Catchin' Up...
Most of you guys didn't make it to last Saturday's boxing/pork extravaganza, which is unfortunate. We had a blast watching the HBO PPV which was headlined by Pacquiao/Morales II.
In the opening rounds, it looked very much like their first fight, with Manny Pacquiao being more active and Erik Morales being more accurate. Pacquiao's punches were harder, though, as evidenced by the mis-called second-round knockdown (Morales had to grab the ropes to stay up, so it should've been ruled a knockdown) and Morales's badly broken nose.
Morales was leading up through the fifth round on all three cards, but Pacquiao then took charge. Manny had expanded his arsenal since their last meeting, and he was now throwing right hooks, body shots, and uppercuts. His powerful straight left was no longer his only big punch.
Morales, as always, stayed game throughout, trying to control the tempo with his excellent jab. This worked in the early rounds, until Pacquiao's body shots put Morales on the defensive. Both men have strong chins, and few would have lasted against either of them that night. At the end of the sixth round, Pacquiao scored a near knockdown, with Morales again saved by grabbing the ropes and having his fall broken by running into the referee.
Erik came out strong in the seventh, at one point pinning Pacquiao against the ropes with a flurry of precision punches. Pacquiao "turtled up", but did not seem to be rocked by those punches. Pacquiao worked out of the situation, and then resumed his assault on Morales, landing two strong punches for each of Erik's.
In the eighth round, Morales' badly broken nose was starting to look as natural as an East German female olympian. Erik continued to fight back, however, preventing Manny from all-out attack with strong right-handed jabs and counter-punches, even rocking Manny once. It was clear that Morales was slowing, and that Manny's body shots were taking their toll.
In the ninth round, it became clear that Morales was going to be knocked out, and, to his shame, Morales actually ran from Pacquiao in the ninth's final seconds. In the fights that I've seen, Morales had never backed away from his opponent, and the commentators confirmed this. Of course, Morales has never been abused like this, either.
Morales came out strong in the tenth, firing his left jab, holding his right hand cocked low. It looked as if he knew he couldn't survive until the twelfth, and was trying to set up a big right for the knockout. He threw a few big rights, but they didn't land. In the second half of the round, Pacquiao was moving into a purely offensive mode. After a big Morales miss, Pacquiao landed a few body shots which he followed with a left to the side of Morales' head, staggering Morales, who then fell to all fours. Morales, ever the smart fighter, stayed down until the nine count before standing, giving himself the best chance of recovery. Unfortunately for Erik, it didn't help as Manny jumped on him, finishing him off in a matter of seconds.
Folks are providing a lot of reasons for the change from the past fight. Some include:
**Pacquiao was allowed to use the gloves of his choice, which is the less-padded Reyes glove.
**Pacquiao had rid himself over his disgrace of a promoter, Murad Muhammad.
**No cut over Pacquiao's eye, as in the last fight (from an accidental headbutt).
**Morales' will broken by his one-sided loss of Zahir Raheem last September.
**Turmoil in Morales' camp, as Erik fired his father as trainer after the Raheem loss.
It was a great fight, but I don't expect to see a rematch, at least not at 130lbs. Manny is probably fighting over his ideal weight, and Morales is probably fighting below his. I don't think Morales will do well moving up in weight, however, so it may well be that his days as a headliner are over, though he could have some success earning a paycheck. Morales has been a great fighter, but it looks like his era of dominance is over.
Pacquiao will be fighting for a belt soon, possibly against Marco Antonio Barrera, who he knocked out a few years back (and who has also beaten Morales twice by decision). Pacquiao is one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world, but I hope that he doesn't try to move up in weight, as he is probably best suited to be fighting in the featherweight division.
In the opening rounds, it looked very much like their first fight, with Manny Pacquiao being more active and Erik Morales being more accurate. Pacquiao's punches were harder, though, as evidenced by the mis-called second-round knockdown (Morales had to grab the ropes to stay up, so it should've been ruled a knockdown) and Morales's badly broken nose.
Morales was leading up through the fifth round on all three cards, but Pacquiao then took charge. Manny had expanded his arsenal since their last meeting, and he was now throwing right hooks, body shots, and uppercuts. His powerful straight left was no longer his only big punch.
Morales, as always, stayed game throughout, trying to control the tempo with his excellent jab. This worked in the early rounds, until Pacquiao's body shots put Morales on the defensive. Both men have strong chins, and few would have lasted against either of them that night. At the end of the sixth round, Pacquiao scored a near knockdown, with Morales again saved by grabbing the ropes and having his fall broken by running into the referee.
Erik came out strong in the seventh, at one point pinning Pacquiao against the ropes with a flurry of precision punches. Pacquiao "turtled up", but did not seem to be rocked by those punches. Pacquiao worked out of the situation, and then resumed his assault on Morales, landing two strong punches for each of Erik's.
In the eighth round, Morales' badly broken nose was starting to look as natural as an East German female olympian. Erik continued to fight back, however, preventing Manny from all-out attack with strong right-handed jabs and counter-punches, even rocking Manny once. It was clear that Morales was slowing, and that Manny's body shots were taking their toll.
In the ninth round, it became clear that Morales was going to be knocked out, and, to his shame, Morales actually ran from Pacquiao in the ninth's final seconds. In the fights that I've seen, Morales had never backed away from his opponent, and the commentators confirmed this. Of course, Morales has never been abused like this, either.
Morales came out strong in the tenth, firing his left jab, holding his right hand cocked low. It looked as if he knew he couldn't survive until the twelfth, and was trying to set up a big right for the knockout. He threw a few big rights, but they didn't land. In the second half of the round, Pacquiao was moving into a purely offensive mode. After a big Morales miss, Pacquiao landed a few body shots which he followed with a left to the side of Morales' head, staggering Morales, who then fell to all fours. Morales, ever the smart fighter, stayed down until the nine count before standing, giving himself the best chance of recovery. Unfortunately for Erik, it didn't help as Manny jumped on him, finishing him off in a matter of seconds.
Folks are providing a lot of reasons for the change from the past fight. Some include:
**Pacquiao was allowed to use the gloves of his choice, which is the less-padded Reyes glove.
**Pacquiao had rid himself over his disgrace of a promoter, Murad Muhammad.
**No cut over Pacquiao's eye, as in the last fight (from an accidental headbutt).
**Morales' will broken by his one-sided loss of Zahir Raheem last September.
**Turmoil in Morales' camp, as Erik fired his father as trainer after the Raheem loss.
It was a great fight, but I don't expect to see a rematch, at least not at 130lbs. Manny is probably fighting over his ideal weight, and Morales is probably fighting below his. I don't think Morales will do well moving up in weight, however, so it may well be that his days as a headliner are over, though he could have some success earning a paycheck. Morales has been a great fighter, but it looks like his era of dominance is over.
Pacquiao will be fighting for a belt soon, possibly against Marco Antonio Barrera, who he knocked out a few years back (and who has also beaten Morales twice by decision). Pacquiao is one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world, but I hope that he doesn't try to move up in weight, as he is probably best suited to be fighting in the featherweight division.
posted by Paul at 9:21 AM
1 Comments:
I watched the replay. Great fight.
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