The conflict often occurs with a fighter’s career in decline.
Determination battles with eroding skills. A will to absorb one solid punch after another hoping to counter with fight-altering flurries.
Erik Morales now is realizing that all the valor he has displayed throughout his 14-career will not prove sufficient to win fights.
For all his willingness to tough out Manny Pacquiao’s best shots in their super-featherweight bout late Saturday, Morales conceded that his battle-tested chin could not take additional pounding.
Referee Vic Drakulich began his 10-count and an alert Morales could have reached his feet and survived the round. Instead, Morales sat on the canvas, arms resting on his legs. He winked at his corner, a noticeable hint that there was no reason to continue fighting.
Pacquiao’s quicker and stronger punches, which produced three knockdowns in a nine-minute span, finally had taken their toll. Drakulich counted Morales out at 2:57 of the third round, giving Pacquiao the knockout victory at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas.
”I believe that I am faster and stronger than him now,” said Pacquiao, who won his second successive fight against Morales. “Now I believe he feels my power.”
Pacquiao immediately followed suit from his 10th-round TKO victory against Morales in January by landing repeated and multiple combinations in the opening round. Morales gamely fought back with rights to the head but Pacquiao always seemed to score the telling blows.
In the second round, Pacquiao scored his first knockdown when he dropped Morales with a right-left combination to the head.
Pacquiao (43-3-2, 33 KOs) nearly finished Morales after a left to the head that sent Morales to the canvas again late in the third round. Morales (48-5) again reached his feet and tried to mount a fight-saving comeback but Pacquiao displayed why he is one of boxing’s best finishers. Pacquiao dropped Morales with another left to the head and suddenly has Morales reflecting on his career.
Although he welcomes the opportunity of continuing his long relationship with promoter Bob Arum, Morales, who has lost four of his last five fights, also hinted on retirement.
”This was a beautiful night, a full arena and great fans from both sides,” Morales said in Spanish while still in the ring. “I will have to think about [retiring] but it is also a beautiful night to say goodbye.”
MORE ENTERTAINMENT
The opening of a slot-machine casino at Gulfstream Park last week has created an expanded entertainment center at the Hallandale Beach race track. And boxing will be one of the additional events brought to Gulfstream patrons.
A 3,000-seat amphitheater adjacent to the casino will be the site of Gulfstream’s first card Dec. 14. The show will feature six bouts, including two scheduled eight-round matches of a light-heavyweight tournament.
“With boxing, we are welcoming a new traffic of visitors to our facility, Gulfstream park president Paul Micucci said. “Fans will be pleased with the venue and the fights we have scheduled.”
The inaugural show, which will feature Danny Santiago and Richard Hall in separate light-heavyweight tournament bouts, will be the first in a series of cards, which will run through April.
”The tournament will allow fans to form identities with fighters,” Micucci said.
Veteran Miami trainer Patrick Burns will be Gulfstream’s director of boxing operations.
COMING UP
? Friday (8 p.m., Telefutura-Ch. 69): Freddy Cuevas vs. Elvin Ayala, 10, middleweights.
? Saturday (10:15 p.m., HBO): Demetrius Hopkins vs. Rogelio Castaneda, 12, junior-lightweights.
