Morales-Pacquiao Breakdown.

Erik Morales vs. Manny Pacquiao, wow! Asking me to pick between the two is like asking me, what came first the chicken or the egg? I don’t know. For once in my life, I am at a loss for words. Both fighters are evenly matched. Let’s take a closer look at the two fighters and compare what each has accomplished in the past year. Over the past year, Erik Morales claimed two-thirds of the super featherweight crown (W.B.C./I.B.F). On his road to glory, Erik proved to the skeptics that the first Guty

Espadas fight was a fluke. He then cruised to victory with two unanimous decisions over Jesus Chavez and the always-gritty Carlos “El Famoso” Hernandez. However, the “El Terrible” express was derailed when he suffered a split decision lost to his archenemy Marco Antonio Barrera, in their rubber match.

As for “Pacman”, he did just that, he ate, chewed, and spit out the competition. He annihilated unbeaten Emmanuel Lucero in three rounds, and he pummeled Marco Antonio Barrera to capture gold at 126-pounds. In the spring of last year, Manny engaged in a thrilling battle with the courageous Mexican warrior Juan Manuel Marquez. The fight was scored a draw, because of one judge’s incorrect mathematical computation. Marquez hit the deck three times in the first. Instead of scoring the round 10-6 in favor of Pacquiao because of the three knockdowns, for reasons that remain unknown, one of the judges opted to score it 10-7. If that one judge scored that round 10-6, Manny would have won a split decision by one point. How the judges had Marquez winning the next ten out of the eleven rounds is beyond me. Be it as it may, Manny bounced back in spectacular fashion. Manny dismantled Fahsan “3K Battery” in December. Fast forward to the present, we have a super showdown. How great it is to be a boxing fan.

Now, let’s see how they match up. Erik is a very explosive boxer-puncher, especially if he smells blood. Now Pacquiao is a puncher hands-down. Let me rephrase, Manny is a tremendous puncher with crippling power, just ask “3K Battery.” However, his power is in one hand, his left. Also, Manny struggles a little with boxers that have fast hands. Although I thought Manny beat Juan Manuel Marquez, Manny did experience some rough turbulence in the middle rounds. Now Erik may not have lightning speed, but his hands are quick. I’d hate to sound like a broken record, but styles make fights. With that said, It would be in Erik’s best interest to remain less true to his Mexican heritage, meaning that he should box more and trade less, if possible to not trade at all. But, if Erik opts to go toe to toe with “Pacman,” the probability of the fight ending sooner than expected is much greater. Also, at the pace that these two are capable of, they would make the ancient cavemen look like the Looney Tunes.

I feel that Manny’s best chance to win is by getting Erik to trade on the inside. For some strange reason, Erik doesn’t fight so well on the inside. More than likely, his long arms are attributed to this factor, plus the fact that he is a headhunter. Well, the headhunter part is true. But if you think back to the Barrera fight, Marco Antonio got the best of the exchanges on the inside. Not only did he get the better end of the exchanges, he also made Morales back up whenever he went to the body.

The night of the Trinidad-Mayorga fight, Lennox Lewis brought up an excellent point that not many people were aware of, including myself. Lennox said if he is strong to the head, then he is weak to the body, and vice versa. That’s great boxing insight that we should all take into consideration the next time we watch a fight. Mayorga laughed when “Tito” was hitting him to his head. But, as soon as “Tito” landed that left hook to the body, Mayorga immediately went down. We all know that to knock Erik Morales out you need a baseball bat. But whenever Barrera attacked the body, “El Terrible” backed up. I don’t think Marco Antonio realized it, because his judgment was clouded by his disdain for Morales. But something tells me Manny made note of this fact. If he gets on the inside and works the body effectively, he wins impressively. But like everything else in life, it’s easier said than done.

If you ask me whom do I think will win, I’ll tell you that if Erik uses his jab, utilizes his reach, and doesn’t give Pacquiao a stationary target, Erik wins. If he stays out of the line of fire, Morales would expose Pacquiao to be a one-dimensional fighter. But if it turns into a slugfest, which is very likely, the edge goes to Manny. With a stationary target in front of him, “Pacman” would get his left hand off at will. If a scenario such as that were to play out, Manny would win impressively.

So my prediction is that it’s going to be a great fight. As for who wins, I’ll tell you after the fight is over. So just sit back, kick your feet up and enjoy the show. We are in for a real, real treat. It’s always a pleasure to talk to you guys. Feel free to drop me an E-mail whenever you like. You can tell me who you like in the fight or make suggestions. Just make sure I hear from y’all. Until next time, be well and be safe. “Stay up.”

Edwin Gonzalez can be reached at prpapa427@aol.com