18 years ago today: Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales fight the first of their three great wars

18 years ago today: Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales fight the first of their three great wars

Las Vegas, February 19, 2000. Mexican warriors Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales collided for the first of three epic ring wars. Morales at the time was the new star of the 122 pound weight class and he was undefeated. He was the favorite in the match-up with Barrera for a number of reasons: one of these being the fact that Barrera has twice been beaten, by Junior Jones; who has actually stopped Barrera in their first fight. These defeats remained vivid in the minds of fight fans, and Morales of Tijuana was expected to dispatch his rival who hailed from Mexico City.

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Erik Morales, Ronald “Winky” Wright, Vitali Klitschko elected into Boxing Hall of Fame

Erik Morales, Ronald “Winky” Wright, Vitali Klitschko elected into Boxing Hall of Fame

It has been confirmed how modern day greats Erik Morales, Ronald “Winky” Wright and Vitali Klitschko have been voted into the 2018 Hall of Fame. This year proved to be an especially tough year for those people privileged enough to vote, as just three greats from the modern category (last bout no earlier than the year 1989) would be put through to receive immortality at Canastota.

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Ricky Hatton, Vitali Klitschko, Ivan Calderon, Erik Morales, Winky Wright all added to Hall Of Fame ballot for 2018

Ricky Hatton, Vitali Klitschko, Ivan Calderon, Erik Morales, Winky Wright all added to Hall Of Fame ballot for 2018

The ballot sheets are out for the 2018 Hall of Fame, with voters having to make the agonising decision of picking just five fighters from the list of 32 – with just three of these fighters going through.

This, as ESPN writer Dan Rafael explains, means two of the above new additions on the ballot – Hatton, Klitshko, Calderon, Morales, Wright – will be left out. Each of the above five fighters is absolutely deserving of being enshrined at Canastota, and as Rafael says in a tweet, it will be “brutal” making his decision this year.

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Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, once bitter ring enemies, make peace with one another

Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales, once bitter ring enemies, make peace with one another

In the 2000s, they engaged in one of the most fierce, genuinely hate-filled rivalries in lower weight boxing history. Super-bantamweights/ featherweights /super-featherweights Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales went to war three times – the first battle, from February of 2000 being recognised as one of the greatest fights in modern day boxing history – and they came to blows outside of the ring also. Simply put, these two did not like each other.

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Erik Morales: an appreciation

Erik Morales: an appreciation

A report from ESPN Deportes says that Mexican fighting legend and former four-weight champion Erik Morales has decided to call it quits on his fantastic career, dispensing with a planned farewell fight in his homeland. Morales, aged 37, walks away with an incredibly hard-fought 52-9(36) record – and “El Terrible’s” induction into The Hall of Fame is an absolute certainty when the appropriate five years have passed.

Turning pro in his native Tijuana in March of 19993 when he was just 16-years-old, Morales KO’d a guy named Jose Orejel inside a couple of rounds and reportedly spent his meagre payday on chewing gum. It wasn’t long at all before the tall and skinny, long-armed super-bantamweight was fighting for titles; first Hispano and Mexican belts and then NABF and world titles.

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