HBO Fights of the decade Video: Barrera vs Morales I

I know.
I struggle to find a boxer I like more than Morales, so I try not to pick his fights all the time as "best of.."

 

here's a question for you guys
Higher on the ATG list.... Morales or Barrera?

 

I have Morales just ahead.
Both are in my top 20 all time.

 

I have Morales in the second fight too.
I don't remember a thing about the third fight.

 

i do agree with you.. it matches it.. even the drama

 

:happy:happy:happy

Couldn't agree more. "El Terrible" is my favorite fighter of all time as well. Although many do consider him an all-time great I still can't help but feel he is one of the most underrated and underappreciated fighters of any generation.

He embodied the idea of what legendary fighters are supposed to be. He lived a tough life. More often than not, with his father terrified in the corner, he'd downright abandon his own best interests to accommodate the wants of the crowd, the drunkards, the dreamers, the old and cynical boxing writers, grizzled and yearning for the pugilistic glory of years gone by. He gave it to us, to them, to the fighters he faced. He was contagious, his opponents would often raise their game to new levels as if by facing him for the first time they finally understood they were part of something special.

To quote one of my favorite artists, "The boy had skill". Beautiful balance, jab, murderous right hand, and feints a la Alan Iverson. That fake hook to the body that suddenly curved upwards to the head is still the slickest move I've ever seen in boxing.

****, I could go on and on. I won't. So, I'll end with this. Not in any way do I mean this as a dis to Manny, love Pac, like everybody else. No matter what anybody says, having closely followed Erik's entire career, he was years past his prime when he fought Pacquiao for the FIRST time. I'll always remember him in that fight. The war veteran, the underdog, his quiet calm before the first bell. He wasn't as fast, as strong, his legs weren't all there, nor his reflexes. But, his knowledge was, his experience was, his heart was. Going southpaw in that 12th round...

Can't do it. I lack the vocabulary and the experience to properly describe what that says about him as a fighter, about his career, or what it meant to the people watching, what it meant to Pacquiao. It was the perfect way to go out, and that's how I'll always remember him.

 

Thanks, I appreciate that, and I'm glad somebody read it. My father is getting up in age and beginning to slow down a bit. Morales is his fighter as well and to this day his favorite topic of conversation. Strikes a certain chord in me. And I've had a couple beers. Thanks for uploading the vids brother, I'll look out for other fights you post in the classic section. Cheers!

 

Corrales Castillo is a better fight, there about even, but the end of Corrales Castillo is unbeatable.

 

I still haven't been able to find a high def copy of the trilogy. granted HD cameras were non-existent then, but still.

 

Corrales vs Castillo is a damn good fight. What gets me about Morales vs Barrera is the skill level. The accuracy and precision, the frantic pace, the cruel intentions, and the cultural significance. It was a do or die fight and both fighters treated it accordingly.

Watch the 3 punch combo Barrera lands at 2 min. 11 seconds into the first video Addie posted, the HBO featurette, or it happens at the end of round 9 if you watch the whole fight. Anyway, it's one of the most precise and deadly combinations ever to be thrown, landed, and took in any prizefight ever seen. This happens over and over.

The skill and violence verges on being abnormal.

True story: I took my father to see Pacquiao vs Marquez 2. After the fight at a small bar(near the elevators in the mandalay bay) we ran into Larry Merchant. My pops being who he is invited Merch to sit and have a drink and he happily(drunkenly) accepted. Immediately we got on the topic of Morales vs Barrera and what Merchant said still resonates with me.

He said he had never seen a fight like that before. He spoke of the emotion of the crowd that night. But, the thing that sits with me, is he said after the 5th round many of the Hispanics in the audience stopped cheering. He said it wasn't from lack of action, it was because everybody suddenly realized the damage these two men were doing to each other. He described it as "inhuman" and "grotesque". He said it wasn't fun for many of them anymore.

What he says resonates with me because without knowing why, I had felt the same thing.