Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Erik Morales II

Last updated
For Honor and Pride
Morales Barrera II poster.jpg
DateJune 22, 2002
Venue MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Title(s) on the line WBC and vacant The Ring featherweight titles
Tale of the tape
Boxer Marco Antonio Barrera Erik Morales
Nickname "The Baby Faced Assassin"El Terrible
("The Terrible")
Hometown Mexico City, Mexico Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Pre-fight record 54–3 (1) (39 KO) 41–0 (28 KO)
Age 28 years, 5 months 25 years, 9 months
Height 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) 5 ft 8 in (173 cm)
Weight 126 lb (57 kg) 126 lb (57 kg)
Style Orthodox Orthodox
Recognition Lineal
Featherweight Champion
WBA
No. 3 Ranked Featherweight
The Ring No. 4 ranked pound-for-pound fighter		 WBC
Featherweight Champion
The Ring No. 10 ranked pound-for-pound fighter
2-division world champion
Result
Barrera wins via 12-round unanimous decision (116-112, 115-113, 115-113)

Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Erik Morales II, billed as For Honor and Pride, was a professional boxing match between then three-time super bantamweight and reigning lineal featherweight world champion Marco Antonio Barrera and WBC featherweight world champion Erik Morales. It took place on June 22, 2002, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Barrera won the contest by unanimous decision, with two judges scoring it 115-113 and the other scoring it 116-112 for Barrera. [1] [2]

Contents

The fight is the second match in the highly regarded Barrera vs. Morales trilogy, with Morales winning the first fight. This is also regarded as the most technical fight out of the lot. Many people thought that Morales should have had the victory and was a very controversial decision, which set up Erik Morales vs. Marco Antonio Barrera III on November 27, 2004, which Barrera won by Majority decision

The fight was made a PPV due to the success of the previous fight and was televised through a pay-per-view produced by HBO. The fight gained 300,000 purchases.

Rather like the previous fight, critics have provided highly positive reviews from this fight. Morales was the underdog at bookmakers for this fight due to his previous loss of form and slack, even though he was still winning, after the first fight between these two in 2000.

Background

Barrera had been the WBO super bantamweight champion in the mid 1990s. Morales, from his part, was undefeated and he had won the WBC super bantamweight title, knocking out Daniel Zaragoza (being the first person to do so) in eleven rounds in 1997. Promoters soon began arrangements for a bout between the WBC and WBO super bantamweight title holders.

The first bout took place on February 19, 2000, at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, in Las Vegas and was televised on HBO Boxing. Morales was declared winner by split decision, with scores of 115-112, 114-113 and 113-114 and captured the WBO Super Bantamweight title. Many believed that Barrera deserved the decision. This bout was named as Ring Magazine's Fight of the Year for 2000, before being named as the best Fight of all time in the same year.

Following the first fight, Morales won 5 fights, though some unconvincingly. His first fight was against Michael Leroy Juarez on June 17, 2000, which Morales won by KO in the third round. He next faced Kevin Kelley for the interim WBC Featherweight title on September 2, 2000, which he won by TKO in round 7. He then faced Rodney Jones on December 9, 2000 and defeated him via first round KO. As the interim champion, he faced the reigning champion, Guty Espadas, Jr. on February 17, 2001. He won this fight by unanimous decision thus becoming the WBC featherweight champion. His first defence came against In-Jin Chi on July 31, 2001, which he also won by UD.

Although Barrera lost the first fight, Morales moved up to the featherweight division, therefore Barrera was reinstated as the WBO super-bantamweight champion and also had 5 fights. The first of these was a title defense against Luiz Freitas on June 17, 2000, the same night as Morales had his return fight also. Barrera won this by KO in the first round. His second defense was against Jose Luis Valbuena on September 9, 2000, which he won via 6th round TKO. His third defense was against Jesus Salud on December 1, 2000 which he also won by TKO in round 6. His next fight was a mega fight against undefeated British fighter Naseem Hamed on April 7, 2001. Barrera won this by UD, therefore handing Hamed his first and only loss, alongside winning the Lineal featherweight title, Barrera's first major title. His first defense of that was against Enrique Sanchez on 8 September 2001, which he won after Sanchez retired at the end of round 6.

