Érik Morales vs. Juan Manuel Márquez

Yeah, where has Torres been? :huh

 

Probably true for both men (that is, precision - definitely not chin when talking about Márquez :yep)

 

Just finished watching...

Not to belabor the point of nitpicking a video game simulation, but I also noted that Márquez throws an uncharacteristically high number of standalone body shots, and much fewer combos than he ordinarily would. The computer also has Morales throwing more looping shots than straight, which isn't like him. Or maybe that was the player and Márquez was the computer...that's unclear.

One thing I found very accurate, however, was that after the scorecards were read (115-113 x3, UD for Morales), Juan pitched a fit. :rofl I love him but he doesn't lose well.

 

I'm not sure he'll ever get it completely outta his system. Even though he turned down a fifth match (which I think was his way of sticking it to him after the roles had been reversed in the past, a bit of gamesmanship further proving that he is still kind of seething), I think part of him really hates the fact that Pacquiao is still technically "ahead of" him in the series, 2-1-1.

Publicly they may bury the hatchet and express mutual respect, but so did Morales and Barrera and they still have an intense dislike for each other and huge axe to grind regarding their rivalry. I think it will be like that forever with Pacquiao & Márquez.

 

That's a very fair point. Morales had the more durable "force-field", so to speak, as in he was a lot more difficult to put on his ass. He shrugged everything off, even when tired, and hardly even batted an eyelash...and the few occasions he was hurt it was only barely perceptibly. Recovery is a major component of "chin", however (at least IMO), not just initial punch resistance, and in that respect Márquez easily has an excellent chin looking at how many world class opponents he fought and was never even close to being stopped.

..and yeah, Morales gave up the ghost and quit at the end of the Pacquiao trilogy. It almost hurts Érik's legacy a little that he ever came back after that and did well...because him staying down and riding Drakulich's count would only be forgivable if he truly did have nothing left and was irreparably shot to bits. Otherwise it makes for a very sad footnote on a career that was in fact defined by his warrior spirit and never say die attitude. (not to mention a huge bundle of bragging rights for Manny to have been able to force him to do that)

I could never see Márquez, no matter how shot or how bad a licking he was taking, looking over at Nacho in the corner and shaking "no, I don't think I wanna get up and take anymore".

 

I would imagine he's torn.

On the one hand it probably amuses him to keep torturing Pac with KO6 as their last moment together, going out with a bang, and doesn't want to run the risk of reopening the book with such a perfectly written final chapter.

On the other, he is probably just as tortured by knowing (and knowing that Manny knows) that officially he's down 1-2-1 in the series...

 

Since we're on the subject of knockdowns - anybody when making their picks factor them in as being a possibility, or has everyone been assuming these would all be decisions based on twelve sets of 10-9 frames?

Is there an Epoch in which either fighter is likelier to drop the other, in anybody's opinion?

 

Yeah, understood, I'm not either. I was actually really upset when I watched that live. I would imagine all boxing fans were. Nobody wanted to see Morales ever go out like that.

...but he probably more than redeemed himself by trimming off all his retirement fat and working his ass off and taking on a bunch of young hungry lions (and punching way above his prime weight) in Epoch 3, and doing really damn well all things considered. :thumbsup