Morales Outpoints Alfaro In Successful Return

Monterrey, Mexico - It was hardly convincing, but Erik Morales (49-6, 34 KO) won for the first time in five years as he outpointed club fighter Jose Alfaro (23-6, 20 KO) in his native Mexico.

Following a two-and-a-half year layoff, it took time for Morales to come to terms with the challenge he was putting his body through as he looked badly prepared for the fight.

But as the contest got older, Morales quickly found himself in a brutal battle, that was although pleasing to watch for some fans, very hard to watch for Morales die-hards. He took a lot of punches, but also returned a lot of fire, but there was just something not right about the fight, and I didn't like it.

Morales was involved in a typical Morales fight, and claimed a hard-fought and wider than expected unanimous decision by scores of 117-111, 116-112 and 116-112. With only one eye on the fight as I was busy watching Abraham-Dirrell, my scorecard rounded off to 115-113 for Morales, but as I was concentrating on the bigger fight, it's a rough score.

It's hard to work out what's Morales' motivation behind this comeback. Is he bankrupt and looking for pesos? Is he looking for revenge against Marco Antonio Barrera, or God help me, Manny Pacquiao? Whatever it is, it's puzzling.

On the undercard, Chris Henry (25-2, 20 KO) produced a career best result with a stunning first-round kayo victory over former WBA light heavyweight titlist Hugo Hernan Garay (32-5, 17 KO). This was the first time Garay had been stopped in his professional career, and Chris Henry is now at the front of the queue for a mandatory shot against the winner of Shumenov-Uzelkov, which is expected to happen in the Summer.

Heavyweight David Rodriguez (33-0, 31 KO) predictably did his usual thing, stopping another tomato can in Daniel Bispo (22-13, 16 KO) in the second-round of their one-sided bout.

Baja California, Mexico - In northern Mexico, Ulises Solis (30-2-2, 21 KO) defeated Bert Batawang (45-15-3, 37 KO) for the second time in his career, this time winning by sixth-round corner retirement.

Solis was impressive as he completely outclassed Batawang throughout the six rounds, handing him a pretty heavy defeat in the process. Batawang's corner did the right thing by pulling him out in the sixth, as he was taking a beating at the time.

As this was an IBF eliminator, I presume that Solis will get a chance to regain his old title back later on in the year against new titlist Carlos Tamara, who pulled off a mighty upset in stopping Brian Viloria in their January fight.

Solis slots right back into the 108 pound picture, while Batawang seems finished at the highest level, and he drops down below second-tier in my humble opinion. I was very impressed by Solis, who looked back to his best against a potentially tricky opponent in Batawang, who he handled with ease.

In a non-title fight, Giovanni Segura (24-1-1, 20 KO) kept busy with a fifth-round corner retirement victory over Ronald Ramos (28-8-3, 14 KO).

The 27 year-old Segura had no problmes dispatching Ramos, who was grossly overmatched on the undercard.

Segura, who holds the WBA version of the light flyweight championship, could potentially be set-up to face Solis later on in the year, but I doubt that will happen just yet. If all goes to plan, a potential unification fight could be on the table for Segura and Solis.

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Save Our Heroes: Take The Legends on the Road and Away from the Main Stage

by Paul Magno

A few years ago I had the honor of co-promoting an event which featured a comeback of sorts for Mexican legend, Ruben "El Puas" Olivares. Actually, it was more of quick money grab for the 59 year old former bantamweight and featherweight world champion.

Olivares was having a tough time and was just about broke. I can attest to his sad state because I was a co-trainer in his gym down here in Central Mexico and I had to deal with the unsavory characters that would burst through the doors looking to collect the debt; These were the types of guys who made other guys disappear, if you know what I mean.

It was a sad state of affairs for a national hero and one of the true greats of the sport.

Obviously, "El Puas" couldn't make a real comeback at his age and in his condition. The alternative was to cash in on his fame and put some bucks into his pocket. We put some feelers out among the population and came up with more than a few businessmen willing to associate themselves with Olivares.

Ultimately, a local gym owner put up a purse of twenty thousand pesos for the privilege of going a few rounds with a legend. A card was constructed around the exhibition and fans were jam-packed into an auditorium to catch a glimpse of a legendary figure in Mexican sports. The fight itself was more of a low-end sparring session; Three rounds of two minutes each with 16 oz. gloves, but from the fan reaction, you would've thought that this was the Olivares of old, battling Bobby Chacon at the Forum in Inglewood, CA.

That night, Ruben Olivares added some much-needed money to his bank account and was able to bask in the adulation of his fans. It was truly a win-win for all involved.

The initial reaction among fight fans is to condemn exhibitions like this as exploitation of a legendary name, but nothing could be further from the truth. It was a celebration of the fighter and not much different than the fantasy camps that exist in just about every organized sport.

This leads me to thinking about Erik Morales and his comeback bout, schedule for this Saturday, March 27th in Monterrey, Mexico.

Morales swears that he's not doing it for the money, but he can't seriously think that he'd be able to pick up the pieces of a career that he was pushed out of three years ago. The Erik Morales that steps into the ring on Saturday will be the one who hasn't won a bout since 2005 and the loser of five of his last six.

At some point, common sense has to enter into the picture and if the fighter can't execute it himself, it should be forced upon him by the commissions and the promoters. Unfortunately, boxing has never executed such common sense and it isn't likely to do so anytime soon.

