Barrera – Morales 1

The All-Mexican showdown was the first fight in an epic trilogy that will have both men remembered for as long as the sport of boxing is alive. It was on February 19, 2000, that Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales blessed the squared circle with their savage beauty.

Build Up

The differences between them were significantly apparent in and out of the ring. Morales was the taller boxer, with a more tactical approach and loved to attack from different angles in the ring. Barrera was the shorter puncher-boxer, who loved to mix it up in close but would still do so with impressive intelligence. Both men were Mexican, so were contenders for the vacated role of Mexico’s boxing icon after Julio Cesar Chavez. But even in that similarity, there was difference between them, which only evoked public interest in the fight. Barrera was well-known for being the Mexico City boxer of the upper class, who by no means grew up in poverty and even had a chance to go law school. On the other hand, Erik Morales, or ‘El Terrible’, grew up in the rough tough streets of the Tijuana ghettos. In the press conferences before the fight, they had no trouble in expressing their dislike for each other.

The Fight

The two rejected the chance to touch gloves before the fight, and from the outset the ill feelings spilled over into the physical  nature of the bout. Barrera looked to land his trademark left hook to the body, and seize the initiative from the centre of the ring, being more conservative and qualitative in his approach. As the bout went on, Morales,  was landing his right hands with increasing frequency amongst the chaos, as he threw a many amount of punches.  Morales a would throw a fistic barrage that had had you gasping, and just as you thought as he could close the show, Barrera would launch his own assault on Morales that had you expecting Morales to meet his premature end.#

Barrera and Morales trade blows

The see-saw nature of the frantic bout saw both fighters go back and forth in such a way that you questioned how on earth neither men were knocked off of their feet. Barrera did score a knockdown in the 12th round however, when Morales went down for the first time in his career. It is arguable though, that it wasn’t much of a knockdown.  Rather than being from a punch, it was more a result of Barrera’s weight forcing a tired Morales to give way. Morales flailed his arms out to the ref, showing his annoyance and disbelief that it was ruled a knockdown. Now with a deeper sense of urgency, Morales violently pursued Barrera in search of a knockdown to even the score, which made for an exciting and dramatic twelfth round. However, no knockdown came and the two men traded blows until the final bell.

Decision & Aftermath

It turned out that Morales didn’t need to score a knockdown in the end, as he was awarded a split decision, to the confusion of most who believed that Barrera had done enough to deserve a win, and due to the fact that Morales missed many punches. The controversy however served to sell the tickets for the second fight before it was confirmed, as many were eager to see another action-packed rematch. Spoilt, they were, as in the beautiful brutality of  this fight we saw action that temporarily brought us back to the golden age of the exciting 1950’s.