Tweet
Immersed in the news of negotiations for fights yet to happen and the daily quarrels that seek to end contract disputes, it is easy to forget the taste of a real fight. Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales shunned the petty squabbles of the middlemen and brought us remembrance. The decades differ, but the hearts of warriors beat with the same passion, as Hagler-Hearns was reborn into Mexican and Filipino flesh.
A prudent strategy suggested itself to Hearns on that famous night in Caesar’s Palace. But as he faced his great challenge, the crowd roared, the tremors rolled underfoot, and the fire within told him to devour Hagler. Hearns exited consciousness before the end of the third; the very same moment he achieved immortality.
Applaud sensible strategies and the choosing of only calculated risks if you wish, but remember that legends are often diminished in such ways. Morales dared not insult the savage brilliance of his own legacy by calling upon his command of technique, distance and timing. He came to take victory by force.
Pacquiao’s punches fell upon Morales as centuries of the elements on a mountain. Reshaped by the withering effects of his many wars, in the final stages of erosion, Morales could no longer stand tall and defiant of Time in its advancing wrath.
He sat defeated, shaking his head in denial of his corner’s pleas for him to rise as he had twice before. He had the look of a man seeking the answer to a pivotal question, and though the answer he found was unpleasant, he accepted the reality that he was powerless to change it.
That reality is both sad and inevitable. Almost a decade has passed since Morales played the role of unstoppable contender to Daniel Zaragoza’s stubborn, long-reigning champion. If the career symmetry persists, then as Zaragoza’s fall backwards onto his seat at Morales’ hand was his last, then so too will Morales’ prone posture at Pacquiao’s creation be his final act in a prize ring.
The euphoria of Pacquiao’s dominance should not eclipse the fact that one day he too will take up the place of his predecessors and find himself beaten; perhaps haunted by the ghost of his former greatness.
Though one man suffered defeat, two legends graced our presence this night.
A prudent strategy suggested itself to Hearns on that famous night in Caesar’s Palace. But as he faced his great challenge, the crowd roared, the tremors rolled underfoot, and the fire within told him to devour Hagler. Hearns exited consciousness before the end of the third; the very same moment he achieved immortality.
Applaud sensible strategies and the choosing of only calculated risks if you wish, but remember that legends are often diminished in such ways. Morales dared not insult the savage brilliance of his own legacy by calling upon his command of technique, distance and timing. He came to take victory by force.
Pacquiao’s punches fell upon Morales as centuries of the elements on a mountain. Reshaped by the withering effects of his many wars, in the final stages of erosion, Morales could no longer stand tall and defiant of Time in its advancing wrath.
He sat defeated, shaking his head in denial of his corner’s pleas for him to rise as he had twice before. He had the look of a man seeking the answer to a pivotal question, and though the answer he found was unpleasant, he accepted the reality that he was powerless to change it.
That reality is both sad and inevitable. Almost a decade has passed since Morales played the role of unstoppable contender to Daniel Zaragoza’s stubborn, long-reigning champion. If the career symmetry persists, then as Zaragoza’s fall backwards onto his seat at Morales’ hand was his last, then so too will Morales’ prone posture at Pacquiao’s creation be his final act in a prize ring.
The euphoria of Pacquiao’s dominance should not eclipse the fact that one day he too will take up the place of his predecessors and find himself beaten; perhaps haunted by the ghost of his former greatness.
Though one man suffered defeat, two legends graced our presence this night.