Look at Jose Luis Castillo's performance on the Pacquiao-Clottey undercard. Castillo has been notably shot as a fighter for years now and his exercise in futility against a club-level Alfonso Gomez was a waste of time for all involved.

All of these guys, from Morales and Castillo to Evander Holyfield and Hector Camacho, are just taking up space that would otherwise be going to other, legit, fighters. None of them will ever be serious challengers for a world title; None are likely to break the top ten anytime soon.

Whether they're fighting on for money, attention or, in the case of Johnny Tapia, for psychological redemption, they are just wasting everyone's time on the main stage.

Why not take these legendary names and give them a payday, an ego-boost, and something to do that wouldn't jeopardize their well-being?

Why not create a "Legends Show" where fans can bid for the honor of being batted around the ring by their heroes? Limit the exhibitions to three 2-minute rounds with 16 oz. gloves, just like the previously mentioned Olivares exhibition. It's no different than wealthy businessmen paying 20k to spend a week with the old-timers in a baseball camp or some executive paying the same amount to play one on one basketball with Michael Jordan.

Take the show on the road, 8-10 dates a year in exhibitions against novice fans in packed auditoriums. Names like Holyfield, Tapia, Camacho and Morales will sell out all the reasonably-priced seats. Money-wise, the legend's opponent pays the purse and extra money can be added from a percentage of the live gate.

Seeing their favorite fighters engaged in exhibition bouts against middle-aged businessmen might be a little melancholy for some, but is it any sadder than watching these legends fool themselves into thinking that they're still relevant? Is it any sadder than watching them beat to a pulp by fighters who aren't worthy of carrying their gym bag?

It's time for the sport to start exercising some common sense. Tell the heroes of the past that enough's enough already...They can still get paid, still be treated like stars, but let's stop pretending that anything good can come from a fighter sticking around way too long.

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Dissecting The Decade

by Dafs117

When deciding pound-4-pound rankings, minor details make the difference between making the cut, or just missing out. The depth of the division, performances against the highest calibre of opponents, and the fighters’ defects on the big stage are just some of the things someone should take into consideration when rating and separating the best from the rest. In boxing, it’s always a tough task, and it’s commonly whatever takes your fancy.

So before I disappoint you all and make you start waving your fist in fury at the computer screen, I’ll give you a little insight in the mind of yours truly.

What I tend to look for is longevity. If someone has been at the top of his game, and able to maintain his performance output throughout the decade, for me, it seals the deal. How much of a decline a fighter goes through after hitting his prime, did he adjust his style to deal with his age, or was he like fine wine, getting better with age?

If there are many great fighters with a nano-meter of distance separating their achievements, I search for the career defining moment. The outskirts of the top 10 is always tricky, but without further ado, here are my top 20 fighters of the ‘00s:

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Five Fights That Define Manny Pacquiao

Manny Pacquiao KO 2 Ricky Hatton, 5/2/2009

Manny had already shown what he could do against a much larger De la Hoya, now this was to be his second fight as a major player and attraction on the world stage.

Ricky Hatton was the lineal Jr. Welterweight champion and a fixture in the division since 2001. Despite a loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2007, Hatton had never been defeated at his natural weight of 140 lbs.

Pacquiao flattened Hatton in a brutal stoppage that had Hatton stretched out on the canvas for several minutes.

Excellent win for Manny and a strong second chapter to the book entitled, "Manny Pacquiao, Superstar."

Manny Pacquiao RTD 8 Oscar De la Hoya, 12/6/2008

Not his best performance, but certainly his biggest. Manny beat and humiliated The Golden Boy before forcing De la Hoya to quit between rounds eight and nine. Alot has been said about De la Hoya's physical condition coming into the fight and that may or may not detract from the victory for some, but coming into the bout, De la Hoya was a huge favorite and the idea of a Pacquiao win was the punchline to a bad joke for most experts.

Thus began the transformation from Manny Pacquiao, "Fight Fan Favorite" to Manny Pacquiao, "Superstar."

Manny Pacquiao TKO 10 Erik Morales,
1/21/2006

Maybe Morales was on a losing streak when this rematch took place, but there was no denying that this was still "El Terrible."

This was a big match for Manny, who had been beaten by this same man just about a year earlier. It was the official announcement to the world that Manny Pacquiao was for real.



Manny Pacquiao L UD Erik Morales, 3/19/2005

Pacquiao, for the first time in his career, was fighting someone who wasn't looking to walk right through him; Morales was a veteran champion who boxed perfectly and used flawless technique to keep a hard-charging Pacquiao at bay.

What most defined this fight was not Pacquiao losing, but Pacquiao's desire to keep chugging along in his career. He would come back to beat Morales twice in rematches.


Manny Pacquiao TKO 11 Marco Antonio Barrera, 11/15/2003

Manny was unknown by all but the most hardcore of fans and was expected to be just a "stay busy" fight for Barrera. The Mexican warrior was at the height of his fame after having beaten Hamed, Morales, Tapia and Kelley in 4 of his previous 5.

Plans changed drastically, however, as Pacquiao tore into Barrera and beat him at every aspect of the game. He literally steamrolled the "Baby Faced Assassin" and forced Barrera's corner to stop the contest in the 11th.

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