Prime Erik Morales vs Manny Pacquiao

Erik Morales UD12. Wins 9 or 10 rounds I say.

 

Of course....No one is questioning that. But being past your "Physical Prime" doesn't equate to a fighter who's on the way out.

Matter of fact.....Some fighters are actually BETTER past their Prime.....Let's take EM for example... Physically when he faced PAC he was a lil slower and maybe his reflexes weren't as on point as they were when he was 20, 21 or 22......but at 28 EM had a **** load of championship level experience...he had twice as many championship rounds and opponents than PAC did at that time and in a lot of cases EXPERIENCE, CRAFT and RING SAVVY are more than enough to beat YOUTH.

Not to mention the version EM faced was not the complete fighter PAC became years AFTER besting Erik 2 out of 3 fights.

The fights between EM and PAC were great.....it was litterally YOUTH vs EXPERIENCE. They were toss up fights but PAC proved he wasn't just another young champion...he was a special fighter who would later etch out an ATG legacy.

 

Eric WARRRRRRRRRALes!

 

If by any chance you had the chance to meet Pacman, and you had a discussion about this matter with you bringing up the very things you type, he would only give you a blank stare back at you. Looking at you and at the same time trying to find the first reason to excuse himself from the room.
Be real. Manny does not need you to make excuses for him. He doesn't need crazed fanatics to keep fighting. He only needs your PPV $ and he'll keep performing whether good or bad. He does both on every single outing.

 

OK....let's say the opposition did suck....that's in comparison to the era EM dominated during his hay day. With that said.....Are we to discredit Roy Jones Jr's resume at LHW or Nards at MW? After all....those were "weak" eras where both men dominated and made history.

Even further....Are we to discredit Nards history making fights at Light Heavy weight by beating Pascal? Or one of his other wins against Pavlik or Tarver just because they "suck" in some peoples opinion?:huh

 

PAC didn't get robbed in his loss to EM...EM should get full credit for that win. But both men took a beating in that fight...Not just PAC... that was a great fight...it was close and competitive but EM definitely deserved the nod.

 

EM put up good fight and fight Manny 3 time. EM no use weight excuse. Floyd must put 15 pound of muscle back on.

 

OK....We agree PAC at that stage was still pretty raw....he was still a "diamond in the rough". Erik was already a polished gem at that stage....a lil faded, but his experience warped that of PACs.

So we have to take that into consideration when eventuating the trilogy. PAC was facing a guy who was suppose to beat him...EASILY! MAB and JMM were ALL suppose to beat Manny. They were the boxers with the strong AM background...with the WORLD CLASS trainers from the very beginning. Yet we see PAC, a one dimensional RAW fighter not just winning...but DOMINATING these Mexican greats...out side of JMM of course.

And a faded fighter isn't SHOT! I hope other posters will stop with that bull**** because it only makes 'em look foolish.

 

ok i take all your words in good faith. but do you honestly believe that it was the best version of pac that morales has fought at 130 and it was pac's best interest to wear the winning gloves?

my first post was fair. morales' prime was at 122/126. pac's best version came at 140 when he fought hatton and cotto. therefore, prime for prime, is impossible unless you want to pit a 126 morales to a 140 pacquiao.

 

Both boxers back then were legit fighters that night. You can nit pick details from both corners, but at the end of the night, it was a legit competitive fight. You can't compare Pacquiao of that year to the one who fought Hatton. The latter did not exist yet, so yes Morales fought the best version of Pacman that was available at the time who was coming off impressive wins.
As for the winning gloves.. my stand is very personal because I've tried both gloves at 10oz and the difference is too minuscule to bring up as an obstacle. But if Pacman feels he got played and lost because of the gloves, then that's another issue. Remember that on the second fight, he wore cleto Reyes and was still losing the fight coming into the later rounds.

 

Sure. Looking at it like that I would too give Manny the win. Seeing as how you've put their primes into two separate weight classes, one would argue that pound for pound in their prime, Morales would still be the better fighter.

 

Good post the first actual decent post I've read all year in defense to Pacman! I disagree with you about the Mexican greats supposed to be beating Pacman "easily" and tho he was one dimensional, and IMO he still is, but that's a different story, Pacman wasn't raw. To me a raw fighter is one that can't grasp the fundamentals right, that keeps repeating the same mistake fight after fight and doesn't change. Chavez Jr is raw, Pacman by the time he faced Barrera wasn't raw. He had already won belts before that he had faced world class fighters and he had the experience by then. Barrera was Pacman's best win tho Barrera had many interruptions during camp including a forest fire Barrera admitted he was ready tho clearly he looked out of shape, but that's not Pacman's fault he did what he had to do.

Morales was the last line of defense for Mexicans and many thought since Pacman steamrolled thru MAB and dropped unknown Jmm thrice in one round Morales would face a similar fate. Didn't happen. To get to the point, to me Manny is the same Manny stylistically except for the right hook. Even in the rematch with Barrera you see Barrera beating Manny in some exchanges in the first rounds, but Barrera was past his best days by then, couldnt keep up as Erik did. Morales and MAB didn't have an Ariza to boost their conditioning. That's why I'm sure the best Morales would of beaten the best Pacman I mean he gave Floyd a whippin in sparring FFS! Who else can lay claim to beating the 2 best universally recognized p4p fighters of the last 10 yrs?

 

Pac made these butthurt fake mexicans' (americans) idol quit on his arse.

No heart. None!

 

I don't see you telling people that Morales doesn't need them making excuses for him (past prime, old, drained, etc)

 

Morales was still considered a top10 p4p fighter when Pac knocked him out.

Pac was ahead on all 3 scorecards when the fight was stopped in the 10th.