Barrera/Morales III - Barrera's greatest win?

Grillinnap · Jan 6, 2011

Addie, I meant to say that I scored the first fight for MAB. I misread that poster's question.

horst · Jan 6, 2011

Addie said: ↑

Having just watched this fight again, I began to question where it stands among Marco Antonio Barrera's greatest wins? Of course, Erik Morales was a fairly comfortable favorite going in, given how he'd already settled at Super Featherweight, whereas Marco Antonio Barrera had not long been dominated by the Filipino sensation, Manny Pacquiao. The odds were ultimately upset, Barrera won a close but clear decision on account of his brilliant left hook and faster start. Morales would find a lot of success in the second portion of the fight, but by this time it was probably a little too late to close the deficit.

How good was this win? I think it has a shout for being Marco Antonio Barrera's all-time best, all things considered. It was only last week that I made a thread in the General Forum questioning at which weight Erik Morales was most effective. The majority felt Morales was at his best as a Super Bantamweight, whereas I think there's plenty of evidence to suggest otherwise. You can see that he was more economical at 126 and 130, he was making his opponents miss and then countering with precise combination's. More feints, more head movement, whilst still maintaining his good body work and hard right hand.

He was coming off his victory over well-respected champion, Carlos Hernandez, prior to fighting MAB for the third time in 2004, and this should perhaps be noted as one of Morales' better performances. He completely dominated a good fighter in Hernandez, and before that took the 130lbs title from another respected champion in Jesus Chavez. This was good form, and one of the reasons why Morales went into his third fight with Barrera as such a heavy favorite. He had proved himself to be effective as a Super Featherweight, whereas this was an entirely new weight class for his rival.

Perhaps another reason as to why Barrera was given little chance of victory this time around was because he wasn't only unproven above 126lbs, but he was now facing a fighter who had 11lbs on him on fight night. Morales made it quite clear ahead of the fight that he was looking to knock his opponent out, and instead of going in to outbox Barrera, he perhaps thought coming in significantly heavier would have gave his punches more impact. A lot is often made of weight differentials, and considering the quality of Morales as a technician, an 11lbs difference in weight would have to be considered a substantial advantage for an already very capable fighter.

So looking at all of the facts, not only was Marco Antonio Barrera fighting an Erik Morales who was perhaps more technically proficient than before, and who was coming off good wins against Jesus Chavez and Carlos Hernandez, but he was now outweighed significantly on fight night. Fans could be forgiven for saying Erik Morales wasn't the fighter he was, but in his very next fight, against Manny Pacquiao, he staged not only the best win of his entire career, but perhaps pulled out his greatest ever performance in the process.

Opinions on MAB/Morales III?

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I hadn't thought of this fight in this way before. I think I am convinced. This is a better win than Hamed.

Godfather · Jan 6, 2011

I agree.

And for the record, I scored the second fight with Morales a draw.

EJDiaZ · Jan 6, 2011

I think Hamed fight made him a mainstream fighter

Boom_Boom · Jan 6, 2011

Morales wasnt that big of a favorite, only by about 2 to 1. Whereas against Hamed Barrera was a 3.5 to 1 underdog.

Kush · Jan 6, 2011

Hamed was the better win cause Morales was beating his ass in the second half of the fight

Addie · Jan 7, 2011

Popkins said: ↑

I hadn't thought of this fight in this way before. I think I am convinced. This is a better win than Hamed.
Click to expand...

I think it is as well.

Morales was a far greater fighter on this night than Hamed was on any night, and any talk of Morales being past it were soon put to bed with his stupendous performance against Pacquiao in 2005.

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Barrera/Morales III - Barrera's greatest win?

Grillinnap Flomos are morons Full Member

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Barrera/Morales III - Barrera's greatest win?

Grillinnap Flomos are morons Full Member

horst Guest

Godfather I put the G in God Full Member

EJDiaZ Boxing Addict Full Member

Boom_Boom R.I.P Boxing 6/9/12 Full Member

Kush Obsessed with Boxing Full Member

Addie Myung Woo Yuh! Full Member