By Miguel Rivera

Two of the greatest Mexican fighters in the history of the sport, Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera, went to dinner on Saturday night in Tijuana, Mexico.

During their Hall of Fame careers, they were heated rivals. There were brawls at media events, post-fight skirmishes and plenty of heated words traded over the years.

Both of them are now retired and it's hard to mention one without mentioning the other, as they took part in one of the greatest fight trilogies in the sport.

The first bout took place on February 19, 2000, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, in Las Vegas. In the 'Fight of The Year' - Morales was declared the winner by split decision, with scores of 115-112, 114-113 and 113-114 and captured the WBO super bantamweight title. Many at ringside felt Barrera had done enough to win.

The rematch took place on June 22, 2002, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The first fight was televised on HBO, but the rematch - due to the tremendous hype of the first meeting, landed on pay-per-view. Unlike the vicious war in the first bout, both boxers took a more tactical approach in the rematch. There was still a lot of fireworks and a very frenzied crowd at ringside. Barrera was declared the winner by unanimous decision, with scores of 116-112 and 115-113 and captured the WBC featherweight title. This time around, most at ringside felt Morales had done enough to win.

Their trilogy fight, also on pay-per-view, took place on November 27, 2004 at the MGM Grand. Some believe the third fight was the most vicious in the three fight series. The contest, which again won 'Fight of The Year' honors, saw Barrera declared by way of a twelve round majority decision to capture the WBC super featherweight championship with scores of 115-113, 115-114, and 114-114.