Quite simply: Oh my morales!

dont get me wrong, like everyone else i thought i was going to see morales butchered like a pig tonight and after round one a pody, one eye already shut Morales looked like he wouldnt make it to three.

BUT

It was one of those nights. My god, if a shot Morales can hang in with Maidana like that for 12 with one eye shut the whole fight at a weight category he should never be at!!!! imagine what he would of done in his prime.

It was a thrill to watch and now living on the continent of north America a great ppv card in the end.
I had it a draw and i am annoyed at the 116-112 cards, i really dont see where you give that fight to Maidana by 4 rounds. I could not believe morales was able to turn and fight of the ropes against maidana who clearly though he would blast him out in 4 or 5 rounds. Dont get me wrong morales is a) way past his best b)fighting at a weight he isnt built for but boy did he show his class at times, and so accurate when he let his hand go wth straight shots down the pipe, i had Morales a couple up going into the 11th and 12th which he lost both. Breathtaking fight and maidana again showed his major flaws. I feel a rematch coming on. If only Morales had what he had 5 yrs ago Maidana would of been ko'd even at 140. Great fight

Now.

Kirkland: Dear lord he was terrible against a powder puff Japanese puncher. I think the stoppage was fair and even tho Kirkland was trying to get up, he had gone down heavy on the third knockdown and looked awful the entire round. Fair play to the Japanese fighter and it was hilarious watching them scramble to get a translator cause they didnt think he would win.

Katsisdis, bless hi, he is a human punching bag at the higher levels.Guerro completley outclasse dhim and Kats didnt even get off much, shame as he is so likeable but he is not going to make it at the higher end it would seem. by the way his trainer seems poor and gives such vague advise like 'get in there' and 'you need to hit him' yeah thanks

Paulie did well, he is there to be hit these days but outpointed Cotto for sure, like paulie, not top tier but good for the sport

great night, great card

Viva el terrible, he dod more than any of us could of dreamt

I think the fight says more about Maidana than anything else.

Morales is my 3rd favourite fighter so I was nearly not going to watch this, and other than a decent udercard I dont think I would have. After the first round I had that horrible feeling and having just seen another of my favourites Katsidas take a sickening beating I didnt know which would better - Morales to just get blasted out and over and done with, or to risk a Katsidas like beating just to show his bravery. Thankfully neither happened. I scored it 115-113 to Maidana and was determined to try and allow as little emotion as possible to dictate the scoring. I think aidana just had the workrate, if not the class to win.

But in regards to Morales. This wasnt a rebirth or a second coming. You know you will get heart, courage and bravery but he looked awfully slow, slightly flabby and had no footwork. His upper body movement kept the worst at bay against a pretty ragged Maidana. He still had the handspeed and flashes of class to take advantage of Maidanas sloppiness. With a bit more power and an extra 10-15% engine I think he could have taken the win. A win would have nice if he retired but Id hate to see him stick around and had he won that I think the horrible beating most people feared would just have been postponed. I dont know whether to cut Maidana some slack and say he took Morales easy, but he didnt look good at all against a visibly old Morales.

When I think back to Morales against Diaz or Pacquiao III there just isnt a way back. I would hate to see a rematch or some other opportunist try get him in the ring.

Maidana on the other hand might just have had a particularly bad off night or wasnt focused but if he performs like that regularly then he will ship a few more defeats.

manos grea tlittle response, i agrrre but wasnt it great to see morales throw those combos so accurately down the pipe at times, got me going

morales is shot and i wish he would go retire now on the back of a very respectful defeat but i smell rematch, great card thho

It's actually not a bad decision because if they drew I really do think that maidana would come strong second time around and give him a real pasting. Morales can leave the game with his head held high. He wants JMM or a rematch. JMM fight would be the ideal fight as it would probably be the send off of both fighters. Morales certainly can hold his own with JMM, although I doubt he will win. He could even fight barrera for old times sake as barrera has recently fought at light welter, gives them a payday they all deserve.

morales v barrera and making it 2-2 then retiring is his best bet but i tik after that he will want more, but he justifeid the ppv, great card, really was

Morales vs Barrera 4 would be good and give them a payday they both deserve. Neither one beats JMM imo he's P4P top 10.

