Better Career: MORALES OR DE LA HOYA?

[psychopath]

Both fighters have great careers, but DLH is way far ahead of Morales in term of accomplishments, stature, recognition and earnings.

So it's got to be De La Hoya hands down.

[Mr. Ryan]

Both fighters have great careers, but DLH is way far ahead of Morales in term of accomplishments, stature, recognition and earnings.

So it's got to be De La Hoya hands down.

I think boxing historians will speak greater of Morales than De La Hoya.

[hellfire508]

de la hoya by far, most people that are not boxing fans dont have a clue who morales is

I am a massive fan of both, but a bigger fan of Oscar. The truth is, everyone knows Oscar because of the exposure he gets, and his marketability. He speaks english, the ladies love him, he is a clever guy, and is a great fighter. What's not to like? He is an American too, which unfortunately means they are exposed alot more.

Morales on the other hand, is too proud of his Mexican heritage to speak english, and gets in the ring, does business and leaves. He doesn't really try to market himself like Oscar. So of course everyone knows Oscar, and not Morales. Does this mean anything? Of course not! Hell, I could ask 100 people in Melbourne (where I live) who Ray Robinson was, and 90 wouldn't have a clue. But I could ask the same ones who Mike Tyson was, and probably 95 would know. Does this mean Tyson was a better fighter? No.

Nonetheless, Oscar had the better career. He fought the best, and beat the best. Yes, he beat Tito, and Mosley (2nd time). He went from 130, to 160. He lost to Sturm in my eyes, but got robbed of his biggest fight... Oscar is a top 50 p4per all time, hands down.

[King Koyle]

Oscar has had the better career.But Morales has had a good one himself.Erik is only twenty nine,and he has already had the career of a forty year old legend.And anyone in this thread who says that Morales is overrated,needs to go to their local neurologist and be checked for mental ******ation.

[Sttuddahboy619]

I say Morales. We are talking about boxing career not being famous. Morales has face alot of champions(so has Oscar) but Morales has face them at their prime.

[Sttuddahboy619]

I think boxing historians will speak greater of Morales than De La Hoya.

I second that!

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

De La Hoya by a mile, he fought a who's who of great fighters over the last decade. Guys like Whitaker, Ruelas, Chavez, Paez, Quartey, Hopkins, Vargas, Mosley, Trinidad, Campas, Gatti, Camacho, Castillejo, Mayorga. There was a point in time where Oscar went from one big fight to the next. No other fighter since Sugar Ray Leonard has made more money below the heavyweight level than De La Hoya. Oscar made more money in his career than Morales, Pacquiao, Barrera and Marquez combined.

[oldgringo]

This is funny...especially the people bringing the whole "one is better than the other by a huge margin" BS aspect to the table.

Erik Morales has been THE GUY in 3 different weight classes. He was the UNIFIED, UNDISPUTED king of 122 pounds, beating 2 HOF fighters while at that weight. Oscars weight jumping may look nice, but at many of his different weights he wasn't the recognized champ and/or had very "iffy" wins. He made 9 or so title defenses of his WBC title while being the reigning champ. One could argue that he's the best 122 pounder of all-time (even though that distinction goes to Gomez in my opinion) and he's certainly top 3.

He has beaten 12 current or former world champions and went 41-0 before ever losing that second fight to Barrera. That decision was hotly disputed and a large portion of boxing fans and writers felt Morales had won. His list of competition needs no explanation...he fought the who's who of the lighter weights. Barrera, Pacquiao, McCullough, Jones, Sanchez, Ayala, Kelley, Chavez, Hernandez, Espadas, Zaragoza, etc etc.

Unlike De La Hoya you will NEVER see Erik Morales run from a fight or play the cutesy role. He always comes to lay it out on the line for his fans and he never fails to disappoint. He was one of the most active champions around his time and he was one of the most exciting fighters to watch as well. Morales and box and can brawl...he is one of the most dynamic punchers the lower weights has ever seen.

De La Hoya is one of the biggest draws ever and his work for the sport has been crazy. He gets love from me because I enjoy watching him fight as much as anyone. I just think that if you look STRICTLY at the IN-RING accomplishments, Morales has the better career. Every single one of Oscar's biggest fights has been surrounded in controversy and drama...Morales has never left room for that.

[BIGPOPPAPUMP]

Morales has had his share of iffy wins, like his first fight with Barrera where just about everyone thought Barrera won and the first fight with Guty Espades, Jr, another fight where a lot of people thought he lost, including HBO.

De La Hoya fought three fighters recognized at one point or another as the top pound for pound fighter in the world. Was one title away from unifying the 154 pound division, began his career at 130 and went all the way to 160 to fight Hopkins and did better for a few rounds than Tarver at 175 did in the entire fight.

A few other fighters I left out that Oscar beat were a prime Miguel Angel Gonzalez, Wilfredo Rivera, Oba Carr, he stopped Jeff Mayweather in his 5th pro fight and Mayweather was 23-2. What guys do you see fight anyone with a record like that in their 5th pro fight and Mayweather was a decent fighter. There was Molina, Genero Hernandez, Leija, etc. Oscar has a resume like an all star list of boxing.

[oldgringo]

Morales has had his share of iffy wins, like his first fight with Barrera where just about everyone thought Barrera won and the first fight with Guty Espades, Jr, another fight where a lot of people thought he lost, including HBO.

De La Hoya fought three fighters recognized at one point or another as the top pound for pound fighter in the world. Was one title away from unifying the 154 pound division, began his career at 130 and went all the way to 160 to fight Hopkins and did better for a few rounds than Tarver at 175 did in the entire fight.

A few other fighters I left out that Oscar beat were a prime Miguel Angel Gonzalez, Wilfredo Rivera, Oba Carr, he stopped Jeff Mayweather in his 5th pro fight and Mayweather was 23-2. What guys do you see fight anyone with a record like that in their 5th pro fight and Mayweather was a decent fighter. There was Molina, Genero Hernandez, Leija, etc. Oscar has a resume like an all star list of boxing.

The funny part about that fight was that I thought each round won by either fighter was clear, and Morales still won it despite a bull**** knockdown that almost ****ed him over. The reason I feel like people thought he "lost" the Espadas fight is because he looked more flat than he ever had before, and he finished in a rather weak fashion. I thought he still won the fight, but it was closer than it should have been.

De La Hoya has pulled some **** that should be looked down upon as well. Never giving Ike Quartey a rematch being one, giving rounds away against Trinidad being two, straight robbing my boy Sweet Pea out of a hard earned victory (nah just ****in with you on this one). Commending Oscar for his losses mean very little to me. His performance against Hopkins was very poor (which isn't THAT huge of a knock on him), his performance against Mosely in their first bout was poor, we all know what happened in that drama filled Tito fight.

There is no doubting Oscars great list of opponents...I just feel as if he has never been a dominating, convincing champion. I also don't feel like he's one of the 5 best fighters ever in ANY weight class he's been in. Not once have I felt like this. Morales in my opinion has been. But being real about it, neither one of these guys is light years ahead of the other in terms of how great they are. I just give Erik the edge.