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Morales by Unanimous Decision, 115-113

March 20th, 2005

You can almost smell the tension weighing down on everybody in the room. The silence is oppressive at times, but it was the last place for youthful irreverence; inane outbursts were not to be tolerated. Not now, 12 rounds into the epic “Coming With Everything” match between Pacquiao and Morales. Not now, with the homegrown hero Manny Pacquiao bleeding and needing a knockout to win. I think back to the pre-fight ceremony, and Lani Misalucha’s wonderful rendition of “Lupang Hinirang,” our national anthem, her words echoing in my mind. “Lupang hinirang, duyan ka ng magiting…” Then somebody types… “It’s over guys, 12th round decision. Great fight by Manny, but no knockout. Morales wins.”

That was the scene at a Yahoo! chatroom where a bunch of boxing fans got together, some lucky enough to get a live feed and giving the rest of us the play-by-play. Spread out by who knows how many hundreds of miles, we could only console each other through IM’s. Professional predictions and betting odds be damned, we rooted for Manny, and the loss was heart-wrenching. With a heavy sigh I part the room, knowing that the Mexican Triumvirate still stands, Manny with a win, a tie, and now a loss against them.

I suppose Morales just wanted it more; he had more to prove, and even more to lose. Overall, the fight (headbutt on the 5th round by Morales aside) was called fairly. “El Terrible” quite simply outboxed the PacMan, and at times, even out-slugged him too. With the win, Morales has cemented his place as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, among the ranks of his arch-nemesis Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Miguel Marquez, and, arguably, Pacquiao as well.

It was a fight that could have gone either way, as both are very strong and very fast, experienced, and hungry. Something inside me would like to say it’s no shame losing to a boxer as gifted as Morales, but I wouldn’t want to be the one to tell Pacquiao that. Pacquiao came into the fight the consummate warrior. Twelve rounds later, bloodied and beaten, he stepped out a warrior still. The Rocky-esque ending certainly isn’t as satisfying as a win, but he did me proud.

Round Summary

Courtesy of the MannyPacquiao.ph forums:

Round 1 - They come out slow, both fighters showing respect. Huge Manny chant starts. Quick jab by Manny. Bodyshot by Morales. Left by Pacquiao. Big left by Pacquiao and Morels starts to unload. Pacquiao says “come on” and Morales starts to unload the kitchen. The two men go to war, Morales getting the better of the action. Pacquiao with some hard bodyshots, Morales is hurt to the body. Pacquiao goes to work, Morales now starts coming back. What a round! Pacquiao gets the first round. HBO gives him the first.

Round 2 - Double left hand by Pacquiao. Morales is countering well. Pacquiao is against the ropes and Morales is going to work. Pacquiao says you cant hurt. Morales with a huge right, left hand by Manny and Morales comes back with a right hand. Morales is jabbing and lands a combo on Morales. Left hand drives Morales back. Big right uppercut by Morales. Right by Morales, Left by Manny and they trade at the bell. Close round that goes to Morales. HBO gives it to Morales.

Round 3 - They start jabbing. Left-right by Pacquiao. Straigh right Morales, left by Morales. Right by Manny and a bodyshot by Pacquiao. Combo by Morales. Another right and left by Morales. Pacquiao comes out with a huge combo. Morales with a big combo. Morales with a big right and the two men start to trade again. Morales is getting the better of the exchanges. Morales with a big round. Pacquiao looked a bit tired. Round for Morales. HBO gives it to Morales.

Round 4 - Two big rights for Morales. Combo by Morales. Hard left by Manny. Right By Morales. Now a combo by Morales. Another combo by Morales. Bodyshot by Morales. Big combo by Morales on Pacquiao against the ropes. Combo by Manny. Morales with another round. HBO gives it to Morales.

Round 5 - Morales with a good right. Morales seems to be keeping Manny at the end of his jab and countering. Hard left hand by Pacquiao. Right by Pacquiao. Bodyshot by Morales. Morales with a good right hand and another. Manny starts to land big shots, Morales with an uppercut and Manny is cut after a clash of heads. Manny is cut above his right eye, it’s taking a very long time to look at this cut. Big right Morales pushes Manny back. Left by Pacquiao. Left by Morales. Morales is beating on Pacquiao against the ropes and Pacquiao is fighting his way out. Pacquiao bleeding bad. Round for Morales. HBO gives it to Pacquiao.

Round 6 - They start to trade shots, left by Morales and a left by Pacquiao. Bodyshot by Morales. They trade bodyshots. Flurry by Manny and a good bodyshot. Right by Morales and Morales with a big combo. Morales seems to be trying to make Pacquiao tire himself out. Morales with the jab. Round for Morales, HBO gives it to Morales. Roach yelling at Manny to stop waiting on Morales and to back him up.

Round 7 - Huge combo by Pacquiao. Another left by Manny, Pacquiao stumbles back. The two men are trading some big shots. Pacquiao landing some bodyshots. Morales with a right, left by Manny. Manny with a 4 punch combo. Left-right and to the body by Morales. Big right by Morales. Another right by Morales and Manny looks hurt.Manny now coming back with big punches. The two men go to war. Manny with a close round, HBO gives it to Morales.

Round 8 - Huge Morales chant. Morales and Manny trade again. Morlaes imposing his will on Manny. Manny with a big combo. Manny with a good left. Right by Morales, left By Pacquiao. They trade. Round for Pacquiao, HBO gives it to Morales.

Round 9 - Morales working the jab, pace is slowing and Morales is keeping Manny at bay. Big left by Manny and Morales seems hurt. Manny with another right hand. Manny coming real strong in this round. Morales is wobbling. They trade at the bell. Big round for Pacquiao. HBO gives it to Pac.

Round 10 - Morales wobbles Pacquiao with a right, Morlales on the attack. Pac’s mouthpiece flies out of his mouth. Pac is coming back with huge left hands. Cortez calls time, Manny gets the mouthpiece back. Huge Mexico chant. Hard right by Morales. Round for Morales. HBO gives it to Morales.

Round 11 - Pacquiao’s eye is swelling shut and it is bleeding bad again. Pace is slowing and Morales land a hard right hand. Morales using the jab on Pac’s bad eye. Right by Morlaes, left by Manny. Morales on the attack, Manny fights off the ropes. Big combo by Morales. Manny looks weary. Manny with a combo. Round for Morales, Manny needs KO to win on my card and on HBO’s!

Round 12 - They come out slow. Huge right by Manny on Morales as he turns southpaw for no reason. The two go to war, the entire arena is on it’s feet. Manny and Morales are going for broke. Manny landing some huge shots. Big right by Morales. Manny is coming on strong, Morales is tired. They trade in the final ten seconds. It’s over. Pacquiao gets the 12th round on my card, HBO gives him the last round.

In the end, it’s a unanimous decision, 115-113 Morales. Pacquiao fought like a wounded tiger til the end, giving as good as he got, never backing down, but Morales proved to be the better boxer. It didn’t turn into a brawl like I predicted, and Morales kept his head for the most part. All in all, a definite candidate for fight of the year

Incidentally, the undercard fight between Jorge Arce and Jose Hussein was actually more dramatic. Arce took the early rounds but was tamed by Hussein in quick order; bleeding from a broken nose, Arce came storming back to win via a KO on the 11th, leaving Hussein reeling, finally crumpling to the mat. A perfect day for the Mexicans, 4-0.

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