Erik Isaac Morales Elvira (born September 1, 1976) is a Mexican politician and former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2012. He is the first Mexico-born boxer in history to win world championships in four weight classes, ranging from super bantamweight to light welterweight.
Morales defeated fifteen world champions during the course of his career, and is famous for his trilogies with fellow Mexican legend Marco Antonio Barrera, as well as Manny Pacquiao. ESPN ranked Morales at number 49 on their list of the 50 greatest boxers of all time.Espn.Com: All-Time Greatest Boxers. Sports.espn.go.com. Retrieved on August 24, 2012.
Morales was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in June 2018.
Career history
Early career Erik Morales was born in the Zona Norte section of Tijuana. Under the tutelage of his father, José Morales, a fighter himself, Erik started boxing at the age of five and amassed a very impressive amateur career that totaled 114 fights (108–6), winning 11 major titles in Mexico in the process. Morales made his professional debut at the age of 16 by knocking out Jose Orejel in two rounds. Between 1993 and 1997, he quickly climbed the ranks in the super bantamweight division, winning 26 fights, 20 by knockout, including wins against former champions Kenny Mitchell and Hector Acero Sánchez, before challenging for his first world title. It was during this time that he signed with promoter Bob Arum.
Super bantamweight
Morales vs. Zaragoza On September 6, 1997, in El Paso, Texas, at the age of 21, he won his first world title by stopping WBC Super Bantamweight Champion and now member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, Daniel Zaragoza, via knockout in eleven rounds.
In his first defense, Morales defeated John Lowey (24–2) by knockout in the seventh round. In his next fight, he defeated Remigio Molina (31–1) by knockout in the 6th round. On May 16, 1998, he defeated former champion Jose Luis Bueno via knockout in the second round.
Morales vs. Jones In September 1998, in another landmark fight, Morales knocked out former two-weight world champion Junior Jones of the United States. Jones went into the battle with a daunting record against Mexican fighters of 35 victories and no losses, most notably including two victories over the previous champion, Marco Antonio Barrera, in 1996 and 1997. Also noteworthy was that Jones was entering México for the first time to fight, and the fight was held at Tijuana. The fight went on to three contested rounds, before Morales knocked out Jones with two consecutive overhead right crosses in the fourth round.
In October 1999, Morales fought and defeated former WBC Bantamweight Champion Wayne McCullough of Northern Ireland, saying that McCullough gave him one of the three toughest fights of his career.
Morales vs. Barrera I
In February 2000, Morales defeated Marco Antonio Barrera to win the WBO Super Bantamweight title, in a fight that is now considered one of boxing's classics. Morales won the fight by a controversial split decision. It was an intense battle in which both fighters were cut and battered. Many people thought Barrera had won the fight on a knockdown that he scored in the twelfth and final round. After the fight, Morales said, "He was a brave fighter, and we both gave it all we had. We were both hurt during the fight. He was the biggest puncher I ever faced in the ring." The Ring named it the Fight of the Year.
Featherweight After nine successful title defenses, Morales chose to vacate his WBC Super Bantamweight title to move up to featherweight division. In his second fight at this weight, he fought 33-year-old former world champion Kevin Kelley, in September 2000. Kelley was knocked down in the fifth and seventh rounds, he was finally trapped in the latter round by a flurry of five consecutive uppercuts from Morales. Supported only by the ropes, a sixth uppercut landed, and the fight was stopped. Morales became the Interim WBC Featherweight Champion.
Morales vs. Espadas Jr. Morales fought again in 2000, knocking out Rodney Jones in the first round. In February 2001, he fought Guty Espadas Jr., the WBC Featherweight title holder with a thirteen fight winning streak, and whose father, Guty Espadas, Sr., was also a world champion boxer. Morales won a close twelve-round decision to claim his third world title in his second weight division. Although Morales was highly rated in the featherweight division, Naseem Hamed was seen as the Lineal Champion of the division.
Morales vs. Chi
In July 2001, Morales defeated future champion In Jin Chi of South Korea and retained his title. Chi gave a strong effort, but Morales was the sharper, harder puncher and outworked him for much of the fight. Morales was cut and swollen over the left eye in the sixth round by an accidental clash of heads and Chi was penalized one point in the tenth round.Erik Morales Vs. In Jin Chi . Dogs Of Chaos (May 26, 2008). Retrieved on August 24, 2012.
Morales vs. Barrera II
Morales then tasted defeat for the first time in his 42nd professional fight when he lost (this time) a controversial unanimous decision and his WBC title against Lineal Champion, Marco Antonio Barrera in June 2002, in a re-match of their February 2000 fight. Morales constantly pressed forward and dominated much of the first half of the fight (clearly winning at least 4 of the first 6 rounds). He was cut on the bridge of the nose in the 2nd round, and cut and swollen over his right eye in the 8th. However, he punched Barrera to the canvas during the middle rounds but this was called a slip. Barrera fought cautiously in the early rounds, but rallied as the fight progressed, although Morales seemed to narrowly win rounds 10 and 11, which when including his dominance in the first half of the fight, seemed to seal him the close victory on the score-cards. HBO's unofficial ring-side scorer: Harold Lederman, scored the fight 115–113 (7 rounds to 5) for Morales.
