Erik Morales v Juan Manuel Marquez @ Junior Lightweight Who Wins? Why didnt it happen

Both with Arrum, Marquez wanted it, Arrum wanted to protect the cash cow. This is a hard 1 to pick and would be a great fight, Arrum should have made it

 

Not to sure how Arum was protecting Erik by putting him in with Marco Antonio Barrera and Manny Pacquiao at 130lbs.

 

They were big money PPV fights and worth the risk, Marquez wasn't

 

Pretty sure Marquez priced himself out, as with the Pac rematch that was slated for right after their first bout. He had very poor management at that stage, they ****ed his career a bit. I think Nacho especially, he knows how to train a guy but Im not so sure about his management credentials.

 

Absolutely. Marquez was a dangerous opponent but he wasn't going to generate what the other two fights were going to make. Divac will read that another way though, and say that Erik Morales was scared of Marquez.

I find it almost impossible to make a good prediction on how these fights could have possibly went. That goes for prime Barrera and Marquez too, even if we did see a pretty bad version of MAB give Marquez all he could handle.

 

No Morales wasn't scared of anyone, but Arrum only put him in true 50-50s if it was a worthwhile risk and was pretty clever at the timing of some of his fights as a good matchmaker should be. There were a few fights at 122-126 that would have been interesting that didn't happen, there was some talk of Freitas/Corrales/Casa calling out Morales when he was at 126 to, some interesting ones

Knowing Marquez's management though they could have been offered the fight and turned it down demanding more money. They did that against Hamed/Pacquaio overvaluing their worth

I think we can say with some certainty JMM-Morales would have been a close encounter, whoever wins

I had MAB edging JMM but it was 4am and I was tired/pissed/biased if I'm honest

 

I can't really make a case for Barrera in that fight, and if I can't, who the hell could?

I hate watching the fight. Barrera looked soft in the body, and just really sluggish. No body work, was exhausted down the stretch, and there's a picture floating around with Barrera in-between rounds. Look's like a tired old man, and I certainly don't think he was the fighter he once was at that point. Marquez, on the other hand, was just starting to become a major attraction.

 

I like Morales' range and range of angles in this one against Marquez' counter punching. Toe to toe theyre two of the toughest mother ****ers, i think Marquez may get off the cleaner shots but there would be no pushing Morales back and Marquez may be forced to shy away from that pace. If that intices Morales to go full on terminator, Marquez could counter him badly. Its very close but i feel Morales is slightly the better boxer and ever so slightly better toe to toe. If Morales fights smart and controls the pace i see him mixing, tagging him from range then attacking in only short bursts and getting the better of exchanges, then reverting back to boxing. If this happens i see him winning a close but clear UD. But if he goes headhunting at all, Marquez will be quick to capitalise and the fight will go back and forth and anyone could take it by SD