Erik Morales's Best Performance

[Tony Trick-Pony]

He had several. Which do you think? I go with Paulie Ayala. He was dominant and threw over 100 punches the last round, going for the KO.

[Sugar Adam Ali]

Manny 1 was morales' best moment in the ring

[El Gitano]

I remember Ring Magazine did a list of Eriks' best performances a few years back and the Paulie Ayala fight was selected as his best.

It was a good performance but it was against Paulie... I gave Paulie zero chance of winning that fight. For me, his best performance was against Pacquiao #1.

[Tony Trick-Pony]

Manny 1 was morales' best moment in the ring

Oh I agree. Just thought he was more dominant against Ayala. The Pacquiao fight was pretty close.

[Tony Trick-Pony]

I remember Ring Magazine did a list of Eriks' best performances a few years back and the Paulie Ayala fight was selected as his best.

It was a good performance but it was against Paulie... I gave Paulie zero chance of winning that fight. For me, his best performance was against Pacquiao #1.

Oh wow. I'm glad the Ring agrees with me. Haha. Yes, the Pacquiao fight was epic. Still love watching that fight. I think Morales helped turn Pacquiao into a better fighter.

[El Gitano]

Also, not the same question but Ring Magazine did a "Best I've Faced" with Erik Morales and I liked his answer to the question of who was the best fighter he faced.... his response was:

“If you’re talking about the toughest opponent I’ve faced, to be honest, his name was Erik Morales,” he said in all seriousness. “When I did things the right way and had proper training, boxing was easy for me, but all too often I did not do that. So, as you know, I had a lot of struggles.

“Honestly, I had too many tough fights to say one man was tougher than all the rest. I know fans want me to say that it was either Barrera or Pacquiao, but I don’t see it that way. That’s not how a fighter views things. There are fighters who people have forgotten about or never knew that were the toughest fights, the biggest fights for me at the time I fought them.

“Jose ‘Pepillo’ Valdez was the toughest fighter I had ever faced back when I was nothing. That fight [TKO 3 in 1994] was the biggest fight for me when I was just a Tijuana prospect.

“Enrique Jupiter (TKO 6 in 1995) was the toughest I faced when I moved on to the next level and was regarded as one of Mexico’s best young fighters. I had to beat him in order to show that I was going to go somewhere in boxing.

“Daniel Zaragoza, the old champion I beat a week before I turned 21, was the toughest fighter I faced when it was time for me to prove that I could be a Mexican star in the United States. He was by far the toughest and most skilled fighter I had faced at the time. By beating him [KO 11 in 1997], I proved that I could fight any style and that I could be a real champ.

“Junior Jones (TKO 4 in 1998) was my biggest fight when it was time for me to prove that I could go to the next level, from a champion to one of the fighters rated pound for pound. And from then on it was just tough fight after tough fight.

“My fights with Barrera and Pacquiao are among those tough fights, but I don’t see them as being any more special than my tough fights with (Wayne) McCullough, (Guty) Espadas, Chi, (Jesus) Chavez, (Carlos) Hernandez and (David) Diaz. I’ve had so many wars I forget some of them. You or anyone else can probably put together a Top 20 list of my toughest fights.”

That’s why Morales is a modern legend.

For the full interview:
http://******.craveonline.com/news/1...best-ive-faced

[Sugar Adam Ali]

Oh I agree. Just thought he was more dominant against Ayala. The Pacquiao fight was pretty close.

There is a huge difference in caliber between pauli Ayala and manny pac


I would also say morales stopping junior jones has got to be pretty high considering what junior did to barrera

[Tony Trick-Pony]

Also, not the same question but Ring Magazine did a "Best I've Faced" with Erik Morales and I liked his answer to the question of who was the best fighter he faced.... his response was:

“If you’re talking about the toughest opponent I’ve faced, to be honest, his name was Erik Morales,” he said in all seriousness. “When I did things the right way and had proper training, boxing was easy for me, but all too often I did not do that. So, as you know, I had a lot of struggles.

“Honestly, I had too many tough fights to say one man was tougher than all the rest. I know fans want me to say that it was either Barrera or Pacquiao, but I don’t see it that way. That’s not how a fighter views things. There are fighters who people have forgotten about or never knew that were the toughest fights, the biggest fights for me at the time I fought them.

“Jose ‘Pepillo’ Valdez was the toughest fighter I had ever faced back when I was nothing. That fight [TKO 3 in 1994] was the biggest fight for me when I was just a Tijuana prospect.

“Enrique Jupiter (TKO 6 in 1995) was the toughest I faced when I moved on to the next level and was regarded as one of Mexico’s best young fighters. I had to beat him in order to show that I was going to go somewhere in boxing.

“Daniel Zaragoza, the old champion I beat a week before I turned 21, was the toughest fighter I faced when it was time for me to prove that I could be a Mexican star in the United States. He was by far the toughest and most skilled fighter I had faced at the time. By beating him [KO 11 in 1997], I proved that I could fight any style and that I could be a real champ.

“Junior Jones (TKO 4 in 1998) was my biggest fight when it was time for me to prove that I could go to the next level, from a champion to one of the fighters rated pound for pound. And from then on it was just tough fight after tough fight.

“My fights with Barrera and Pacquiao are among those tough fights, but I don’t see them as being any more special than my tough fights with (Wayne) McCullough, (Guty) Espadas, Chi, (Jesus) Chavez, (Carlos) Hernandez and (David) Diaz. I’ve had so many wars I forget some of them. You or anyone else can probably put together a Top 20 list of my toughest fights.”

That’s why Morales is a modern legend.

For the full interview:
http://******.craveonline.com/news/1...best-ive-faced

Wow. What a great answer. Oh yeah. I thought he had great technique and balance. He could be arrogant at times, but compared to some of his opponents, he was superior in technique big time. So I could see where he was coming from. He also did not mind getting into wars either. They may have shortened his career but all his fights were memorable. It's very classy for him to admit he did not do what he always should have done. A lot of fighters won't admit that. Hell of a warrior and a champion. One of my favorites ever!

[Tony Trick-Pony]

There is a huge difference in caliber between pauli Ayala and manny pac


I would also say morales stopping junior jones has got to be pretty high considering what junior did to barrera

Oh definitely and he did not dominate Jones. That was a tough fight for him before the KO. Jones exposed Barrera's openness to right hands which I think the Baby Faced Assassin later improved upon. "Poison" could hit like a sledge hammer.

[CANELOLUJAH]

Too hard to choose from for me, Pacquaio was his marquee fight just beacuse of who Pacquaio is/was.

BUt yeah hard to just pick one.