Erik Morales

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Érik Morales
Statistics
Real name Érik Isaac Morales Elvira
Nickname(s) El Terrible
Rated at Super Bantamweight
Featherweight
Super Featherweight
Lightweight
Light Welterweight
Welterweight
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Nationality Mexican
Born September 1, 1976 (1976-09-01) (age 35)
Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Stance Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights 59
Wins 52
Wins by KO 36
Losses 7
Draws 0
No contests 0

Érik Isaac Morales Elvira (born September 1, 1976 in Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico) is a Mexican professional boxer. He is the first Mexican-born boxer in history to win world titles in four different weight classes and is the current WBC Light Welterweight Champion. He is also the former WBC & IBF Super Featherweight, WBC Featherweight (x2) and WBC & WBO Super Bantamweight Champion.

Morales has defeated 15 different world champions during the course of his career. He is famous for his trilogies with fellow Mexican legend three-division champion Marco Antonio Barrera and Filipino octuple champion Manny Pacquiao. He is also the last boxer to beat Pacquiao. He ranks #49 on ESPN's 50 Greatest Boxers Of All Time.[1]

Contents

[edit] Career history

[edit] Early career

Erik Morales was born in the Zona Norte section of Tijuana. Under the tutelage of his father, José Morales, a fighter himself, Erik started boxing at the age of 5 and amassed a very impressive amateur career that saw him fight 114 times (108–6) and win 11 major titles in Mexico. Morales made his professional debut at the age of 16, by knocking out Jose Orejel in two rounds. Between 1993 and 1997, he quickly climbed the ranks in the super bantamweight division, winning 26 fights, 20 by knockout, including wins against former champions Kenny Mitchell and Hector Acero Sánchez, before challenging for his first world title. It was during this time that he signed with promoter Bob Arum.

[edit] Super Bantamweight

On September 7, 1997, in El Paso, Texas, at the age of 21, he won his first world title by stopping WBC Super Bantamweight Champion and now member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, Daniel Zaragoza, via knockout in eleven rounds.

In his first defense, Morales defeated John Lowey (24–2) by 7th round knockout. In his next fight, he defeated Remigio Molina (31–1) by 6th round knockout. On May 16, 1998, he defeated former champion Jose Luis Bueno via a second round knockout.

In September 1998, in another landmark fight, Morales knocked out former two-weight world champion Junior Jones of the United States. Jones went into the battle with a daunting record against Mexican fighters of 35 victories and no losses, most notably including two victories over the previous champion, Marco Antonio Barrera, in 1996 and 1997. Also noteworthy was that Jones was entering México for the first time to fight and the fight was held at Tijuana. The fight went on to three contested rounds, before Morales knocked out Jones with two consecutive overhead right crosses in the fourth round.

In October 1999, Morales fought and defeated former WBC antamweight Champion Wayne McCullough of Northern Ireland, saying that McCullough gave him one of the toughest three fights of his career.

[edit] Morales vs Barrera I

In February 2000, Morales defeated Marco Antonio Barrera to win the WBO super bantamweight title, in a fight that is considered one of boxing's classics. Morales won the fight by a split decision. It was an intense battle in which both fighters were cut and battered. After the fight, Morales said, "He was a brave fighter, and we both gave it all we had. We were both hurt during the fight. He was the biggest puncher I ever faced in the ring." The Ring named it the fight of the year.

[edit] Featherweight

After nine successful title defenses, Morales chose to vacate his WBC super bantamweight title and his newly won WBO title in order to move up to the featherweight division. In his second fight at this weight, he fought 33 year-old former world champion Kevin Kelley, in September 2000. Kelley was knocked down in the fifth and seventh rounds, he was finally trapped in that latter round by a flurry of five consecutive uppercuts from Morales. Supported only by the ropes, a sixth uppercut landed, and the fight was stopped. Morales became the WBC Interim Featherweight Champion.

Morales fought again in 2000, knocking out Rodney Jones in the first round. In February 2001, he fought Guty Espadas, Jr., the WBC featherweight title holder with a thirteen fight winning streak, and whose father, Guty Espadas Sr., was also a world champion boxer. Morales won a close twelve round decision to claim his third world title in his second weight division. Although Morales was highly rated in the featherweight division, Naseem Hamed was seen as the Lineal Champion of the division.

