By Matthew Hurley
Unfortunately for Zahir Raheem, despite the best performance of his career, his was not the top story in his upset victory over Erik Morales. Even though many gave the flashy speedster a legitimate shot in Erik’s first foray into the lightweight division, his victory was overshadowed by the fact that Erik Morales, a top ten fighter for nearly a decade, lost. That’s what happens when you beat an all time great fighter – you take a back seat and quietly relish your victory and wait for your accomplishments to catch up to the spotlight.
Morales’ decision to fight Zahir Raheem was, in hindsight, hubris. So confident was he after his victory over Many Pacquiao, that he seemed to shrug off the fact that he has trouble with fleet-footed boxers. That he was fighting for the first time at 135 pounds and he did not carry his punching power with him as he went up in weight. This obvious fact never seemed to get inside the hard-headed Mexican’s mind.
Morales hasn’t scored a knockout in his last five fights. As a super bantamweight his right hand was murderous. At featherweight and super featherweight it proved to be his equalizer against such formidable opponents as Marco Antonio Barrera, Paulie Ayala, Jesus Chavez, Carlos Hernandez and Pacquiao. His relentless aggression broke the will of many opponents as it also put him in harm’s way. But his punch kept them honest.
At lightweight, against Raheem, he couldn’t catch his opponent. The ring started to resemble a running track and Morales could never establish a body attack to slow Raheem down. His lack of foot speed finally caught up to him and ran right up his back and produced a pain in his neck named Zahir Raheem. Morales had no answers, he suddenly found himself lost.
As the fight wore on it finally appeared as though Erik had jumped one division too many. Every boxer who sets his sights on becoming a multi-divisional titlist loses bits and pieces of what made him "great" from where he originally started. Alexis Arguello, Thomas Hearns and Sugar Ray Leonard, all great fighters, were never quite the same when they moved up in weight. Whether it was diminished hand and foot speed, power or the ability to take a bigger man’s punch, they all suffered as they grew out of their original division.
Who can forget Arguello throwing right hand bombs at Aaron Pryor and every one that landed flush was greeted with a smirk or a shoulder shrug. Morales, despite his lanky frame, which still looks solid at 135, is not a natural lightweight. His willingness to get in there with any one is to be applauded, but his management needs to step back and reassess his priorities. It’s a manager that should tell a fighter that he’s in over his head. Unfortunately Morales’ manager and trainer is his father, and old dad had no advice for his son when he was getting his butt whipped.
Erik also seemed slightly baffled that Raheem refused to engage him in a trench battle of wills. Morales’ last dozen fights have all been wrapped up in machismo. The warrior’s code he lives by has negated his ability to adjust his attack. He did mix up his offense against Pacquiao but Manny was constantly charging forward, into Erik’s range making it easier for him to bang away on the inside or step back and counter-punch. In the end Raheem simply fought the perfect fight against a fighter not prepared for his style and arrogant enough to believe he would simply catch him with a knockout punch at some point.
But he didn’t, and now all the good will that was finally showered upon him after the Pacquiao fight is gone. Once again Erik is back at square one. Ironically, that has been where he is most often so dangerous. But he is getting older and all the wars in the ring and with his weight may finally be catching up to him.
The biggest question mark is actually, what happens to Zahir Raheem? He won’t garner big money and Pacquiao and Barrera won’t fight at 135. He may well end up the odd man out despite his upset win. He represents too much risk for too little reward.
For Erik, it’s back to the drawing board – yet again. But this time there will only be one run left. His greatness as a fighter is already established but his pride has been stripped away. As I intimated in my article leading up to this bout, enjoy Erik Morales while you can, because this marvelous warrior’s career is finally winding down.
