Can Morales turn back the clock?

jamesmcdonnell · Post by **jamesmcdonnell** » 19 Aug 2006, 09:33

I've long been of the opinion that a third fight with Pacman was a bad idea, but I am beginning to question my own logic.

Morales looked a little soft at the weigh in for the fight, and didn't look as fit as usual. We have heard how he struggles to make the weight, but perhaps he just didn't train as hard as he should have, thinking that he had Pacman's number. What he didn't bank on was Pacman making some adjustments including utilising the jab, and improved left hook and more straight punching to get in range. Morales had some success in the middle rounds, but Pacman got to him and Morales just couldn't raise his game.

In addition I notice that Pacman seems to be more and more involved in his business affairs, TV shows, promotional work, and being a cultural icon in the phillipines. He seems to have a lot of distractions.

Morales by contrast knows he is nearer the end than the beginning and that a loss here would be the end of his big time career. If he is capable of putting his wartorn body through it, then I think Morales WILL turn up in better shape and more ready for a hard fight.

I am not sure whether I believe what I am writing myself or not, but I think there is a possiblity for the upset here and that Morales turns in a great performance to beat Pacman.

Any thoughts?

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 19 Aug 2006, 10:05

I can't write off Morales as he has a Holyfield ability to bounce back & defy the odds. But with that being the first stoppage loss, and with Pacquiao obviously peaking, it will be his greatest challenge.

Morales made a foolish error at the end of the first fight. He turned southpaw and pretty much invited pac to batter him with right hooks. Morales was in control of fight one, then he made the fatal error of letting the brawler know that he could be hurt.

I don't like the idea of a 3rd fight. great matchups are made, but then ppl keep asking the same guys to have the same fight again & again. Also, with the apparent weight problems of Morales it doesn't look good for him. But Pacquiao is a temperamental fighter. If he's not doing well he can go quiet. & who knows, if he he's had distractions...

silkov · Post by **silkov** » 19 Aug 2006, 10:28

I think Paq will win this one too... probably on points, ...unless he's allowed himself to get too distracted but I think thats a false hope really... I just dont think Morales can maintain the pace and take punishment that he used to be able to and Paqs nonstop style would be trouble for even a prime Morales... faded and battle worn as he is I just dont see Morales having enough left to pull this out...

glahn · Post by **glahn** » 19 Aug 2006, 11:25

I think this one will definitely be closer than the last one. Pacman's distractions outside of boxing can't be good for his preparation, and Morales, though past his best, is hungry and dangerous. I see this one being a narrow points win, probably in Pacquiao's favour, but I definitely wouldn't write Morales off yet...

lvlarc · Post by **lvlarc** » 19 Aug 2006, 14:35

I think he can, but he won't. He should be fighting at 140!

I'm going for Pacquiao TKO 9

Cannibal · Post by **Cannibal** » 20 Aug 2006, 08:16

Pacquaio takes it, Morales is through at this level.

Phenomenal-Nutrition · Post by **Phenomenal-Nutrition** » 20 Aug 2006, 08:42

Not sure at all, there are a few questions to be asked. How did Morales broken nose and him going toe-toe affect the outcome? Would he have done better working more cautiously? Was Morales too cocky after the first fight? How much affect did the different gloves have? HasMorales been declining since going to 130, as seen against Barrera, Raheem and completely looking exhausted last time out?

I'm not sure on the answers but I think next time out should tell us something.

lvlarc · Post by **lvlarc** » 11 Nov 2006, 15:11

Fight is not on Sky's schedule but it may be worth emailing them as that could of helped with the fights being shown in the past.

Probably a waste of time but we got a week to try and make a difference

[email protected] or http://home.skysports.com/contactus/

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 11 Nov 2006, 15:57

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:Not sure at all, there are a few questions to be asked. How did Morales broken nose and him going toe-toe affect the outcome? Would he have done better working more cautiously? Was Morales too cocky after the first fight? How much affect did the different gloves have? HasMorales been declining since going to 130, as seen against Barrera, Raheem and completely looking exhausted last time out?

I'm not sure on the answers but I think next time out should tell us something.

I felt that Morales had a great start at 130; he was well on his way to being fighter of the year with wins over Chavez (albeit one armed) and Hernandez, before losing that tight fight with MAB.

Erik definitely has an illustious standing at 130, as he beat Pac as well despite losing the rematch badly.

