[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2BiK8DwBEw&playnext_from=TL&videos=1zeRLeKVIIw"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2BiK8DwBEw&playnext_from=TL&videos=1zeRLeKVIIw[/ame] Great, entertaining fight as you all know. But what made it so intense? Was it just that they were so evenly matched? Was it the hatred and rivalry that brought it out of them? What i'm thinking is it was more than just a great contest. It takes something special to compete so evenly matched at such a high level, and this is perhaps the greatest and most intense, physically draining fight ever. So do i just have a hard on for this fight and im overreacting, or were they both superman for this fight?? I think they were and that nobody is beating either of them on this night.
I don't like getting into how each combatants would have fared with other fighters on this particular night. It's impossible to tell. They were certainly levels above any other Super Bantamweight in the world at that time, and like Max Kellerman is so quick to remind us, when you get the two best fighters in a division fighting at their peak it often results in a great, competitive, two way fight to be remembered. This is the greatest fight of all time in my estimation, but it's all subjective. What made it so intense is the rivalry, and how much each fighter had to lose. Barrera always performed best when he had a point to prove, and he went into this fight as a heavy underdog. Both being Mexican, this was also to decide who the leading Mexican fighter in the world was and who could potentially take over the mantle of the great Julio Cesar Chavez. The exchanges were viscous, the pace rarely let up, and although it had some strong competition in 2000, it was clearly the best fight of that year. Clearly. Watching merely a Highlight isn't good enough...it should be watched in it's entirety. Anarci was at the Mandalay Bay that night...it'd be nice to get a few opinions from him. Lucky *******.
Okay yeah, the point i wanted to get at, more so than comparing them to other fighters, was in fights like these do you think it brings out a whole new level in fighters? Besides them being the best and evenly matched and rivals, or infact a combination of that, makes them slightly superhuman in that fight? I know its superstitious or whatever, but like when a mother supposedly gets maternal strength when their child is in danger, or when mongoloids get mongo strength when theyre distressed, and they get that mongo strength to make up for the lack of clarity. Bad examples maybe, but do you see what im getting at?
No doubt about it, Pachilles. Not in terms of technique or technical ability, but Larry Merchant said it best during the fight. "Having a beard or a chin is a function of your will power, your ambition, your refusal to yield...and that's what this fight is about really". The emotions and importance of the fight allowed both fighters to take inhuman amounts of punishment and still fight at a high pace until the final bell.
I might be in the minory department, but I have watched the fights several times and my score is one point up for Morales. Three great fights!!!! Woller
I'm convinced that this fight played out as it did because of their feelings towards one another. At that time, i used to be so confident Morales would win EVERY time he went to the ring. Except for when his opponent was Barrera, i always fancied Barrera over him because he always wanted it s badly. In contrast, i was always worried Barrera could lose every now and then against other opposition, but that didn't apply to Morales as i said. That's why it blew my mind when Morales started to lose. This is one of the greatest fights of all time, in fact it's so good it was my favourite fight for many many years, and still contests that in my mind constantly.
You could tell from Marco Antonio Barrera's post-fight interview that he resented Morales for taking over his popularity with HBO and the Mexican fans. "I would like HBO to know that their champion is not that good". Through the mid 1990's, it was Barrera being hailed as the next great Mexican fighter but after his two losses to Jones, they turned their back on him. He wasn't going to leave that Arena without giving it his best effort, and he was prepared to die that night...and Morales goes into every fight like that. "I'm either going to knock him out or get knocked out" was Barrera's statement before the fight kicked off, and the only reason that wasn't true was because of each others capacity to take hard shots and retaliate.
This needs more posts. This is the only time i'll likely ever say this but i want to thank Pachilles for this thread. Hats off to the warriors.
