the Halifax Forum to Caesars Palace, as well as the Imaro series of fantasy/adventure novels. Considered by many to be one of the leading authorities on boxing in Canada, he is the current Vice-President of Boxing for the Society of North American Sports Historians and Researchers. His novel, Damballa, which centers around a fictional heavyweight title bout, is available at www.gopulp.info.
