Eric "Little Hands of Steel" Morel

Division: WBA Flyweight Champion
Nationality: Puerto Rican
Hailing From: Madison, WI
DOB: 10-1-75
Height: 5'7"
Reach: 68"
Trainer: Cirilo Morel

STRENGTHS
Eric Morel is a fighter with uncommon textbook technique…He is a pure boxer and always seems to be a few moves ahead of his opponent…His hands are very fast and he knows how to find the range with both hands…He throws a sneaky counter left hook that has left many fighters on their back…Morel also has a good corner with his father Cirilo Morel and the excellent Miguel Diaz.

WEAKNESSES
Morel has seemed to come out of his envelope late in some fights down the championship rounds, with his opposition's connect % being greater as the fight wears on…Morel's nickname "Little Hands of Steel" might lead one to believe he has devastating power, while in fact he's lately been winning his fights off of his speed and pure boxing ability…Not a weakness, but he could be having trouble making the Flyweight limit and might have to move up in the very near future.

NOTABLE FIGHTS
Morel was well traveled early in his career, fighting in such locations as Las Vegas, Albuquerque, New York, Coachella, San Antonio, Biloxi, and San Francisco.

Along the way he built his record up to 26-0 with 16 knockouts. He was campaigning at 115 lbs but a title shot opened up 3 pounds south at Flyweight and Morel took the bait. Sornpichai Kratindaenggym was holding the WBA belt and he headed to Morel's hometown of Madison,WI to defend on HBO's new afternoon series 'KO Nation'. Morel didn't let the opportunity slip by and came out of the gates rapidly, scoring a knockdown in the second round and stunning Kratindaenggym on several occasions on his way towards an impressive unanimous decision win.

The WBA belt belonged now to Morel and his first defense took place in Las Vegas in July of 2000. Morel won a unanimous decision and next headed to his hometown to defend against Gilberto Keb Baas. Baas claimed he would knock Morel out within 7 rounds while Morel insisted he would be the one brining the heat and predicted a KO within 4 rounds. Neither man was right and neither man was terribly impressive, but Morel did manage to pick up a unanimous decision win. The fight wasn't one of Morel's finest, just a solid title defense.

In June of 2001 Morel defended once again in Wisconsin, this time in Baraboo and his opponent Jose de Jesus Lopez brought out the best of him. Morel scored knock downs early off of counter left hooks and went in for the kill. Lopez was game and managed to make the fight competitive at times but Morel wasn't prepared to let this one go to the cards. He applied the pressure at a constant rate and by the 9th round Lopez wanted no more, leaving Morel with his desired TKO victory.