The Brothers Morales

The Brothers Morales

Mark E. Ortega (translation done by George Jimenez)

Leave-it-in-the-ring.com

April 1, 2011

On April 9^th, the partisan crowd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada will get a glimpse at the past, present, and future of one of Mexico's most favored fighting families.

Headlining the HBO pay-per-view televised card will be elder statesman Erik “El Terrible” Morales [51-6, 35 KOs] who returns to the big fight limelight for the first time in four years as he takes on Argentina's Marcos Rene Maidana [29-2, 27 KOs], quite possibly the heaviest hitter south of the welterweight division.

Somewhere buried on the undercard is the future of the Morales family. Younger brother Ivan, 19 years old and nicknamed “Terrible II”, fights for the first time in the United States against an opponent still to be determined. Ivan has fought most of his fights around the super flyweight limit of 115 pounds, compiling a 9-0 record with five knockouts, according to the young fighter. Boxrec has him listed at 8-0.

In the corner of the younger charge is brother Diego, who himself won a fringe world title at 115 pounds, the WBO version against Victor Godoi in 1999, at a point in time when the flashier Erik's career was blossoming on HBO airwaves.

As the former pound-for-pound entrant and future Hall of Famer Erik returns to national prominence, it makes one wonder what the other gifted fighters in the family think about what Erik is getting himself into, among other things.

Ivan has a lot to live up to. He's been in the gym since he was five years old. Before he reached double digits in age, he already had two world champion brothers holding down the family fort. If the young fighter could somehow find himself lifting a world title [which in today's age of alphabet soup organizations with multiple champion policies isn't entirely out of the question], he would accomplish something that never has been done: three world champion brothers.

“It's a lot of pressure living up to the family name,” remarked Ivan in a phone interview as he finished up a workout in preparation of his American debut next week. “The people expect big things of me. I've put a lot of work in at the gym, committing myself to boxing. I come to fight and put on a show and I hope they will support me.”

That Ivan is fighting on the card is something that hasn't really been promoted too heavily. He will be one of the closer to the beginning bouts definitely and will likely be fighting in front of just a handful of people as Las Vegas fights often don't see their numbers turn out until just before the main attraction. But for those in attendance, it may be a first look at who will carry the Morales baton into the coming years. With Erik winding down a long and punishing career and Diego retired since 2007, Ivan will bear all the pressure of the Morales family legacy continuing.

“My style is similar to my brothers but not too much,” said Ivan in attempting to sum up his fighting style. “I take certain things from each one but I have my own style. I like to exchange punches and it gives me a rush, I like to leave everything in the ring. People will leave knowing they saw a good show.”

Diego won his share of family gold in 1999 but stayed in the shadow of older brother Erik, likely due to the fact that he plied his trade at a weight class that just wasn't seen as marketable by those in charge of boxing programming during that era. He held a title for only a short while before losing to Adonis Rivas, a guy he would beat later in an eliminator in 2004 yet would never get another opportunity to reclaim a title. He abruptly retired in 2007 after, in his words, he just wasn't given the opportunity he was seeking in the ring.

On where these two brothers opine on Erik's chances against Maidana, the two differ slightly despite their closeness.

According to one, father Jose, who controlled Erik's path for most of his career and will be in his corner against Maidana, was not sold early on when Erik decided he would return to the ring.

“My dad wasn't really on board with Erik coming back to boxing,” recalled Ivan. “I saw that my father did not believe that Erik was still hungry coming back. Once he saw Erik training and that he was serious then it was a lot easier for him to convince our father that he was serious.”

Erik came close to winning his fourth world title when he narrowly lost a decision to David Diaz in Chicago in 2007 for the WBC lightweight title. Morales would take three years off from the ring before returning last year against a series of tuneup level opposition.

“I feel that he kind of rushed into retirement after the Diaz fight, that he still had a lot to give,” declared Diego. “For the two Pacquiao losses he couldn't make the weight anymore. It's just a matter of adjusting to the new weight class and doing a better job of adjusting to the weight. Now he is back with his old team, training the way he used to with a lot of hunger and it's the best Erik I have seen in awhile. He will be in good form for this fight, closer to where he was in his prime.”

Though optimistic, Ivan doesn't share quite the level of hyperbole that older brother Diego does when it comes to Erik's chances on April 9^th.

“I was a little worried when the fight was announced with Maidana because of his reputation as a big puncher,” admitted Ivan. “But we definitely see certain things we can take advantage of. He's not as good of a boxer as Erik is and he can pull out a decision. We give a lot of credit to his power but that we can take advantage of the inexperience of Maidana. It all depends on Erik and how prepared he is for the fight. The rhythm will be very intense, if Erik is prepared then he can win the fight.”

“At first I was very surprised and worried that the fight was announced because of the power of Maidana,” agreed Diego. “But I felt better when I went to the press conference and saw them side by side and that Maidana is not much taller than Erik. We see him as a one dimensional fighter who relies too much on his power. I believe Erik has the experience and I am more comfortable after seeing him train the way he is training.”

Diego attacked Maidana's resume as a way to minimize how much of a danger he is as an opponent.

“I'm definitely aware of the power of Maidana but we really view him as a clumsy fighter and he has won most of his fights in Argentina where the level of competition isn't nearly in the same league as in Mexico. He has fought nowhere near the quality of fighters Erik has fought and in this fight he is stepping up the competition big time. When Maidana steps up to this caliber of fighter, he loses.”

It's true that Maidana really only has one big time win, a party crashing upset of highly touted Victor Ortiz in June of 2009. Ortiz hasn't won a big fight since then so his world class credentials are a bit questionable, but he will have a chance to right the ship in a welterweight title fight against Andre Berto later this year.

Maidana also lost fights against Andriy Kotelnik [a questionable points loss overseas] and Amir Khan [who barely survived a late rally by Maidana]. He looked far from impeccable in a fight at home in Argentina against former titleholder DeMarcus “Chop Chop” [now known across message boards as “Shot Shot”] Corley.

Most everyone that considers themselves a boxing expert has this fight tabbed as an easy victory for Maidana. Even those who think Morales has the slightest of chance have presumed that he would need to fight the exact perfect technical performance. His body would have to hold up across twelve rounds as Maidana comes with relentless pressure.

“He's gonna fight with smart aggression,” said Diego.

When “El Terrible” took a step back from the spotlight following the loss to Diaz, was there any doubt that he would find his way back to the ring eventually?

“When my brother said he was going to take a brief rest, he made it known he would be back to try and win a fourth world title,” remembered Diego. “It was more than a brief rest, but I always knew he would come back.”

A win on April 9^th for “El Terrible” would definitely declare “I'm back”, in a big way. A win for “Terrible II” would advertise, “I'm here”. Either way, the pressure on one of Mexico's favorite fighting families will come to a heed. More often than not, the fighting Morales family has found a way to overcome.

Writer's note: Ivan would end up not being able to make his American debut on the Morales-Maidana undercard as his team had visa troubles. He wouldn't make his American debut until September 2012 when he decisioned former title challenger Luis Maldonado on Solo Boxeo in southern California. As for Erik, he took Maidana to the brink, losing a tight unanimous decision in his final great performance.