Why Erik Morales is possibly a higher ATG than Mayweather

A lot of people tend to ignore Morales and Hopkins when discussing the greatest fighters of Floyd's era. Which is wrong IMO. Most just lock in Mayweather and Pacquiao at 1 and 2 in some order and say it's a lock. Some people even put Joe freaking Calzaghe in the top 3.....

But should it be that way cut and dry? For this thread I'll just look at Morales because I think both he and Hopkins actually have a case to crack the top 2 greatest fighters of Mayweather's era.

Let's look at what the Morales detractors say.

1. He was past prime at 27/28 and shot by 29/30 and he didn't have enough longevity. Ok sounds like a fair point. But here's why it's not a big deal. By the time he was 28 after the first Pacquiao fight he was 48-2. With his only two losses coming to prime or near prime Marco Antonio Barrera. He had an entire modern boxing career by his late 20s. He had just as much longevity by 28 years old as Floyd could amass by 38 years old.

2. They say he was never tip top P4P ranked fighter. Fair point because I remember his highest ranking was what like somewhere around #6 or #7? But let's remember that Ricky Hatton once ascended higher on the P4P rankings than Morales and so did Antonio Tarver. Which of course seems foolish now! So we see that P4P can only be useful in retrospect.

3. They say he didn't ascend up weight classes as well as Mayweather did. Fair point. Morales was no longer effective past 130. He couldn't hang at 135 or higher. They're correct on that one, but still being an A level fighter at 3 weight classes isn't too bad.

4. They say he only beat two men. Wrong. Junior Jones, Wayne McCullough, Kevin Kelley, Guty Espadas, In-Jin Chi and Jesus Chavez were not bums to go along with Pacquiao and Barrera. And the most impressive thing was most of the guys were not faded fighters when they fought Morales.

5. They say he was inconsistent in his performances. He brawled with guys with far less skill than himself. True he did brawl with guys he didn't need to. But I don't recall him being involved in any robberies except for MAB I. Actually most of the guys he "struggled with" ended up finishing the fight on their back, in their corner or on the ropes getting pummeled.

So there you have it. Next time you slide Mayweather and Pacquiao so easily into 1 and 2 of that era. Make sure you consider Morales. At the very least don't ignore him at #3 or #4.

 

I just showed you that Morales went 48-2 in his prime with wins over many solid contenders.

They're very even here.

 

Fixed it.

 

See point #2.