On Saturday, Erik Morales shocked the world and made fools out of quite a few observers (myself included) by standing toe-to-toe with the biggest slugger in the junior welterweight division, Marcos Maidana, and almost pulling out a win. The result has many wondering where Erik Morales figures into the red hot 140 lbs division, and some are already whispering that perhaps a fourth go at Manny Pacquiao or a showdown with fellow Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez are in order.
What makes the outcome of this bout so thoroughly surprising is where “El Terrible” was when he announced his retirement in August 2007. Just a couple months shy of his 31st birthday, Morales had dropped four losses in a row: two to Manny Pacquiao, but also a pair to Zahir Raheem and David Diaz. It was the Raheem and Diaz losses that collectively told me that Morales’s days were done, since they indicated that “El Terrible” could not beat guys at the journeyman and fringe contender level. Since the Diaz loss was at 135 lbs, I was terrified of what might happen to Morales in a fight at 140 or 147. So how was it that Morales nearly pulled out such a huge win against the monsterous puncher from Argentina?
What I should have remembered is that although fans adore Erik Morales as the super bantamweight and featherweight warrior and puncher, he was always a very talented boxer as well. That was an important factor in dealing with Maidana, who was out-boxed by Andriy Kotelnik and Amir Khan. Morales had told Golden Boy’s matchmaker Eric Gomez he knew how to beat Maidana, and apparently he wasn’t lying. Simply put, Maidana is ponderous at times and his defense rests entirely in his offense. A man with Morales’s skills was well-placed to exploit that. In particular, Morales was very well-prepared to counter the Argentine bull’s left hook, and did so repeatedly throughout the fight. Morales also has a legendary chin, and withstood flush blows from Maidana quite well. Finally, it seems like Morales took good care of himself during his 2 1/2 year breather, and in doing so partially reversed his previous status as “shot.”
However, no one should make too much of this performnace. Right now, I liken Erik Morales to the latter years of Tommy Hearns. Once he moved beyond middleweight, Hearns lacked the pop to fight as a knockout artist and reverted to the boxing skills he learned as a youngster. The result was a period that saw him score some big wins (Virgil Hill and Nate Miller in particular), but also some crushing defeats (Iran Barkley). In my book, Morales now falls into this category. The fact that Maidana was able to repeatedly connect his uppercut, resulting in a hideously ugly swollen and purple eye, is proof enough of that. It was a close fight, but comparing the two afterwards, Morales is the one who looks like he took a beating. Make no mistake: Morales made a close match of it, but he did so as much on his chin and on the basis of his skills.
I like Morales’s chances with the lower tier of the Junior Welterweight Top Ten, but Morales did not show the reflexes in fighting Maidana to deal with the hard-hitting speedsters at the top of the division. He might be able to out-brawl a Paulie Malignaggi or Lamont Peterson, and he could out-box a Lucas Matthysse. If Zab Judah lost his concentration (again) with Morales, he might find himself in trouble for it. Past that, I can’t see Morales making as big a fight out of a match with Amir Khan or Timothy Bradley, let alone Juan Manuel Marquez.
A great Mexican legend is back, and hopefully with some sound matchmaking, he will give us all a few more truly exciting and entertaining shows before he retires again. However, no one should expect to see Erik Morales with a major championship belt around his waist any time soon.
