More than just a fight...
27th November, 2004. M.G.M. Grand Arena, Las Vegas.

The excitement and the atmosphere of Las Vegas. Is there anything better ?
Yes, the excitement and the atmosphere of Las Vegas when there is a big fight on! This is what we have this weekend. Eric "El Terrible " Morales is fighting Marco "The baby faced S Assassin" Barrera, in this, their third and final battle.

Will this be a slugfest like the first encounter, when both men fought their hearts out with either boxer taking a step backwards, and giving boxing fans around the world one of the greatest fights at super bantamweight, and arguably one of the greatest fights of all time, or will it be a more tactical fight, with Barrera relying on jabbing his way to a very tough and close points victory? A lot of questions will be raised.... as always when two great champions are matched , and with a win to both boxers, this is to finally see, who is the better Mexican fighter.

The rivalry between these two boxers is real ,and fighting each other goes way beyond fighting for world titles or the money.
This final fight is for their people.
Morales is from Tijuana, while Barrera hails from Mexico City. these two cities have had a long history of fierce rivalry and the people of both Mexican cities are bitter enemies.

Lets take a look at both of these champion, Aztec Warriors.

ERIC MORALES. WON 47 LOST 1 [34 K.O'S]

After pounding his way to an 11th round stoppage over Hall of Famer, Daniel Zaragoza, and winning his W.B.C. Super bantamweight title , Morales fought and dominated world rated Junior Jones, and Angel Chacon before facing a tough and spirited challenge from Irishman Wayne" The Pocket Rocket" Mc Cullough, in a great fight which Morales won on points. Rumours had been going around that the fight with Mc Cullough was a tune up fight before fighting Barrera. It was announced shortly afterwards that the Barrera fight was on.It was scheduled for February, 2000. They would be fighting for The W.B.C and the W.B.O. titles and both boxers locked themselves away, training like men possessed.

It was the fight of the year, with Morales down in the final round, yet still doing enough to win on a split decision, Barrera wanted the rematch as he thought he had also done enough to win. Morales moved on and deciding not to fight the rematch, he decided to move up to 126 and fought the talented New Yorker, Kevin Kelley for the W.B.C. interim title and tko'd him in 7 rounds. Morales was hot property and was highly regarded in the pound for pound ratings. Next up was the tough, Guty Espadas Jnr. in a 12 round battle which showcased, Morales's talents to the boxing world. Next for Morales ,was the unknown, In Jin Chi, who gave Morales his toughest test as a professional, with both boxers left battered and bruised in an entertaining fight , with, Morales winning by unanimous decision.

After two years, Barrera finally got the rematch he wanted. Morales / Barrera 2 was scheduled for June 2002 and boxing fans around the world circled it on their calenders. This time the two would meet at 126 and the W.B.C. title was up for grabs. The boxing experts, the media, the fans were all looking for more of the same and to a certain extent, they got it, but it wasn't as brutal as the first fight, as Barrera refused to go toe to toe with Morales like he did in the first and he fought a brilliant tactical fight behind his jab and won on points. This time it was Morales who had to go away and think about his future. After a 3 month break, he decided to challenge Paulie Ayala for the vacant W.B.C.title , and in November, 2002, he beat Ayala in a 12 round decision.

Morales by this time was looking for greatness, and once again , he decided to move up to 130 and challenge for the W.B.C. interim title. The boxer he had to fight, was former victim, Guty Espadas, and Morales showed his power by stopping Espadas in 3 and set up a world title fight with Jesus Chavez for the super featherweight world title. Chavez was a great fighter but Morales proving to hit too hard at the weight , knocking Chavez down twice in the second round. Chavez showed great heart by coming back and going the distance, but Morales was not going to be denied.
Carlos Hernandez, the Bull from El Salvador, was the I.B.F. champion and was a national hero in his country. Before the fight, Hernandez said," i don't care about Morales, i have the hearts of millions in my chest"

Morales, still on his quest to be the best Mexican boxer ever, decided to challenge the fiery, and proud champion. Hernandez jumped at the chance and come fight time , both men were at their peak. In what was definately candidate for fight of the year, Hernandez and Morales gave us a fight for the ages. There was no doubt that Morales was the better , more accurate boxer but Hernandez fought with heart and hurt Morales on a few occasions.
Morales could have boxed his ears off, but again the "Macho" Mexican came out in him. After 12 fantastic rounds of" fighting", Morales won by unanimous decision, in a grueling" tear up "

