RSSErik Morales
Thursday, February 01, 2007
EEC - February 1, 2007
Your morning boxing news coming at ya…
News, Notes, and Rumors:
- The Milburn family of Windsor, Ontario has donated a pair of Joe Louis’ gloves that he used in his historic battle with Max Schmeling in 1936 to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. The Milburn family originally received the gloves from relatives who were close with Louis’ long time manager.
- WBC President Jose Sulaiman thinks that it’s time for Erik Morales to hang up the gloves…
“When someone loses hunger, he loses the desire to win,” Sulaiman said. “I think fighters lose the motivation to get up at 4 a.m. in the morning and go running, and the motivation to go on a diet. And I believe in that regard, Erik has not taken care of himself. He put himself through inhuman levels to lose weight, and he has picked the best to fight with the least amount of conditioning, and that is why he is in the situation that he is.”
Sulaiman also thinks that Morales needs one last fight…
“But my opinion is that he wants to retire with a victory, and he believes he can win the championship at lightweight. Erik doesn’t want to go out a loser in the way that he lost against Manny Pacquiao. He doesn’t want to go out in the minds of the people thinking of him on the canvas. So there are two motivations for him: his fourth world title and his leaving boxing with a different image for fans who’ve seen him for so many years.”
What does this all mean? Since Joel Casamayor will fight Acelino Freitas, that leaves David Diaz open for Morales’ taking. Look for a WBC Lightweight Title fight in either March or April…
- Floyd Mayweather Jr’s advisor, Leonard Ellerbe, has told The Las Vegas Review-Journal that Freddie Roach’s training methods aren’t going to have an impact on the fight between Mayweather and Oscar De La Hoya:
“Oscar had two chances to win this fight, slim and none, and slim just left town when he hired Freddie,” Ellerbe said. “I have a lot of respect for Freddie as a great trainer, but to compare Freddie Roach as a trainer to Mayweather Sr. is like comparing (Manu) Ginobili to Kobe Bryant.”
- Manny Pacquiao has not yet decided whether or not he wants to run for mayor of his hometown or for a seat in the House of Representatives in the Phillipines.
Some Good Reads:
FOX Sports: The big time has called Kelly Pavlik
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Monday, November 20, 2006
What’s Next For Pacquiao?
What is next for the recently victorious Manny Pacquiao? A lot more than people might think…
Before Pacquiao can even contemplate his next opponent, he needs to fight out who is going to be promoting him next year: Top Rank or Golden Boy?
So let’s break down the facts…
Top Rank promoted Pacquiao for Saturday night’s fight - it should have been the last fight under the Top Rank banner for Pacquiao, who signed with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions in September.
However Bob Arum and Top Rank have already stated that Pacquiao signing with Golden Boy before his contract with Top Rank was up is a violation and needs to be dealt with. The matter where mostly likely end up in court with a hearing that will determine who exactly Pacquiao will be working for next year.
Either way, it’s going to be interesting to see how things turn out. Pacquiao’s contract with Top Rank is over the minute the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve. Even if his current contract with Golden Boy is terminated, it’s almost certain that he will just go ahead and sign a similar one as soon as he can in 2007.
Well hold on a minute here… Arum has thrown a wrench into the mix…
When asked about the situation last week, Arum has said that he should have a say in Pacquiao’s future as well and that Manny tried returning the check for his signing bonus back to Golden Boy, who wouldn’t accept it.
Is Pacquiao running back to Top Rank? Only time will tell at this point…
So who might be his next opponent?
Well right now two names are being thrown around: Marco Antonio Barrera and Edwin Valero.
Pacquiao signed with Golden Boy earlier in the fall with the idea that if he was victorious against Erik Morales, he would take on Barrera in a rematch at some point in 2007. Arum however wants Pacquiao to take on Edwin Valero.
A lot will be riding on a judge’s decision, there’s no doubt about that…
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Sunday, November 19, 2006
Pacquiao Ends Trilogy With Morales by KO
Instead of giving boxing fans around the world the possible fight of the year against Erik Morales, Manny Pacquiao had other plans…
What did he have in mind? Just ask Morales what happened in the third round when he was dropped and counted out by the referee.
Yes, Pacquiao stopped Morales in the third round of their bout on Saturday night, ending the trilogy of fights between the two and also sending Morales into possible retirement.
“I had a long, illustrious career,” Morales said. “I’ve done it all. It might not be the best thing [to continue]. It was always a pleasure on my part to thrill people with great, great fights.”
Morales has said that he will think long and hard before making any decision at all…
Pacquiao and Morales started the fight just like they did their previous wars, throwing unrelentless bombs with little regard for their opponent’s well-being. It became clear towards the end of the first round however that Pacquiao was the stronger, faster fighter.
Pacquiao knocked Morales down for the first time towards the end of the second round with a left hook. Morales fell into the ropes and looked confused. He attempted a comeback, landing numerous blows but none of the shots even affected Pacquiao.
Pacquiao pummeled Morales in the third round, landing 80% of his power punches and knocked his opponent down with just a minute to go. It was one last left hook that sent Morales to the canvas, ultimately ending the fight.
“I was looking to my corner,” Morales said. “They were urging me on to get up, but I knew it was futile. No point. I was a beaten man tonight.”
Pacquiao was very confident after the fight, knowing that he is truly the better fighter of the two at this point:
“I like that he came out at me,” said Pacquiao, who won the trilogy 2-1. “It gave me a chance to knock him out. I believe I am faster than him, and quicker than him, and stronger than him. I think he felt my power.”
So what’s next for Manny? I’ll have a little post detailing everything on Monday…
Monday, July 03, 2006
Weekend Results - July 3, 2006
Manny Pacquiao retains the WBC International Super Featherweight title, garnerning a unanimous decision victory over Oscar Larios on Sunday night. Pacquiao stated after the fight that his next bout will be against Erik Morales on November 18th.
Chazz Witherspoon remained undefeated and beat Michael Alexander by unanimous decision to continue to his quest to the top of the heavyweight division.
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