Thanks for the memories
Kishan Nundloll - 06/08/07
Erik ‘el terrible’ Morales’s distinguished career came to a controversial end in Chicago, Illinois late on Saturday night. Morales lost a dubious points decision against Dangerous David Diaz, and with that defeat the dream of becoming the first Mexican fighter to win four titles in four different divisions.
Morales had said before the fight that a defeat would leave him contemplating his future in the sport. The judges scored the fight by margins of 114-113, 115-113 and 115-112. The fight was a throwback to some of the classic Morales fights of years gone by. Morales had Diaz floored in the first round and was taking great shots from the champion, using his experience and class to counter punch with great effect.
The fight was full of passion and both men not holding back. Morales landing with the more skilful shots, but Diaz the aggressor leaning in and forcing Morales into the ropes, exerting a tremendous amount of energy in the process. The middle rounds of the fight carried on in the same vain as the earlier rounds, with both men breathing heavily and feeling the strain of such a rapid start to the fight. Diaz taking some fantastic shots to the face and standing strong but showing the audience the price of such bravery with a cut right eye, and a closed left eye.
The latter rounds were telling and Morales was effective in the beginning part of rounds but let his work rate diminish in the last minute of rounds. Arguably the reason why Diaz may have won the fight, with the aggressive work being done by Diaz in the latter part of rounds. Morales started to show fatigue during the tenth but instead of standing back and playing safe continued to do what fans love seeing and go toe to toe with the champion and hurting him with superb counter punching.
The last round was meet with a standing ovation. The crowd which had started pro Diaz, as he was fighting in his hometown had now become a very partisan and when the decision was announced the jeers and boos started ringing around the stadium. Morales took the decision with the grace and dignity of a true champion. He looked disappointed by the decision, but never complained and instead choose to thank his fans for the support and love during his spectacular career. Diaz was also in shock and looked relieved to have won and got through what can easily be described as his hardest fight ever, and a performance he can be proud off, but will struggle to repeat.
The decision was disappointing and means ‘El terrible’ ends his illustrious career with a defeat. Only Manny Pacquiao stopped him during his 54 fights and he finishes with a 48-6 record, but the statistics don’t tell the real story of the real Erik Morales whose epics with Marco Antonio Barrera and Manny Pacquiao left a lasting impression in the hearts of boxing fans across the world. His never say die attitude and complete disregard for a sensible fighting is what fans loved about the man and his fights. His mentality was that of a boy raised in the heart of gangland Tijuana and going Toe to toe was what he thrived on. His record outstanding and at the age of thirty is still very young but he has fought so many fights, many of them epics and now the are starting to take there toll on the man who redefined a generation and brought in a new fan base of open eyed and amazed boxing fans.
The most flattering thing that can be said about the Living legend is that his fights entertained and enthralled and made fans want to watch. Never once did he avoid a fight and had the heart of a lion fighting men like Pacquiao and Barrera on six different occasions, most boxers would shake at the idea of just one meeting with champions as great as those, Morales always taking the fight ahead of the money.
Boxing has truly lost one of the kings of this sport and Morales can now join such great names as Ali, Hearns and Lewis as men who have defined there generation. Boxing as a sport has lost one of his greatest sons and the fans have lost a hero that gave everything in the ring. He will be sadly missed, but this is the right time to go and there is nothing left to prove for Morales. Twodice wishes him well in his new life and are grateful for the memories left by our favourite fighter and the greatest entertainer ever in the ring.