I think Maidanas power has been shown up a bit in his last two fights to be honest, I don't want this to descend into a Khan debate but we can all agree he had never been able to take a big shot very well but despite being heavily staggered hung around. Next fight and a well past his best Morales 2/3 weights above where he should be and from all accounts didn't sound like he was going to get stopped at any point. If his power isn't winning him the big fights he has very little else.

One by one these up and comers are being shown up by wily old veterans, in the past year or so

Pavlik
Jacobs
Lemiuex
Kirkland
Maidana
Alexander
Dawson
Pascal

Have all been shown up to a degree

The Mighty Atom wrote:I think Maidanas power has been shown up a bit in his last two fights to be honest, I don't want this to descend into a Khan debate but we can all agree he had never been able to take a big shot very well but despite being heavily staggered hung around. Next fight and a well past his best Morales 2/3 weights above where he should be and from all accounts didn't sound like he was going to get stopped at any point. If his power isn't winning him the big fights he has very little else.

One by one these up and comers are being shown up by wily old veterans, in the past year or so

Pavlik
Jacobs
Lemiuex
Kirkland
Maidana
Alexander
Dawson
Pascal

Have all been shown up to a degree

Jacobs, Alexander and Dawson weren't shown up by old heads. Guys in their prime.

Should possibly have been more concise with Jacobs and Dawson but both were expected to win against Pirog and Pascal.

With Alexander I meant his daylight robbery win over Kotelnik rather than his expected loss to Bradley

The Mighty Atom wrote:Should possibly have been more concise with Jacobs and Dawson but both were expected to win against Pirog and Pascal.

With Alexander I meant his daylight robbery win over Kotelnik rather than his expected loss to Bradley

Get you. Can't argue with that then.

Morales isn't a SHOT fighter, shot fighters cannot physically do it anymore I think this is a common misinterpretation, clearly Morales can, but he's declined massively in terms of his speed, still got that ring savvy about him and that hard man spirit though!

no he is shot mate, he just has the remenents of a craft left and he happened to be so good he can still keep in there against a fighter like maidana whos hould of battered him.

he doesnt have to be unable to lift his gloves to be shot

Don't mean any disrespect to Morales but I think Maidana underestimated him. I wanted Morales to win and had him winning it by a point but if they had a rematch I would think Maidana would prepare properly and get him out early - mid. I'm not a big Maidana fan btw I think he is one dimensional and has a soft chin.

What has Khan to do to prove himself? Maidana hits bloody hard, give the guy credit for god sake. Well done to Morales though, I feared a butchering and although I had Maidana by 2 rounds, was so happy to see it being competitive. Maidana must lose stock from this! Reminded me of the last Rocky film!

license

it reminded me of the same, somehow i fear morales isnt goign to be happy enough to say 'adrian we did it' and call it a day

great fight

My personal opinion, Maidana had COMPLETELY underestimated him, I think he just thought it would be an easyish comeback fight, TAKE NOTHING FROM MORALES HOWEVER! He gave it everything, however I do feel that if he had taken training seriously then it could have been a knockout, and perhaps not just just training, mentally as well! I mean he was just wading in thinking he could be aggressive with him and use that speed advantage, however what's the thing that beats speed? Timing! Great counter punching ability. Full credit to Morales he still had the fundamentals down to a Tee! just a shame his body can't do what it used to be able to. =/ I disagree that he has a soft chin, it's not solid solid, but it's decent enough to get him by, but I agree prettyboy soooooooooooooooo one dimensional it's a joke. He takes on anyone that can counter punch he's toast in my opinion.

think you should edit it, sure you meant maidana not morales in firt sentance.