Boxing - The Sweet Science

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THREE-MINUTE WAR: Fighters recall fierce fifth
Round between Morales, Barrera helped bout become year's top fight

Thursday, June 20, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
By KEVIN IOLE
REVIEW-JOURNAL

It was three minutes of mayhem, but three of the most memorable minutes in boxing history.

The fifth round between Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on Feb. 19, 2000, ranks as one of the best in the sport's history. Morales has watched the tape of that round and always come away with a question.

"I don't know how the fight wasn't stopped," Morales said Wednesday, three days before he meets Barrera again Saturday at the MGM Grand in a featherweight showdown. "I thought he was gone."

Each boxer could have made that claim in the round, which was more back and forth than a sustained rally between two clay-court specialists at the French Open.

The fight was chosen as the 2000 Fight of the Year, but the fifth round stood out from the others that night. The boxers traded punches with a ferocity seldom seen, each moving to the brink of ruin before rallying and getting the other guy in trouble.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who has seen thousands of fights in more than 30 years in the sport, said he had difficulty naming a better round.

"It was the typical Mexican-style round, both guys flat-footed and standing in front of each other and throwing power punches," Arum said. "They have such great heart, and they each wanted the fight so badly, they were giving everything they had in order to get it."

Barrera scored the first truly significant punch of the round about 30 seconds into it. Up until that point, they had fought at a quick pace and each had landed a few jabs, but neither had gotten a power shot through. But that all changed.

Standing in the center of the ring, Barrera landed a jab that seemed to freeze Morales momentarily. Barrera immediately followed the jab with a straight right hand that landed flush on Morales' cheek and sent Morales against the ropes.

At that point, Barrera lived up to his nickname, "The Baby Faced Assassin."

But Morales had a surprise waiting. His back hit the ropes from the force of the solid right hand, but he rebounded with a six-punch combination.

"Everybody tells me it was such a great round," Barrera said, breaking into a grin. "But I don't know why. I was getting hit with too many punches in that round."

He was about to take many more, as was Morales. They fought the remainder of the round at a fever pitch, landing their best shots again and again.

The late Mitch Halpern was the referee that night, and in that round, Halpern had little to do but stay out of the way of the flying fists.

"I wish we could have that in every fight, but it's not reasonable to expect that," said Marc Ratner, the executive director of the Nevada Athletic Commission. "These were two guys at the top of their game putting out maximum effort."

The fans responded after the round by rising to their feet and applauding for the entire rest period. All three judges -- Duane Ford, Carol Castellano and Dalby Shirley -- scored the round for Morales.

Morales, who won a controversial decision that night, wasn't totally pleased despite all he accomplished in that round.

"I just don't know how that fight didn't get stopped then," he said. "I had him. I know I had him."

He will have Barrera for another 12 rounds Saturday in a bout that is expected to not only sell out the MGM Grand but to sell up to 9,000 additional closed-circuit seats in Clark County.

Arum is crossing his fingers that he can reach 500,000 people on pay per view. And though both boxers speak limited English, Arum has an easy way to promote the rematch.

"If people saw the first fight, they'll be back for this, and I'm sure they'll bring a few friends," he said.

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