Is Morales Too Small To Compete at Lightweight?

Was Raheem Just Too Much For Morales Or Did “El Terrible” Finally Find His Level?

Last weekend’s shocking upset in the lightweight division may be proof that Erik Morales is simply not big enough to contend with the major players at 135 lbs. His once vaunted power and iron will had very little effect on the far less experienced Zahir Raheem, who was able to operate virtually unimpeded and fight his fight through 12 rounds to take a well deserved unanimous decision. For one of the consistently best pound for pound fighters during the last eight years, it was an alarming setback.

Morales was a terror at super bantam where his towering 5 foot 8 frame allowed the Mexican hero to punch at a devastating downward angle. Only 8 of 36 victims heard the final bell and the Tijuana man was crowned the WBC Champion after pulling out an 11th round stoppage against masterful boxer Daniel Zaragoza in 1997. Morales defended the title eight times, culminating in the legendary first fight with Marco Antonio Barrera, and finished this phase of his career 36-0 (28) for 78% knockout ratio.

“El Terrible” continued on the path of success when he moved up to featherweight following the war with Barrera, but at 126 lbs, cracks were beginning to show in Morales’ once invincible armor. Yes, Morales won the WBC Feather trophy from Guty Espadas but his offense had clearly lost some of its sting and many at ringside at the MGM Grand felt that Espadas had done enough to retain his belt.

It was a difficult defense at the Staples Center in Los Angeles next for Morales as the Mexican could do nothing to dissuade hard nosed Korean Injin Chi from from setting up shop in the trenches and trading blows. While Morales did retain, the whispers had started that the WBC champ was suddenly past it.

A second war with Barrera came along and with it the rescue of the lanky puncher’s reputation. Morales lost the decision on the scorecards but was generally judged to have beaten “the Baby Faced Assassin” by the court of public opinion. The harsh dismantling of former bantamweight world champion Paulie Ayala was next but tellingly, the smaller man finished on his feet.

Morales finished his featherweight period by knocking out two heavily overmatched foes, Eddie Croft (who had gone 1-5 in previous six bouts and had not fought in over three years but somehow earned a WBC title shot) and Bobby Boy Velardez. That brought Morales to a record of 8-1 (4) as a featherweight (Erik fought two opponents, Mike Juarez and Rodney Jones at 128 and 130lbs respectively, but for the sake of argument those bouts are considered here to be within the featherweight period) with the knockout percentage slipping down to 50%.

In October 2003 Morales officially moved up to super feather and gunned down old rival Espadas in three rounds. That stoppage of his countryman proved to be the only one Morales would produce as a super feather. Again, Morales won a WBC title, this time besting titleholder Jesus Chavez in what was a surprisingly difficult fight considering Chavez injured his right early on and was forced to compete one handed.

Former champion Carlos Hernandez came up short in a challenge to Morales, dropping a 12 round decision and then a third bout with Barrera took place with Morales losing a disappointing razor thin majority decision. In his last bout (at least for now) at super feather, the Tijuana native put on a tremendous performance to batter Manny Pacquiao and win a unanimous decision and some minor title belts.

With the win, Morales closed out the super feather era of his a career with a 4-1 mark with only one stoppage, producing a knockout percentage of just 25%.

So, it should have come to no surprise that the highly accomplished Mexican icon wouldn’t have been able to beat Zahir on power alone when he stepped up to fight at lightweight for the first time. With a dwindling knockout percentage resulting from each jump up in weight, in hindsight it seems clear that Morales was going have to rely on volume punching to outpoint Raheem, a difficult prospect given the Philadelphian’s abilities to avoid punishment.

Erik Morales is scheduled for a rematch with Manny Pacquiao in the near future but may very well be going back down to the friendlier climes of the super featherweight division.

Contact Curtis McCormick at thomaspointrd@aol.com