Tweet
By Thomas Gerbasi - Rocky Marciano cried after beating his hero Joe Louis in 1951. 29 years later, Larry Holmes did the same thing after delivering a frightful beating to Muhammad Ali. Will Danny Garcia do the same thing this Saturday night should he hand Erik Morales the kind of loss that makes “El Terrible” want to head off into the sunset?
Probably not, but this HBO main event in Houston is a rite of passage fight that could spell the end of a career (Morales) and launch a new one (Garcia), just another reason why boxing remains unique in the sporting pantheon. In baseball, if you lose something off your fastball, you give up a few more hits and get released. In basketball, losing a step sends you off to Europe or into a coaching position. In boxing, retirement is beat into you, and it’s that stark reality that causes grown men to cry if they’re placed in the position of being the proverbial grim reaper because who wants to hurt their heroes, especially one as revered as Mexico’s Morales?
For 19 years, Morales has given his life to the sport, building a legacy that will land him in Canastota’s Boxing Hall of Fame five years after he retires. But more than having a stack of fancy titles and accolades, he earned his keep because of his attitude in the ring and the way he fought. There were no hints of what Floyd Mayweather calls “special effects” in Morales’ game, just a solid technical base, an old-school mentality, and a warrior’s spirit. And though his comeback after a nearly three year layoff was met with groans throughout the boxing world, at 35 he has proven that he can still get the job done, going through a 12 round war with Marcos Maidana last April before losing a close majority decision and then stopping unbeaten countryman Pablo Cesar Cano for the vacant WBC junior welterweight crown last September. [Click Here To Read More]
Probably not, but this HBO main event in Houston is a rite of passage fight that could spell the end of a career (Morales) and launch a new one (Garcia), just another reason why boxing remains unique in the sporting pantheon. In baseball, if you lose something off your fastball, you give up a few more hits and get released. In basketball, losing a step sends you off to Europe or into a coaching position. In boxing, retirement is beat into you, and it’s that stark reality that causes grown men to cry if they’re placed in the position of being the proverbial grim reaper because who wants to hurt their heroes, especially one as revered as Mexico’s Morales?
For 19 years, Morales has given his life to the sport, building a legacy that will land him in Canastota’s Boxing Hall of Fame five years after he retires. But more than having a stack of fancy titles and accolades, he earned his keep because of his attitude in the ring and the way he fought. There were no hints of what Floyd Mayweather calls “special effects” in Morales’ game, just a solid technical base, an old-school mentality, and a warrior’s spirit. And though his comeback after a nearly three year layoff was met with groans throughout the boxing world, at 35 he has proven that he can still get the job done, going through a 12 round war with Marcos Maidana last April before losing a close majority decision and then stopping unbeaten countryman Pablo Cesar Cano for the vacant WBC junior welterweight crown last September. [Click Here To Read More]
Comment