By Ronnie Nathanielsz

Mexican legend Erik “El Terrible” Morales has stepped up training for his return to the ring on March 27 in Monterrey, Mexico.

Morales who quit after suffering back-to-back battering from pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao in a classic trilogy has decided to make a comeback against Jose Alfaro in a pay-per-view bout which is bound to generate some interest among fight fans who would wish to see whether Morales has truly recovered from the crushing defeats to Pacquiao.

After winning a twelve round decision in their first clash when Pacquiao’s sight was hampered by blood streaming from a nasty gash above his left eye following an accidental clash of heads in the fifth round, Morales was demolished in ten rounds in their rematch on January 21, 2006 .

The third fight was even worse as Morales took a bad beating and was knocked out in the third round on November 18, 2006. In his last fight Morales dropped a twelve round unanimous decision to then WBC lightweight champion David Diaz on August 4, 2007 after which Diaz was annihilated by Pacquiao in nine rounds and lost his crown to the Filipino southpaw. Diaz himself returns to the ring on the Pacquiao-Joshua Clottey undercard, aiming to regain the title in a showdown with the skilled Humberto Sotto.

Morales will fight under the banner of KO Entertainment and will face Nicaragua’s 26 year old lightweight Jose Alfaro . Morales has a record of 48-6 with 34 knockouts while Alfaro has a record of 23-5 with 20 knockouts.

The 33 year old Mexican said “my return is because I want to continue fighting, not to be committed to anyone or anything but simply because I want to remain active.”

Morales said “some say that I am old but I am as young as other fighters who are still in the limelight such as Juan Manuel Marquez and Antonio Margarito. Some are pushing 40 and I’m much younger.”

Alfaro is coming off a 10th round TKO loss to Antonio DeMarco in a clash for the WBC Interim lightweight title when he was going for his fourth straight victory.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum handled Morales for many years but wanted him to quit after his twin defeats to Pacquiao and his loss to Diaz and declined to promote his fights out of concern for Morales’ safety.