No serious injury for Morales

Contrary to widespread rumors, Erik Morales did not sustain any major injury in losing to Manny Pacquiao on a 10th round stoppage at the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas recently.

There were no shattered cheekbones, no cracked ribs and no broken nose. "All he got was four and five stitches on two small cuts over his right eye," reported Morales’ publicist Ricardo Jimenez, a former newspaperman now working for Top Rank Promotions.

In an e-mail to The STAR, Jimenez said Morales’ handlers insist the major reason for the setback was drastic weight loss. Morales struggled to make the 130-pound limit even as he tipped the scales on the mark in his first try at the weigh-in the day before the bout. "He was dehydrated after the fight," said Jimenez.

As for Pacquiao, Jimenez said Morales felt the Filipino displayed "more control in his attacks" in the rematch than in their first meeting which the Mexican won via a unanimous 12-round decision last March.

Jimenez said Pacquiao is clearly better than Marco Antonio Barrera and should be rated at least No. 3 in the list of the world’s best pound-for-pound fighters after Floyd Mayweather and Winky Wright.

Jimenez said a third Pacquiao-Morales fight–a rubber match–would be more marketable than a fourth Morales-Barrera bout. Barrera has won two of three meetings with Morales on points.

"I believe the fight that would be very exciting to the public is a third Morales-Pacquiao fight," said Jimenez. "After all, they’re 1-1. Erik did win the first fight and was ahead after six rounds in the second."

For the record, the three judges–Paul Smith, Dave Moretti and Jerry Roth–had it a majority draw at the end of six rounds. Both Smith and Roth saw it 57-all while Moretti scored it 58-56 for Morales. When the fight was stopped, Pacquiao was ahead in the three scorecards, 87-84, 87-84 and 86-85.

Jimenez noted that in the first round of the rematch, it appeared Pacquiao’s right glove touched the canvas, meaning referee Kenny Bayless should’ve ruled a knockdown, after a barrage of blows by Morales along the ropes. Smith and Roth scored the round 10-9 for Pacquiao and Moretti, 10-9 for Morales. If Bayless called a knockdown, Morales would’ve won the round, 10-8.

International referee Bruce McTavish also had a complaint. He pointed out that Morales should have been given a mandatory eight-count in the second stanza.

"Erik got hit hard and grabbed the ropes with his right hand to stop from falling," said McTavish. "If the ropes stop you from falling, it’s a knockdown."

Bayless, however, let it go.

There was another instance later in the fight when Morales appeared to be on the way down but Bayless got in the way and prevented his fall. Morales’ second wife Sandra Mora–scheduled to give birth to their first child, a boy, in two or three weeks–was at ringside to watch the fight and according to Jimenez, was proud of her husband’s effort and of course, sad for the loss. They were married in Tijuana last October.

Morales, 29, is divorced from his first wife America with whom he has three children, two boys and a girl.

"My ex-wife didn’t like boxing," said Morales quoted by Brent Matteo Alderson in KO Magazine. "She worried a lot but she respected my work. Right now, Sandra supports me. But what wife isn’t going to worry if her husband is a fighter?"

Morales planned to show up at the "Night of Champions" card in Cancun last Saturday to join over 70 former titleholders in a tribute hosted by World Boxing Council (WBC) president Jose Sulaiman. But he decided to stay in his San Diego home, recovering from the beating he took from Pacquiao. One of Morales’ fighters, Lorenzo Trejo, fought in Cancun that night and was stopped by Filipino Rodel Mayol in a WBC minimumweight title eliminator.

Jimenez said the growing rivalry between Mexican and Filipino fighters is healthy and a positive development in boxing.

"When you have fighters like Morales, Pacquiao, Rey (Boom Boom) Bautista who like to fight and give a good show, it’s always great," said Jimenez. "I loved the kid Mayol who beat Trejo in Cancun."

With Jimenez’ disclosure that Morales suffered no major injury, it appears a third match against Pacquiao is inevitable in June–if the Mexican agrees to fight at 130 pounds.