I'm rooting for Morales in this one.

I will say, I'm eager for someone to knock Manny off his perch. Though it will probably take someone as fast/defensive apt as Guzman or a puncher like Valero. Valero proved he has the toughness to go with the power.

glahn · Post by **glahn** » 11 Nov 2006, 16:11

I'd never write off Morales. I do think this fight will be a bit like the third Jones-Tarver fight though, with Morales making it close and generally doing better, but still losing.

lvlarc · Post by **lvlarc** » 11 Nov 2006, 16:20

Vic, mind me asking why exactly do you want to see someone knock Pacquiao off his perch?

stujones · Post by **stujones** » 11 Nov 2006, 16:25

I think it could be interesting.... Did the damage to Morales' nose effecting him more than people are crediting. Morales was winning when the damage happend.

Also, Morales has been really praising his new training regime. He has been saying he is a much better fight since having a nutritionalist on board. Is it hype? Maybe.

If this was Morales' first defeat, I would looked at his "excuses" and say he would bounce back. However, he looked poor vs Raheem before that.

Morales seemed to have Pacquiao's number in fight one, just did everything better. However, in the rematch the opposite happend.

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 11 Nov 2006, 17:07

lvlarc_uk wrote:Vic, mind me asking why exactly do you want to see someone knock Pacquiao off his perch?

He can be a bit repetitive. My lasting impression of him is him floundering in his 'bad socks' vs Marquez from round 3 through 12.

Also, this Morales rivalry could get really stale, and I'm itching to see someone 'new' take over. I'm just not excited about Pacquiao.

lvlarc · Post by **lvlarc** » 11 Nov 2006, 17:24

viciousmaussa wrote:
lvlarc_uk wrote:Vic, mind me asking why exactly do you want to see someone knock Pacquiao off his perch?
He can be a bit repetitive. My lasting impression of him is him floundering in his 'bad socks' vs Marquez from round 3 through 12.

Also, this Morales rivalry could get really stale, and I'm itching to see someone 'new' take over. I'm just not excited about Pacquiao.

Then I suggest you stick in a tape of Pacquiao-Barrera or any of his last 3 fights. In fairness though, the Morales fight is just to cap off an action packed trilogy. Morales is still a top 10 SF, rated 3 by The Ring.

Assuming that Pacman wins, you can expect him to continue to fight the best. He's definetly earned his status.

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 11 Nov 2006, 17:28

lvlarc_uk wrote:
viciousmaussa wrote:
lvlarc_uk wrote:Vic, mind me asking why exactly do you want to see someone knock Pacquiao off his perch?
He can be a bit repetitive. My lasting impression of him is him floundering in his 'bad socks' vs Marquez from round 3 through 12.

Also, this Morales rivalry could get really stale, and I'm itching to see someone 'new' take over. I'm just not excited about Pacquiao.
Then I suggest you stick in a tape of Pacquiao-Barrera or any of his last 3 fights. In fairness though, the Morales fight is just to cap off an action packed trilogy. Morales is still a top 10 SF, rated 3 by The Ring.

Assuming that Pacman wins, you can expect him to continue to fight the best. He's definetly earned his status.

Yes, he was very good against Barrera, but Barrera looked weird and dishevelled before the fight.

I can't be arsed to watch it again.

Larios was never going to win. That was a shit matchup.

Pac is just going to go over old ground, Morales 3, Barrera 2.

Let's see new fresh rivalries. It's an exciting division. But the super feathers could well let the super bantams or the super middles take the play away.

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 11 Nov 2006, 17:37

lvlarc_uk wrote:
viciousmaussa wrote:
lvlarc_uk wrote:Vic, mind me asking why exactly do you want to see someone knock Pacquiao off his perch?
He can be a bit repetitive. My lasting impression of him is him floundering in his 'bad socks' vs Marquez from round 3 through 12.

Also, this Morales rivalry could get really stale, and I'm itching to see someone 'new' take over. I'm just not excited about Pacquiao.
Then I suggest you stick in a tape of Pacquiao-Barrera or any of his last 3 fights. In fairness though, the Morales fight is just to cap off an action packed trilogy. Morales is still a top 10 SF, rated 3 by The Ring.

Assuming that Pacman wins, you can expect him to continue to fight the best. He's definetly earned his status.

