After watching, “The Contender” on Sunday, I’m ready for some REAL boxing.
“The Contender” has some potential but it makes the same mistake Oscar de la
Hoya’s boxing program (that aired last year) made; they only show 15 second
snippets of each round. The program focuses more on non-boxing competitions
and interactions instead of duke outs in the square circle.
I’m thinking about this Saturday’s showdown between Manny Pacquiao and
Tijuana native, Erik Morales, complete with a scheduled 12 rounds of three
uninterrupted minutes of pugilism per round. But I doubt this fight goes the
distance.
There is a school of thought vested in the logic that, if Pacquiao beat
Barrera and Barrera beat Morales, then Morales cannot beat Pacquiao. Not
necessarily so. In Football, they say, “On any given Sunday…” Well, the same
applies in boxing. After all, Morales destroyed Junior Jones (by TKO 4), the
man who beat Barrera twice, though eventually, Barrera would win twice over
Morales, (though the first win was controversial). The past has no place in
the present outside of reference points. When the best face each other,
anything can happen.
At 28 years old, Morales has 49 pro fights under his belt, and can almost be
considered ‘old’ in boxing years. Unless Morales has peaked and is on the
decline, there’s no reason to believe he will be an easy victory for
Pacquiao. And who ever knows what will happen? It’s cliché but boxing truly
is the ‘theater of the unexpected.’ I expect nothing less than a great
fight, maybe worthy of Fight of the Year honors. I don’t see this going the
distance but if it does—that favors Morales. If I knew this fight would end
in the third round, but the messenger didn’t say who would win—I’d bet it
was Pacquiao.
Trying to handicap this fight is bizarre because it’s a strange
confrontation of styles.
Morales (47-2-0-34 KO’s) is a boxer-brawler who takes some shots to deliver
his own when he gets inside. If there’s anything suspect about Erik, it
might be his defense. But he has a chin of iron, tremendous stamina, and a
non-stop offense. He has never been stopped and I can’t recall him ever
being knocked down.
Pacquiao, (39-2-2-31 KO’s) is a brawler-boxer who finishes fights quickly
and decisively with his powerful combinations accentuated by big left hooks.
Pacquiao imposes his will on opponents. He comes on like a typhoon and
takes away an opponent’s ability to execute a game plan because they’re too
busy covering up on defense. Manny has only lost twice—but both by KO (to
Medgoen Singsurat of Thailand, who was 18-0 when they fought in 1999 and in
1996, to Rustico Torrecampo, of the Philippines, whose record was 11-4-4).
Morales and Pacquiao are warriors. Both feed on a pretty steady diet of the
best competition. Both represent everything fight fans respect in a
prizefighter, heart, skill and a fight anybody, warrior mentality.
Manny Pacquiao is riding a tidal wave of popularity that was punctuated by
his vicious victory over the legendary Marco Antonio Barrera in 2003, when
Barrera’s corner threw in the towel after 11 rounds of being eaten up by
Pacman. After a draw with J.M. Marquez last May and the quick dispatch of
Fahsan (3K Battery) Por Thawatchai by TKO 4 last December, Pacquiao is a
most dangerous proposition for Erik Morales.
After the humiliating loss to Pacquiao, Barrera rose back up with a full
heart in his next two fights, beating the tar out of Paulie Ayala (35-2-0-12
KO’s) in June of 2004 and in November, finally beating Erik Morales WITHOUT
controversy, demonstrating that either he just had a really bad night out
against Pacquiao—or that Pacman is THAT good. To the disappointment of this
scribe, Barrera has expressed absolutely no interest in a rematch with
Pacman. One major rivalry was enough for M.A.B.
Now, Morales is in a similar position, seeking to reaffirm himself as one of
the best fighters in the business by taking on a most dangerous opponent—the
same man who beat the man that beat him. Pacquiao may be smaller and a bit
one dimensional, but what a dimension! You gotta take your hat off to
Morales though; a lot of lesser men have quietly disappeared after a gut
wrenching defeat in front of the world audience. Can anyone say, Naseem
Hamed?
Pacquiao is going to explode all over Morales next Saturday. How Morales
handles the onslaught will determine his fortunes in this fight. Juan Manuel
Marquez left a blueprint for Morales on how to deal with Pacman’s powerful
left hooks—outbox him and take that weapon away.
The question is—can Morales box as well as J.M. Marquez did? Marquez got up
from three staggering knockdowns in the first round and not just survived,
but in some eyes, won the fight by decision, though officially, it was
deemed a Draw. In my view, Marquez did render Pacquiao ineffective for ten
of the eleven rounds that followed his triple trip to the canvas in the
first.
Morales may be one of the best in boxing… but he does get hit a lot. And it's
because he throws so many punches, that of course, he constantly avails
himself to counter punches. All Pacquiao needs to do is land a few of his
signature punches early and the world will find out if Morales is capable of
taking Pacman’s pop. If he can, it will be an uphill battle for the
Philippine Featherweight Superstar.
Morales has 34 KO’s on his record for a reason. He is not renowned for his
power but for his tenacity and he is a connoisseur of landing accurate
punches from awkward angles, the accumulation of which, stop his opponents
more times than not. One of his most effective shots is the uppercut,
delivered in close, right before or after a clinch. The problem is, getting
too close to the shorter armed Pacman might not be a smart strategy.
Look for Pacquiao to go right after Morales and try to end it early. Look
for Morales to keep him under control on the outside and take Pacquiao into
the deep waters of the Championship rounds, where all the questions will be
answered. I have a hunch that a controversial decision will decide this
contest and the result will be a new rivalry that sells a lot of tickets.
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Comments can be emailed to Frank Gonzalez Jr. here
