I've never been sold on Morales as someone who could handle A level pureboxers and cuties.He's much better suited to dissecting aggressive fighters. bad defence, an inability to punch and move at the same time effectively while on the front foot , epsecially against a mobile opponent and the associated inability to cut the ring off would never serve him well against those types of fighters. winstone wasn't overly safety-first and certainly nto afraid to mix things up if he started to take shots, so i can see some rounds being action packed and competitive, but the large gap in pure boxing ability, defence and footwork would see Morales outclassed for the majority of the fight imo.It's a fight he'd need to knock winstone out to win.
Howard was a fine technician and has one of the best jabs Ive seen of any fighter. Ive been struggling to see how Erik could take this aswell. He certainly is capable of knocking out Winstone I feel but its thats easier said then done. Howard wouldnt lie down easily and I really dont see Erik having the skills or explosiveness to catch Winstone napping with a from left field kind of punch. He would have to methodically break down like Saldivar did in their 3rd fight. I dont think he has overall tools that Vicente had to make this happen. Its a close call for me...But I keep picturing Winstone giving Morales all types of hell, I think he is all wrong for Erik.
I've only seen the 2nd Saldivar fight (I think that's the one) and I don't think that's a good gauge here at all. Still, i've learned a few things already after just a few posts, so :good
I dont know enough about Winstone to pick a winner here but your dead wrong about Morales footwork, his feet were great, he had wonderful balance & his defence, while the weakest of his skills due to his willingness to go forward & trade was certainly not bad by any means. I also think Morales was a much better technical boxer than you give him credit for. No-one in history from 126 lbs downwards would have it easy vs Morales, believe that ****.
Although Morales was well-rounded, and to a degree 'technical', I don't believe for a second that he had anything approaching defence. Once buzzed or willed on he would be open. He liked to trade. And fair play to him. He's no Gatti, if that's what you think people are getting at. He could at times use his range to effect. I personally don't hold the Raheem loss against hi a some people do, I think he was ballsy to attempt it. Damn good was Morales. as you BB, I don't know enough about Winstone to pass judgement, but I agree that Morales gives anyone a tough fight. I think he gives Gomez a damn good fight at 122, but would capitulate late in my opinion. Gomez is a different animal.
Hard to make anyone a favourite over a 122 lb Gomez but Morales arguably has the best chance, his chin was granite in his prime & Id favour him to hear the final bell in a war.... of course, as plenty of posters will tell you, thats no suprise coming from me
Morales was an excellent offensive fighter no doubt, but i've always thought he had among the worst defence i've ever seen from someone touted as an elite boxer-puncher.A lot of it may have been to do with his willingness to trade, but that's what made him a good fighter. I just don't see it working against the welshman.Morales might be better suited to taking on saldivar actually.
If we're talking a prime-ish Winstone, Erik would have to lay more hurt on Winstone than he received in the second Saldivar fight if he's to knock him out, and I don't see that happening at all. Winstone had the prime beaten out of him that night but he still withstood it. Was a different fighter in the third fight.
We are talking the best of the best here Bill...and in this regard Erik's feet werent wonderful or terrific..more then adequate but for this particular matchup his footwork would have likely cost him. A lot of his problem were there were fairly slow...When he came in with long outside shots, he didnt have the footspeed to scoot out of danger, or the fluid movement to travel laterally out of punching range. This saw him get hit a lot more then needed, not that it worried overly but thats how you lose fights. His overall ring generalship isnt really the issue here, because that was fine, but its the short, deft movements that he did coming from out of range into punching range that Winstone and several other greats did better. Watch a guy like Winstone, he was very good a turning a guy around and bouncing in and out with his jab. Thats really whats Mantequilla is getting at I think and that is what makes this bout an interesting one.
I think the second Saldivar fight (the one that went the distance) is an excellent one to gauge not only his style and abilities, but his mental and physical toughness as well. For the first 10 rounds he performs very admirably, working proficiently with his left hand, for the most part outboxing Saldivar, and holding his own in a lot of the exchanges as well. I actually had him slightly up after 10. The last 5 rounds are what really show his toughness and grit, and are what give me a difficult time envisioning Morales ever stopping him. Morales couldn't apply the kind of pressure and consistent, break-you-down attack that Saldivar could. He also wasn't as sound technically, at least not from a defensive standpoint.
I meant in terms of coping with Morales style but yeah, I see what you mean. Good point. I think Winstone would win a close decision. I can't see Morales putting a hurt on him like Saldivar was able to. And, as previously mentioned he wasn't great at keeping his compsure. He would need to against Winstone.
