Living legend and Tijuana native, Erik “El Terrible” Morales upped his record to 48-2-0-34 KO’s on Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where as the underdog, he faced dangerous rising Philippine Star, Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao (39-3-2-30 KO’s) in a Super Featherweight match up of epic proportions. Morales was insulted by the odds. But the odds makers were wrong.

Manny Pacquiao has been on a mission. In November of 2003, he beat up on Marco Antonio Barrera so badly that Barrera’s corner threw in the towel to make it a TKO 11 victory for Pac Man. That shocked the boxing world.

Pacquiao’s management has had an aggressive agenda and the Barrera fight was just the start of a tour that would include J.M. Marquez (WBA and IBF FW Champion) and Erik Morales, the three most notable Featherweights in the world.

Pacquiao’s memorable battle (in May of 2004) against J.M. Marquez featured Marquez going down three times in the first round from devastating power punches. But, Marquez got up and out boxed Pac Man well enough for the remaining rounds that it was officially decided as a (controversial) Draw.

After Marquez, it was on to the Philippines, where last December, Pacquiao fought Fashsan “3K Battery” Por Thawatchai (44-7) and floored “3K” four times and won by TKO 4.

A rematch was offered to Marquez, who out priced himself and left the door open for Morales, who stepped right up to the challenge just four months removed from his loss to Barrera. This would be Erik’s opportunity to regain his status, tarnished to a small degree by his loss to arch rival, Barrera last November.

Morales presented Pac Man with problems he could not solve. Morales’ ring generalship, cool demeanor and accurate punching proved to be the right recipe for stopping the Pac Man express.

Entering this fight, Morales weighed 140-pounds. Pacquiao, 139. Lightweights? (At least it wasn’t 17 pounds over ala Cotto vs. Corley)

Pacquiao vs. Morales is my pick for “Fight of the Year” honors so far in 2005. This battle was a contrast of styles that again proved that superior boxing skills can over come a great power punching. And Morales had one indispensable quality—a chin of iron.

Once Morales showed he could take Pac Man's punch, Manny didn’t seem like the man with the power. Morales’ accuracy, ranginess and chin were too much for Manny to conquer.


The Fight

Round 1
Pac Man was the aggressor, doubling and tripling his left jabs and hooks as he tried to land big bombs right away and test Morales chin. After Pac Man hit Morales a few times, Erik got mad and went after Pac Man, landing some quality shots that got Manny’s attention. Pac Man scored some good body shots and was overall the busier fighter. Morales blocked lots of Manny’s shots but didn’t land enough of his own. 10-9 Pacquiao.

Round 2
The action went back and forth, with both scoring in spots. Morales established his range, circling Pac Man to the left and focused on effective counterpunching. Morales landed the cleaner punches as he boxed from the outside; forcing Pac Man to come in and eat counter punches. Pac Man threw barrages of wild shots and Morales showed he could take his power. Pac Man also missed a lot of shots. Whenever Pac Man scored, Morales went after him and took his revenge. Morales accurate punching wins the round. 10-9 Morales. 19-19 Even.

Round 3
Pacquiao aggressively worked the body and scored. Morales landed a straight right hand followed by a left hook upstairs. Pac Man went wild in spots but Morales blocked most of his shots and served up his own, cleaner punches. Morales length allowed him a longer reach and he utilized it. Pacquiao pressed Morales into the corner, where Morales turned into Floyd Mayweather Jr., ducking and slipping all of Manny’s shots. Then Morales got out of the corner and into the center ring where he cracked Manny with solid punches that were starting to show their effects. Pac Man forced Morales back into the ropes with a flurry of punches. Morales got riled up and went after Pac Man, popping him into the opposite side ropes and landing quality punches. Pac Man landed a solid right cross at the bell. 10-9 Morales. 29-28 Morales.

Round 4
Morales was relaxed as he boxed from outside. Pac Man was wasting energy, jumping in and out with shots that only grazed the target and he paid when Morales countered with accurate shots that scored points. Morales bullied Pacquiao into the ropes, scoring up and down. Every time Pac Man was near the ropes, Morales was all over him. 10-9 Morales. 39-37 Morales.

Round 5
During an exchange, Morales landed an uppercut to Manny’s chin. When Morales landed, Pacquiao was moved out of position more so than when Pac Man hit Morales, who proved to be the stronger of the two. Pacquiao landed good shots but Morales took them well. Pac Man could hurt Morales and both knew it. During an exchange inside, they butted heads. Whenever they traded, Morales got the better of it. A moment after the head butt, Morales landed a few shots to the face and Pac Man’s right eye was cut and bleeding. Referee Joe Cortez said the cut was caused by a punch. The head butt may have softened the area and a punch opened up a cut.  The ringside doctor got inside the ring (unusual) and examined Pacquiao for a long time. The crowd was on their feet and making noise indicating that they didn’t want to see a stoppage because of a cut. Boxing is not a democracy but the fight continued anyway. When action resumed, Morales took his time, jabbed three times and then whacked Pacquiao with a right cross to the ear. Pac Man was getting beaten up. 10-9 Morales. 49-46 Morales.

Round 6
Pac Man came on strong, scored some good shots but none of them fazed Morales, who has one hell of a chin. Morales taunted Pac Man with body language, dropping his arms on defense and shrugging his shoulders when Pac Man landed to say, “You can’t hurt me.” He was in Pac Man’s head—and all over his face and body as he took Manny to the ropes and rocked him with a straight right. Though Pac Man was working hard, moving, punching and even landing, he was losing the tactical battles in the ring. Pacquiao held his ground but it wasn’t enough to win the round. Morales was economical with his movement. Pacquiao seemed nervously jumpy. Morales tauntingly dropped his guard as the seconds waned to rounds end. 10-9 Morales. 59-55 Morales.

Round 7
Pacquiao landed a left hook that shook Morales, who was moving slower, almost taking a breather but always moving to Pac Man’s left. Pac Man landed more left hooks, some to the face, some downstairs, some blocked. Pac Man was busier. Morales dug into Pac Man’s body with lefts and rights. Though Manny landed good shots, he was not hurting Morales, who landed another body shot, followed by another straight right to Pac Man’s jaw that rocked him. Pac Man shoe-shined punches into Morales gut but Morales took it in stride and countered effectively. 10-9 Morales. 69-64 Morales.

Round 8
Morales looked relaxed and in control as he took many shots from Pacquiao but was never hurt and landed cleaner shots of his own in return. Morales was simply the superior boxer-puncher and he was landing the better blows during most of the exchanges. Pac Man kept coming forward, but was getting hit regularly. 10-9 Morales. 79-73 Morales.

Round 9
Morales was in control. Pac Man boxed smarter though, landed some good shots and was outworking Morales. A hard right hand by Pac Man rocked Morales into the ropes. Pac Man followed with another right when suddenly, Morales retaliated (as is his nature) but Pac Man got the better of the exchanges in a round where Morales was less active. 10-9 Pacquiao. 88-83 Morales.