MARCO ANTONIO BARRERA. WINS 58 LOST 4 [ PRO DEBUT at 15 ]

Marco Antonio Barrera. wins 58 losses 4 Barrera started fighting in the notorious Mexican sweathouses before steadily moving up the rankings, in the super bantamweight division. He made his pro debut at the age of 15 in 1989, fighting and beating grown men. In
1995, he got his chance at fighting for the W.B.O. super bantam weight world title against the tough but limited Daniel Jimenez. Barrera won the fight with a unanimous decision and his future looked assured as a strong champion. He made 10 defences of his title and everyone was talking up a fight with kennedy Mc Kinney, but first he had to get past Junior Jones. The Jones fight was a cracker, with both boxers fighting tremendously in defence and offence. Junior jones proved to be too strong and caught Barrera , knocking him down twice and with Barrera ready to go, and in real trouble, his experienced corner jumped into the ring and the fight was called to an abrupt end. Jones won the fight , by disqualification and Barrera was furious. Barrera came back with a good win over Agapito Sanchez, then fought Kennedy Mc Kinney. Many so called boxing experts had Mc Kinney winning and they were almost right. Barrera fought brilliantly in a tough fight and was ahead on points, before being knocked down in the 11th round.
He showed the heart of a true Mexican warrior, and recovered , and battered McKinney into submission.This fight made the american t.v companies take notice, and big fights and wealth were just around the corner. Barrera was still thinking about his loss to Junior Jones so he decided he wanted to fight him and set the record straight. In another hard battle between the two boxers, this time it went to the scorecards with Jones winning again.
Was Jones his nemisis? Jones fought brilliantly and did enough to win deservedly.
Barrera continued, with a winning streak, and challenged the brit, richie wenton for the W.B.O. Super bantamweight title, and totally outclassed him and snatched the belt by 4th round tko. Barreras first defence was against Pastor Humberto Maurin which he won unanimously on points, then next up was, Cesar Najera, which ended in unbelievably controvercial circumstances. The contest was ruled a no contest as the official reported that Barrera had been sparring Najera in the gym before the fight. Lucky not to be banned from boxing or fined, Barrera carried on and after alot of speculation, it was confirmed he was to fight Eric Morales . As we all know Morales won by split decision but again the proud , stubborn Barrera carried on. By now, Barrera had made millions but he stated he wanted to achieve greatness in the sport he loved. After yet another comeback winning streak, he was matched to fight the cocky, some might say, arrogant, Prince Nasseem Hamed in one of the most anticapated fights of recent times. Hamed had blown away all of his challengers with supernatural knockout power, and many felt he would possibly finish Barreras career.
Barerra fought brilliantly, by counterpunching and beating Hamed in every department at every stage of the fight and won by a unanimous points decision. Since the fight "The Prince " has fought once, in a lackluster performance and almost certain retirement. Barrera took all the fight out of him.
This fantastic performance opened the gates at the rubber match with Morales and boxing fans snapping up tickets for the fight , in a 9 minute frenzy.
Barrera fought a superb tactical fight and won this time by decision. There was talk of a third fight but both fighters moved on. Barrera fought the ageing warrior, Johhny Tapia, setting a record for the most jabs thrown and landed in a featherweight fight ever, and ultimately winning by points.
Kevin Kelley earned his shot at the title, and was broken down by Barrera in
4 rounds. Meanwhile the Los Angeles based Philipino, Manny Pacquiao, had been storming through the division and with trainer Freddie Roach had built up an impressive record and he demanded that people respect him.
Pacquiao had trained like never before for this fight, sparring 300 rounds in L.A, and it showed in the fight. Barrera had "The Pacman" on the deck in the 1st round, but the wild throwing Pacquiao came back strong, knocking Barrera down in the 3rd, and the 11th with wild punches that connected solid on Barrera. Again Barrera looked in trouble, taking an onslaught of punches , his corner stopped the fight by throwing the towel in. Barrera looked as if he had taken too many over his long career. He had done more than most and had made many millions of dollars but he would not retire. He fought the jaded Paulie Ayala 6 months later and won by 10 th round tko, knocking Ayala down 3 times, in a one sided fight.

No doubt, this fight, will again get the fans on their feet, but i wonder , do you think Barrera can take anymore punishment? Will his cer throw in the towel prematurely if Morales decides to bang him out, "Macho" style, or will it be a jabbathon by Barrera ? MORALES BY STOPPAGE