Erik Morales vs Zahir Raheem. Mad Respect for Morales for this Quote...

EM is a ****ing lengend a guy who took on all comers and styles. Even though he lost to Raheem he got plenty of respect for fighting a guy who had a stylistic advantage over him. Pac should be fighting guys who he doesn't hold all of the advantages against we've seen enough of it already. Even if he loses he'll still get my respect and I'll give him props for it.

 

In all fairness the only fighter who was a very athletic fighter in a weight class that Manny was fighting in at the time of like 3 years ago was Joan Guzman, the rest of the elite weren't as athletic as him.

 

They were both moving up and basically new to the weight. Pac got cut in the JMM fights and it didn't seem to bother his performances there. It's as obvious as night and day Morales losing to a very skillful, but not a great fighter like Raheem and not having the same reflexes he had aside from almost getting knocked down by a fighter not known for his power in Raheem consecutive times. Morales was on the downslide. Going up in weight meant less speed and power than what he had at 122, unlike Pacman.

 

spanked thoroughly? no way

 

Lets be honest though, that wasnt the best of Pac Morales fought.

Yes Morales was past prime, but that wasnt the best Pacquaio either. The 140 version of Pac is arguably the best.

 

It was the best Manny Pacquiao that really existed at 130lbs. You can't subject Morales to a Light Welterweight version because Erik would never have campaigned close to that in his prime. So, in the event we have any future fantasy match-ups, we'd have to pit the Pacquiao of Marquez 2 against Erik Morales, and that would always be a close and competitive equation.

 

:good

 

The only difference is Pac is going to get guaranteed money at 20 mil compared to the 50 dollar paycheck Erik Morales received.

Its called smart business.

Pac's 32 years of age. He'd be doing the same thing Morales did if Mayweather had the balls to step up.

Morales-Raheem..Pac-Mayweather

 

Everytime Pac has moved up in weight he has won well, Morales is the only man to beat a `moving up in weight` Pac & I think Pac has shown his ability to move up comfortably, he just got outboxed & at times outfought by an ATG putting in one last great performance.

You should actually be happy he is 2-1 over Erik, Erik should have told him to **** off as soon as Pac, Roach & co knocked back his request to fight at 132 lbs due to the struggles of making weight, he owed Pac jack-**** but still granted him the rematch... no bitching, just fighting, thats what Morales is about, no drama queen ****.

 

Terrible matchmaking at the time. Morales should have fought a guy similar to the level of the opponent Pac fought that same night. People who know boxing were wondering wtf was top rank thinking when that match was announced.

In a p4p sense he's better, but head to head he loses to Raheem everytime. Raheem can hold his own. His only clear loss was to Funeka. The Freitas fight was close & the lost to Juarez was bull****.

 

:deal

 

The usual ESB rubbish is being bandied about on this thread I see.

Morales beat Pacquiao first time out fair and square. I had it to EM by 2 points, after he gave the last round away. It was an extremely competitive fight, but Morales deserved the win for sure.

Then Pacquiao creamed him twice.

Morales fought like a tiger in the second, but was overwhelmed by a younger, fresher, stronger, more determined, more tactically aware and disciplined Pacman.

The aftereffects of getting dropped and stopped for the first time in his career (the Barrera KD was never a KD) had clearly worn away the warrior's physical and mental strength by the third fight, and he quit rather than get embarrassed or seriously hurt. Right decision.

Who is the greater fighter in terms of all-time career greatness? Pacquiao.

Who would win a fight between the best versions of either man? Impossible to answer, because the best Morales ever was at 122lbs, and the best Pacquiao ever in my opinion was at 135 and 140lbs.

The 122lbs Morales beats the 122lbs Pacquiao for sure.

At 126 and 130lbs, the fights would always be close and competitive.

Anywhere above 130, Pacquiao wins by homicide.


And that's the story of Pacquiao and Morales.

 

Many forget this fact. Actually Steward went as far as to say that its just a bad matchup for Pac and it will likely stay that way. Thats how good Morales fought until Pacs conditioning and body shots took effect.

This wasnt the same Morales that fought Raheem as many are insinuating.

 

I agree with all of this now that I have filled in the little bit missing in green.

:good

 

I think what it really shows is that Morales is a humble guy and doesnt deserve the reputation he sometimes has. He became friends with Pac as well and it takes a lot to be friends with someone who knocked you out.

Morales didnt take **** from people when they started with him like Barrera and that guy that beat his brother but he was a nice dude in general. I think Barrera was the bigger ******* in their feud and if you notice Barrera was the one that sucker punched him at the press conference. I like that Morales countered him with a one two. I like his attitude, he is a good guy but a warrior and wont take any ****.