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This Saturday night, the Thomas and Mack Centre in Las Vegas hosts the third showdown between warriors Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales at super featherweight.
The big unknown coming into this fight is how much does Morales actually have left? During his last contest against Pacquiao this past January, “El Terrible” boxed well enough before getting broken down by the relentless Filipino and losing in the tenth round. What can Morales do differently this time?
In 52 fights, the Mexican has lost just four times to three men. A world champion at three weight divisions, he has been fighting professionally since 1993. Amazingly, he is still only 30 years of age.
In Pacquiao, Morales meets a man coming into his prime. Unknown by the casual fan, Pacquiao made his first steps towards super stardom in November 2003 when he outfought and defeated Mexican great Marco Antonio Barrera over 11 rounds in San Antonio.
The Barrera fight undoubtedly made “Pacman” a household name worldwide and since then, he has split two fights with Erik Morales along with a disputed drawn verdict with then featherweight king Juan Manuel Marquez, in May 2004. In that fight, Pacquiao dropped the champion three times before the Mexican fought back to get the draw.
Pacquiao at the moment seems to be a fighter that is getting better and better. However that being said, Morales is a true great and we should write him off at our peril. The signs are that Morales is up for this one and will be in top shape come fight night.
But the concern is that for Morales, this could be one fight too many. Certainly, in his last two outings, he has been found wanting. He looked awful in a marking time fight against Zahir Raheem in September 2004 and against Pacquiao last time out, he seemed to fall apart mentally as well as physically.
With his buzzsaw style, Pacquiao seems to have added an extra facet to his armoury. There now seems to be more cuteness to his attacks without losing the ferocity which has made him so effective.
Morales is a proud man and will come to fight on Saturday but Pacquiao for me is on the way to greatness. With a big money rematch against Barrera in the pipeline, Pacquiao will not want the script ruined.
I can see a fight similar to the last one. Morales will be giving his all and the first few rounds are likely to be close and hard fought. However, over the stretch Pacquiao will have more success and I think will land with more regularity, once again stopping Morales later in the bout and ending the Hall of Fame career of “El Terrible.”