The fight

The fight was considered the most technical of the three Barrera-Morales fights. Morales constantly pressed forward and dominated much of the first half of the fight (clearly winning at least 4 of the first 6 rounds). He was cut on the bridge of the nose in the 2nd round, and cut and swollen over his right eye in the 8th. However, he punched Barrera to the canvas during the middle rounds but this was correctly called a slip. Barrera fought cautiously in the early rounds, but rallied as the fight progressed, although Morales seemed to narrowly win rounds 10 and 11, which when including his dominance in the first half of the fight, seemed to seal him the close victory on the score-cards. HBO's unofficial ring-side scorer: Harold Lederman, scored the fight 115–113 (7 rounds to 5) for Morales however Barrera was given the decision by all 3 judges and therefore won the WBC and The Ring and retaining the lineal featherweight titles. [3] Barrera declined the WBC title though and this became vacant. [4]

Aftermath

Following this fight, Morales was dominant in his fights, winning all 6 of them. Barrera, however was less dominant suffering defeat to Manny Pacquiao and winning the other three. Erik Morales vs. Marco Antonio Barrera III was set up for November 27, 2004, which Barrera won.

Undercard

Confirmed bouts: [5]

Broadcasting

CountryBroadcaster
Flag of the United States.svg  United States HBO

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marco Antonio Barrera</span> Mexican boxer

Marco Antonio Barrera Tapia is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2011. He held multiple world championships in three weight classes between 1995 and 2007, from super bantamweight to super featherweight.

Jorge Armando Arce Armenta, best known as Jorge Arce, is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2014. He is a multiple-time world champion, and the second boxer from Mexico to win world titles in four weight divisions. In a storied career, Arce held the WBO light flyweight title from 1998 to 1999; the WBC and lineal light flyweight titles from 2002 to 2004; the WBO super flyweight title in 2010; the WBO junior featherweight title in 2011; and the WBO bantamweight title from 2011 to 2012. Additionally he held the WBC interim flyweight title from 2005 to 2006, the WBA interim super flyweight title from 2008 to 2009, and challenged once for the WBC featherweight title in his final fight in 2014.

Paul Anthony "Paulie" Ayala is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2004. He was a multiple-division World champion who held the WBA bantamweight title and The Ring Magazine super bantamweight title. In 1999 he was voted "Fighter of the Year" by The Ring magazine for his first bout against Johnny Tapia, which also won "Fight of the Year" honors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erik Morales</span> Mexican boxer

Erik Isaac Morales Elvira is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2012. He is the first Mexico-born boxer in history to win world championships in four weight classes, ranging from super bantamweight to light welterweight.

The Barrera versus Morales trilogy is one of boxing's most famous fight trilogies, involving two of Mexico's most revered boxers, Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik "El Terrible" Morales.

Joel Casamayor Johnson is a Cuban American former professional boxer who competed from 1996 to 2011. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBA super featherweight title from 2000 to 2002; and the WBC, Ring magazine and lineal lightweight titles between 2006 and 2008. As an amateur, Casamayor won a gold medal in the bantamweight division at the 1992 Olympics, after which he defected to the United States on the eve of the 1996 Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juan Manuel Márquez</span> Mexican world champion boxer (born 1973)

Juan Manuel Márquez Méndez is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2014. He is world champion in four weight classes, having held major titles from featherweight to Light welterweight, including the lineal championship at lightweight.

Ricardo Juárez is an American former professional boxer. He is a former WBC Silver featherweight champion and a multiple-time world title challenger. Juarez was known over his career for his aggressive fighting style and incredible durability.

Fernando Montiel Martínez is a Mexican professional boxer. He is a multiple-time former world champion in three weight classes, having held the WBO flyweight title from 2001 to 2002, the WBO junior bantamweight title twice between 2002 and 2008, and the unified WBC and WBO bantamweight titles from 2010 to 2011.

