Come April 9th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada we will see a future hall of famer take on a a dangerous all out brawler in a fight titled “Action Heroes.” The event put on by Golden Boy Promotions marks the return of the legendary Erik Morales to PPV in a effort to become the first ever Mexican champion in four different weight divisions.
He faces a formidable road block in the heavy handed Argentinian slugger, Marcos Maidana. Fans and insiders the world over are expressing their honest sentiments loud and clear as many are worried that the bout could led Morales to serious life altering injuries. A recent tour of the boxing forums has many titling the bout “Dead Heroes.” One man who would vehemently disagree that this Saturday’s twelve round affair will be a complete and utter destruction of Erik Morales is Oscar De La Hoya.
“Think about how people were concerned about Bernard Hopkins when he fought Kelly Pavlik?” De La Hoya stated to us when we asked him about the concern many were expressing for the bout. “You never know in this fight game. When you have a legend in Erik Morales, you never know what is going to happen.” A fight is a fight and to the future hall of famers credit, you never know what can happen in a fight as George Foreman once proved all doubters wrong that indeed age is just a number in the fight game. You can not hide from the fact though, that Morales’ current opposition to this point has not been all to stellar. So one must wonder, what kind of shape is Morales in and will he show any hints of the Morales of old?
De La Hoya assures us that Morales is indeed in the right shape for this fight, citing that Morales has been training in elevation and throwing punches in bunches. ” He is looking fast and his reflexes are amazing, we are going to see a Erik Morales of old. You can not count out legends in this sport. Legends have the knowledge and know how to win and Erik Morales is a winner.”
Though many are counting out Morales, when you break down the match up, what he gives up in power he more than makes up for in pure boxing skill. The real question many should be asking is if Morales has the stamina to box and move around Maidana for twelve rounds with out his warrior spirit getting in the way. Morales hits back when hit and is not afraid of brawling it out. It is what led him to his thrilling trilogies with Marco Antonio Barrera and Manny Pacquiao whom is the last man to official beat the Filipino fighter.
If Morales can avoid brawling and box for twelve rounds and not get fatigued it should on paper and in theory but a tough but manageable fight in his favor. In this dream situation for Morales, what would promoter Oscar De La Hoya want to do with the fighter? “If he gets the win he would be the man at 140. He would be able to call the shots. You have fighters like Bradley, like Juan Manuel Marquez and Amir Khan. Imagine a fight with him and Khan. There will be a lot of opportunities that will un-foil after April 9th.”
Take note of that last sentence De La Hoya mentioned. As it is true generally speaking. If Morales puts on a good showing and avoids getting brutally knocked out he can get away with a loss that will opponent up other fights for him. Just take a look at Ricardo Mayorga and his recent showing with Miguel Cotto. The kid still has fight in him. Same rule could apply to Morales, either way who ever wins the bout will be certainly looking at those names mentioned above sometime in the near future, making the welterweight division in boxing one that will provide us fight fans with fistic pleasure for the next year.