Second Featherweight title reign
Morales bounced back with a dominating twelve-round decision victory over former world champion, Paulie Ayala in November 2002 to regain the vacant WBC Featherweight title. The early rounds were close, but Morales started to dominate in the middle rounds, consistently landing the harder punches and Ayala's left eye began to swell. He slowed his pace in the late rounds and Ayala rallied, but Morales rocked him with a series of punches in the 12th round.Gonzalez, Frank, Jr Erik Morales vs Paulie Ayala: Morales too strong for gallant Ayala!. Eastsideboxing.com. Retrieved on August 24, 2012.
Morales defeated Eddie Croft in March 2003. He scored three knockdowns and stopped Croft in the 3rd round. All the fighters on the card donated their purses to "Vamos Mexico," a children's charity headed by Marta Sahagun, wife of Mexican president Vicente Fox.World Boxing Council News. Eastsideboxing.com. Retrieved on August 24, 2012.
Morales defeated Fernando Velárdez later that year. He knocked down Velárdez in the 1st, 4th and 5th rounds when the fight was stopped without a count.
Super featherweight Morales vs. Espadas Jr. II In October 2003, Morales defeated Guty Espadas Jr. in a rematch of their first close fight, which was also a WBC Super Featherweight title eliminator. This time Morales knocked him out in three rounds. Morales vacated his WBC Featherweight title immediately after the bout, remaining in the super featherweight division.
Morales vs. Chávez On February 28, 2004, Morales captured the WBC Super Featherweight title by unanimous decision over Jesús Chávez. Morales twice knocked down Chávez, which Floyd Mayweather Jr. had been unable to do. Morales was rocked midway through the 1st round, but he came back to score two knockdowns in the 2nd round and managed to cut Chavez over the left eye. Chavez injured his right shoulder early in the fight and threw very few right hands, but still fought aggressively for the rest of the fight with his jab and left hooks which cut Morales over the eye in the 4th round. With the victory he became the second Mexican boxer to win a title at three separate weight divisions, the first being the acclaimed Julio César Chávez.
On July 31, 2004, Morales unified his WBC Super Featherweight title with the IBF version by way of a twelve-round unanimous decision over Carlos Hernández. Hernández constantly pressed forward, but Morales boxed effectively consistently landing the harder, more accurate punches that rocked Hernández several times.Erik Morales outpoints Carlos "Famoso" Hernandez. Eastsideboxing.com (July 31, 2004). Retrieved on August 24, 2012.
Morales vs. Barrera III
On November 27, 2004, Morales fought Barrera for the third time in a bout for the WBC Super Featherweight title. Their highly anticipated third battle drew a capacity crowd of over 11,000. Barrera started fast and rocked Morales late in the first round and bloodied his nose in the second. Morales came back strongly in the second half of the fight and won four of the last six rounds on two judges' scorecards. However, the judges scored the bout 114–114, 114–115, 113–115 in favor of Barrera, in what was justifiably a very, very close, but non-controversial and justifiable win for Barrera. Their third meeting was once again named The Ring Fight of the Year.
Morales vs. Pacquiao I
On March 19, 2005, as a betting underdog, Morales defeated then three-division world champion Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, by a unanimous decision. During the 12th round, Morales, comfortably ahead on the scorecards, decided to brawl with the Filipino slugger, even turning southpaw during the process. In a post fight interview, HBO broadcaster Larry Merchant, asked Morales, "Why?" Morales replied by asking a question of his own, "Did you enjoy it? That's why."
Later that night, at the post-fight press conference, Erik further explained his reasoning for brawling with the Filipino slugger; "It was a great pleasure to fight this way. I think I was controlling the fight with my distance. Sometimes I need to put a little flavor into the ring. My promoter always says that I make the fights very difficult, but they're not difficult, they're fun for the public. I decided to stop myself in front of him in the twelfth round because I wanted to give the public what they deserve. It was a great round. I'm very happy about it."ERIK MORALES PROFILE AND BIO. canadastarboxing.com
Lightweight Morales vs. Raheem
On September 10, 2005, Erik Morales moved up to the lightweight division and was defeated by unanimous decision by Zahir Raheem. Raheem frustrated Morales with constant lateral movement. Raheem rocked Morales in the 5th round and built a lead on the scorecards, but Morales rallied in the 11th round and staggered him with a right hand as Raheem's glove touched the canvas, but it was not scored a knockdown by referee Jon Schorle.Salazar, Francisco and Gonzales, Ralph (September 2005). Raheem outslicks Morales! Pac-man brutalizes Velazquez! . Newmexicoboxing.com. Retrieved on August 24, 2012. The final scores were 118–110, 116–112 and 115–112 in favor of Raheem.
Return to Super featherweight Morales vs. Pacquiao II & III
On January 22, 2006, Morales fought Pacquiao in a rematch from their bout ten months before and was defeated in ten rounds. Pacquiao knocked down Morales twice in the final seconds of round ten and the fight was stopped.