Israel Vázquez Castañeda is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1995 to 2010. He is a three-time super bantamweight world champion, having held the IBF title from 2004 to 2005; and the WBC, The Ring titles twice from 2005 to 2008. Vázquez is best known for his series of four fights against fellow Mexican Rafael Márquez.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Junior Jones</span> American boxer

Junior Jones is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2002. He held world championships in two weight classes, including the World Boxing Association (WBA) bantamweight title from 1993 to 1994 and the World Boxing Organization (WBO) super bantamweight title from 1996 to 1997. He also held the International Boxing Organization (IBO) featherweight title from 1999 to 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerry Peñalosa</span> Filipino boxer

Geronimo "Gerry" J. Peñalosa is a Filipino former professional boxer who competed from 1989 to 2010. He is a two-weight world champion, having held the WBC super-flyweight title from 1997 to 1998, and the WBO bantamweight title from 2007 to 2009. Originally from the city of San Carlos, Negros Occidental, Peñalosa currently resides in Manila. He was trained mainly by Freddie Roach, and went on to become a boxing trainer himself after retirement. Peñalosa's older brother, Dodie Boy Peñalosa, is also a former boxer and world champion.

Reynaldo "Rey" Bautista, more commonly known as Boom Boom Bautista, is a retired Filipino professional boxer who once fought for the WBO junior featherweight title. He currently resides in Tagbilaran City, Bohol.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naseem Hamed</span> British boxer (born 1974)

Naseem Hamed, nicknamed Prince Naseem and Naz, is a British former professional boxer who competed from 1992 to 2002. He held multiple featherweight world championships between 1995 and 2000, and reigned as lineal champion from 1998 to 2001. In 2015, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. The Ring magazine retroactively awarded Hamed their featherweight title in 2019 to acknowledge his dominance of the division and the multiple champions he defeated; he is the only former world champion in any division thus far to receive this honour.

Boxing in the 2010s includes notable events about boxing which occurred between 2010 and 2019. The decade saw high intensity action in the welterweight division. The match between veterans Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao broke PPV records. The broadcast of the fight in the Philippines was watched by nearly half the country's households. Mayweather retired at a record 50-0-0 while Pacquiao became the first eight division champion. The middleweight division saw immense action in the later years of the decade. After a draw in 2017, Canelo Alvarez ended Gennady Golovkin's long reign in 2018. The heavyweight division was dominated by Klitschko brothers before Wladimir's loss to Tyson Fury in 2015. Other talents that emerged were Anthony Joshua, Deontay Wilder and undisputed cruiserweight champion Oleksander Usyk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erik Morales vs. Marco Antonio Barrera III</span> Boxing match

Erik Morales vs. Marco Antonio Barrera III, billed as Once and For All, was a professional boxing match between the then 2-division world champion Marco Antonio Barrera and reigning WBC super featherweight world champion Erik Morales. It took place on November 27, 2004, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erik Morales vs. Marco Antonio Barrera</span> Boxing competition

Erik Morales vs. Marco Antonio Barrera, billed as Campeón vs. Campeón, was a professional boxing match contested on February 19, 2000, for the WBC and WBO super bantamweight championship. It took place at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Naseem Hamed vs. César Soto</span> 1999 boxing match

Naseem Hamed vs. César Soto was a professional boxing match contested on October 22, 1999, for the WBC, WBO and Lineal featherweight championships.

Boxing in the 2020s is a list of notable fights and events in boxing during the decade from the year 2020 to 2029.

References

  1. ↑ "Erik Morales vs. Marco Antonio Barrera (2nd meeting)". boxrec.com. BoxRec. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  2. ↑
  3. ↑ Doug Fischer (22 June 2002). "Barrera, Morales almost perfectly matched". espncdn.com. ESPN. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  4. ↑ "Barrera snobe le WBC". Libération (in French). 24 June 2002. Archived from the original on 16 September 2021. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  5. ↑ "BoxRec - event".
Preceded by Marco Antonio Barrera's bouts
June 22, 2002		Succeeded by
Preceded by Erik Morales's bouts
June 22, 2002		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.