A year or so ago, news of a putative rematch between Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao was not greeted with unanimous praise.
Their first bout, in March 2005, had undoubtedly been a well-fought and entertaining affair, but, despite periods when Pacquiao?s aggression had caused him troubles, Morales had generally controlled the fight, particularly after his Filipino foe became discomfited by a bloody gash sustained following an accidental clash of heads in the fifth round.
The only reason the scores were as close as they were (115-113 across the board) was because Morales, feeling himself comfortably ahead, turned southpaw in the final frame for no evident reason other than to show he could.
A second fight with Pacquiao didn?t seem as compelling or necessary for Morales as, say, a fourth bout with Marco Antonio Barrera, and even less so after Morales shuffled to defeat against Zahir Raheem. But Morales promoter Bob Arum was perfectly candid about his rationale for the fight; because of the fan bases of the two boxers, particularly the rabid support for Filipino favorite Pacquiao, he stood to make more money than for any other contest.
Fast forward twelve months, and Arum?s justification has been endorsed twice over. Not only did the rematch boast a near-capacity crowd and an electric atmosphere, the third and deciding fight, at the Thomas & Mack Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday, promises to outstrip it.
As of lunchtime on Thursday, ticket sales at the arena had reportedly passed 15,000, and seemed primed to reach a capacity 17,000, putting it alongside the Lennox Lewis-Evander Holyfield rematch as the second-highest attendance in the venue?s history. Only Hector Camacho vs. Julio Cesar Chavez exceeded those figures, boasting 19,000 paid attendees courtesy of Don King?s decision to sell 2,000 standing-room-only tickets.
Boasting that he has ?too much respect? for fans than does his wire-haired rival, Arum told journalists at a press conference on Thursday that he would deal with his overflow by showing the fight via closed circuit at more than one Vegas location.
It is a tremendous tribute to the popularity of both men that two 130 pound fighters, without a world title belt between them or the prospect of emerging with one after the Saturday?s bout, can attract that much support. It is a testament also to the awareness of fight fans that a bogus belt does nothing to elevate the quality of a contest.
?There are a number of reasons why boxing isn?t as popular as it once was,? Arum stated. One of them, he continued in an obvious jibe at his erstwhile charge Floyd Mayweather, Jr., is that ?some fighters recently, who?ve charged you $49.95 to watch them on pay-per-view, haven?t shown up to fight.?
?Boxing fans want to be entertained,? he continued. ?They want to see action. When you mention Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao, they think action.?
Indeed they do, and they are likely to see plenty more of it on Saturday night. Morales and Pacquiao together comprise that rare breed of fighter, the type that seems preternaturally incapable of being in a bad fight.
Whether this trilogy is quite in the pantheon of the all-time greats, let alone on the scale of Morales? other major ring rivalry against Barrera, remains an open question. There is, at least to this point, none of the venom that distinguished that great trilogy; nor, for that matter, has there been the same kind of back-and-forth shifts in momentum that characterized the three bouts between the Mexican foes. Morales, by and large, had the upper hand in the first fight, notwithstanding some strong flurries from Pacquiao that had him in trouble; and he boxed his way to a healthy lead in the second fight until the Filipino changed his tactics, started showing angles instead of just rushing in and overwhelmed and stopped a suddenly fatigued Morales.
The prevailing wisdom is that the third fight is more than likely to follow the script of the second half of the second bout, that Morales, after all his wars, has finally reached the end of the road, and no matter how good the shape he is in, he will not be able to withstand another Pacquiao onslaught.
But it is always dangerous to write off Erik Morales, as Pacquiao himself discovered during the first fight, when Morales was already considered vulnerable following his defeat to Barrera in the decider of that series. And the Mexican warrior insists that there were extenuating circumstances behind his defeat on that occasion, among them his decision, following a truly disappointing loss to Zahir Raheem, to ditch his father, Jose, as his trainer, and his difficulties making weight.
Jose is now back in the corner, and Morales has been working with California fitness company Velocity to make sure he enters the ring on Saturday in fighting shape and at fighting weight. His contract stipulated he pay Pacquiao $500,000 for every pound he weighed over the 130 pound limit, and the only hint of antipathy between the two camps at the Thursday pres conference came when Morales dismissed the constant references to Morales? weight during the build-up to the bout by Pacquiao trainer Freddie Roach.
Whatever transpires in the ring on Saturday night, it is unlikely to be boring. The likelihood is that the two men will go hard at each other for as long as the bout lasts, with each alternating boxing and brawling. No matter what kind of shape Morales is in, it will count for nothing if he indeed has little left in his tank, but the betting here is that he has just enough to summon one last great performance against the Filipino whirlwind.
Whether that performance will be enough to ensure that this trilogy, unlike his previous one, is one that he wins, is another matter.
