Erik Morales

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Name: Erik Morales
Alias: El Terrible
Birth Name: Erik Isaac Morales Elvira
Hometown: San Ysidro, California, USA
Birthplace: Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Stance: Orthodox
Height: 170cm
Reach: 183cm
Promoter: Record
Pro Boxer: Record

Career Overview

Erik Morales has proven himself to be one of this era's most exciting fighters.

Legend has it, Morales was born in a boxing gym. His father, Jose, was a professional fighter himself. Morales quickly excelled in the sport and the amateur ranks and desired to turn pro. At first, his father Jose was strongly against the possibility. He knew just how difficult it was to be successful in such a brutal sport. Ironically, it was his mother who gave young Erik her blessing to box professionally.

Morales would do well in the pro ranks. His first fight in the USA against Juan Luis Torres caught the eye of a boxing manager who worked with Bob Arum's Top Rank Boxing promotion company. The manager immediately got Morales a deal with Top Rank. From then on Morales would excel. He admitted to having a great difficulty making the 122-lb limit and in a recent KO Magazine interview said he thought about moving up in weight in 1996 but decided to stay at the lighter weight.

Morales.jpg

He eventually fought Daniel Zaragoza for the WBC title and won stopping the old champion in 11 rounds. Morales was to fight Junior Jones, a dangerous and accomplished fighter from Brooklyn. Jones's record coming into the bout was 44-3. He was coming off of a loss to Kennedy McKinney but was said to have been sharing a training camp with Evander Holyfield and training hard for this fight. Morales suprised everyone by stopping Jones in just four rounds.

Morales would make a few other notable defenses in the next year, including beating former Olympic Games Silver Medalist Wayne McCullough.

On Feburary 19, 2000, Morales would begin one of boxing's most acrimonious and brutal rivalries, against Marco Antonio Barrera. There had been bad blood for years between the two coming into their fight. The fight proved to be a great one, with both fighters brawling round after round. Morales won on points but many boxing fans vehemently disagreed. In fact, the WBO refused to give Morales the title after he beat Barrera, saying the decision was wrong. This would be Morales's last fight at 122 pounds. He would then move up to 126 pounds.

He fought for the WBC featherweight title against Guty Espadas and won a decision, although some fans also questioned the outcome of this fight. A bout between Erik Morales and Prince Naseem Hamed was discussed for years, but with Hamed losing to Barrera this bout fell through. Following Barrera's victory over Hamed, public interest grew for a rematch. The Barrera-Morales rematch was set for June 2002. Morales would suffer his first defeat in 42 fights, but again there was a controversial ending, with most fans believing Morales deserved the win by a margin of 115-113.

Morales went moved up to 130 pounds and won titles against Jesus Chavez and Carlos Alberto Hernandez. Morales then fought Barrera in a rubber match. Many people questioned this match, as Barrera was coming off a terrible loss to Manny Pacquiao, and people thought he was a shot fighter with no chance of winning. Barrera proved everybody wrong and beat Morales. This is the only Morales-Barrera bout where people generally did not question the outcome.

A Pacquiao-Marquez rematch fell through because Marquez demanded too much money. Promoter Bob Arum then offered Pacquiao the chance to fight another fighter of his, Erik Morales. The bout was considered a fan's dream, as both Morales and Pacquiao are crowd pleasers with their "all-out" styles. Pacquiao was coming off a potential 2004 "Fight of the Year" with Juan Manuel Marquez, and Morales was as well, with Marco Antonio Barrera. Morales won over Pacquiao by scores of 115-113. He then movied up in weight to 135 pounds, with the desire to be the first Mexican to win titles in four different weight classes, but he lost to Zahir Raheem by wide margins. In January 2006, Morales was stopped in the 10th round by Manny Pacquiao in a rematch at 130 pounds.

Ten months later, Morales and Pacquiao met for a third time, with Pacquiao winning once again by knock out in three rounds. Morales would step in the ring in August 2007 to challenge David Diaz for the WBC lightweight title. Despite knocking Diaz down in the first round, Morales would lose a close decision and announce his retirement after the fight.

Promoting

Since 2004, Morales has been promoting boxing shows under the promotional company Promociones Box Latino, primarily out of his hometown of Tijuana, as well as in other cities in the Obregon and Baja North States.

Politics

In July 2018, Morales was elected to Mexico's Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Mexico's bicameral legislature, representing the 7th district of Baja California, as a member of the MORENA party.

Career Factoids


Preceded by:
Daniel Zaragoza 		WBC Super Bantamweight Champion
1997 Sep 6 – 2000
Vacated 		Succeeded by:
Willie Jorrin
Preceded by:
Marco Antonio Barrera 		WBO Super Bantamweight Champion
2000 Feb 19 – 2000 Feb
Refused Title 		Succeeded by:
Marco Antonio Barrera
Preceded by:
Guty Espadas Jr. 		WBC Featherweight Champion
2001 Feb 17 – 2002 Jun 22 		Succeeded by:
Marco Antonio Barrera
Preceded by:
Marco Antonio Barrera
Refused title 		WBC Featherweight Champion
2002 Nov 16 – 2003
Vacated 		Succeeded by:
In-Jin Chi
Preceded by:
Jesus Chavez 		WBC Super Featherweight Champion
2004 Feb 28 – 2004 Nov 27 		Succeeded by:
Marco Antonio Barrera
Preceded by:
Carlos Alberto Hernandez 		IBF Super Featherweight Champion
2004 Jul 31 – 2004
Vacated 		Succeeded by:
Robbie Peden
Preceded by:
Timothy Bradley
Declared Champion in Recess 		WBC Light Welterweight Champion
2011 Sep 17 – 2012 Mar 23
Stripped
(failed to make weight) 		Succeeded by:
Danny Garcia


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