I'd much rather find a copy of Gairy St Clair v Malcolm Klassen, IBF super featherweight title fight from last weekend. It's meant to be a great fight.

I've got Valero-Mosquera, now I need Klassen-St Clair. Two 'obscure wars'.

Sod Pac.

lvlarc · Post by **lvlarc** » 11 Nov 2006, 17:41

So you are saying you would fault Pacquiao if Barrera accepted the highly anticipated rematch?

Barrera is rated 2nd or 1st at 130 in just about every rating. He's still easily a top 10 P4P'r

His clinic over Juarez keeps him above Guzman and Valero for now.

I don't see many complaining should the Pacquiao-Barrera rematch happen.

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 11 Nov 2006, 17:55

lvlarc_uk wrote:So you are saying you would fault Pacquiao if Barrera accepted the highly anticipated rematch?

Barrera is rated 2nd or 1st at 130 in just about every rating. He's still easily a top 10 P4P'r

His clinic over Juarez keeps him above Guzman and Valero for now.

I don't see many complaining should the Pacquiao-Barrera rematch happen.

Can't fault Pac for looking to a Barrera rematch. Pac is fighting an elim for Barrera's belt, plus it is a huge fight that could settle p4p #1. & will settle the debate whether MAB was out of shape.

However, I am more interested in seeing some variety. Sequels can go stale and it'd be more intriguing with Guzman, Valero, Klassen - if the raves reviews are to be believed - and St Clair involved.

Barrera, Pac, Morales could fight each other forever, but could they beat all those guys? We won't know until we see it. Who knows how many great fights are possible.

On top of that, when you put top class fighters together, you really find out who's the business, who's 'exposed', who's who.

caster · Post by **caster** » 12 Nov 2006, 13:37

I believe Morales is the better fighter, its just a question of how much he's got left.

I thought Marquez outboxed Pacman for 11 rounds after being dropped 3 times.

I'd love Morales to win and if he's prepared properly and fights intelligently I think he can outsmart the tenacious Pacman.

JC · Post by JC » 12 Nov 2006, 13:41

caster wrote:I believe Morales is the better fighter, its just a question of how much he's got left.

I thought Marquez outboxed Pacman for 11 rounds after being dropped 3 times.

I'd love Morales to win and if he's prepared properly and fights intelligently I think he can outsmart the tenacious Pacman.

I think people forget how well Morales delt will Pac in the first fight, I get the impression Morales is going to be much better prepared this time than he was for their second fight. I'm really biased though as Morales has been my favorite fighter for a few years now.

Autobarn · Post by **Autobarn** » 12 Nov 2006, 16:41

Morales made one shocking error in the first fight. In that 12th round, when he turned southpaw, he reluinquished control, got hit by lots of right hooks, and let Pacquiao know that the Filipino could hurt him.

Bad news to give an aggressive bullying fighter confidence.

glahn · Post by **glahn** » 12 Nov 2006, 16:54

caster wrote:I believe Morales is the better fighter, its just a question of how much he's got left.

I thought Marquez outboxed Pacman for 11 rounds after being dropped 3 times.

I'd love Morales to win and if he's prepared properly and fights intelligently I think he can outsmart the tenacious Pacman.

Pacquiao has improved since Marquez and the first Morales fight though. He's still pretty crude at times, but he shows better movement and a better variety of punches than he did back then. Add to that the fact that Morales has now lost, what, three in a row is it? I would never write him off completely, but he's going to have to better than he has for a long time if he's going to keep Pacquiao off him for 12 rounds.

Les Kendal · Post by **Les Kendal** » 12 Nov 2006, 18:01

Morales definitely seems focussed for this this fight. He seems a lot more focussed than he was for both previous Pacquiao fights. I expect Morales to give everything he has got left for this fight. You can never write off a guy of his ability.
He would probably stand a far greater chance of beating Manny though if he decided to try and box more defensively than usual, but Morales has that macho streak that probably won't allow him to box that way for a sustained period.

I reckon Morales will start cagily and outbox Pacquaio for a few rounds, then as Pacquiao ups his workrate the fight will become more of a brawl and the extra youth, stamina and speed will come into play and Pacquaio will start to assert himself by the 7th/8th round. Another rally from Morales will back Pacquiao up for a round or 2 but Manny will come through with a 10 or 11th round stoppage of Morales.

It should be a good one.