In July 2001, Morales defeated future champion In Jin Chi of South Korea and retained his title. Chi gave a strong effort, but Morales was the sharper, harder puncher and outworked him for much of the fight. Morales was cut and swollen over the left eye in the 6th round by an accidental clash of heads and Chi was penalized one point in the 10th round.[2]

[edit] Morales vs Barrera II

Morales then tasted defeat for the first time in his 42nd professional fight when he lost a unanimous decision and his WBC title against Lineal Champion, Marco Antonio Barrera in June 2002. Morales constantly pressed forward and dominated much of the first half of the fight. He was cut on the bridge of the nose in the 2nd round, and cut and swollen over his right eye in the 8th. However, he punched Barrera to the canvas during the middle rounds, the only such event achieved by either man throughout their trilogy. Barrera fought cautiously in the early rounds, but rallied as the fight progressed.

Morales bounced back with a dominating twelve round decision victory over former world champion, Paulie Ayala in November 2002 to regain the vacant WBC featherweight title. The early rounds were close, but Morales started to dominate in the middle rounds, consistently landing the harder punches and Ayala's left eye began to swell. He slowed his pace in the late rounds and Ayala rallied, but Morales rocked him with a series of punches in the 12th round.[3]

Morales defeated Edward Lee Croft in March, 2003. He scored three knockdowns and stopped Croft in the 3rd round. All the fighters on the card donated their purses to "Vamos Mexico," a children's charity headed by Marta Sahagun, wife of Mexican president Vicente Fox.[4]

Morales defeated Fernando Velardez later that year. He knocked down Velardez in the 1st, 4th, and 5th rounds when the fight was stopped without a count. In October, 2003, Morales defeated Guty Espadas Jr. in a rematch of their first close fight. This time Morales knocked him out in three rounds.[5]

[edit] Super Featherweight

Morales vacated his WBC featherweight title and moved up to the super featherweight division. On February 28, 2004, Morales captured the WBC super featherweight title by unanimous decision over Jesús Chávez. Morales twice knocked down Chávez, which Floyd Mayweather, Jr. himself had been unable to do. Morales was rocked midway through the 1st round, but he came back to score two knockdowns in the 2nd round and managed to cut Chavez over the left eye. Chavez injured his right shoulder early in the fight and threw very few right hands, but still fought aggressively for the rest of the fight with his jab and left hooks which cut Morales over the eye in the 4th round. With the victory he became the second Mexican boxer to win a title at three separate weight divisions, the first being the acclaimed Julio César Chávez.

On July 31, 2004, Morales unified his WBC super featherweight title with the IBF version by way of a twelve round unanimous decision over Carlos Hernández. Hernández constantly pressed forward, but Morales boxed effectively consistently landing the harder, more accurate punches which rocked Hernández several times.[6]

[edit] Morales vs Barrera III

On November 27, 2004, Morales fought Barrera for the third time in a bout for the WBC super featherweight title. Their highly anticipated third battle drew a capacity crowd of over 11,000. Barrera started fast and rocked Morales late in the first round and bloodied his nose in the second. Morales came back strongly in the second half of the fight and won four of the last six rounds on two judges' scorecards. The 11th round saw Barrera badly staggered, and was the closest either man had come to being knocked out during their three fights. However, the judges scored the bout 114–114, 114–115, 113–115 in favor of Barrera. Their third meeting was once again named The Ring fight of the year.

[edit] Morales vs Pacquiao I

On March 19, 2005, as a betting underdog, Morales defeated then three-division world champion Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, by a unanimous decision. During the 12th round, Morales, comfortably ahead on the scorecards, decided to brawl with the Filipino slugger, even turning southpaw during the process. In a post fight interview, HBO broadcaster Larry Merchant, asked Morales, "Why?" Morales replied by asking a question of his own, "Did you enjoy it? That's why."

Later that night, at the post-fight press conference, Erik further explained his reasoning for brawling with the Filipino slugger; "It was a great pleasure to fight this way. I think I was controlling the fight with my distance. Sometimes I need to put a little flavor into the ring. My promoter always says that I make the fights very difficult, but they're not difficult, they're fun for the public. I decided to stop myself in front of him in the twelfth round because I wanted to give the public what they deserve. It was a great round. I'm very happy about it."[7]

[edit] Morales vs Raheem

On September 10, 2005, Erik Morales moved up to the lightweight division and was defeated by unanimous decision by Zahir Raheem. Raheem frustrated Morales with constant lateral movement. Raheem rocked Morales in the 5th round and built a lead on the scorecards, but Morales rallied in the 11th round and staggered him with a right hand as Raheem's glove touched the canvas, but it was not scored a knockdown by referee Jon Schorle.[8] The final scores were 118–110, 116–112, and 115–112 in favor of Raheem.

[edit] Morales vs Pacquiao II & III

On January 22, 2006, Morales fought Pacquiao in a rematch from their bout ten months before and was defeated in ten rounds. Pacquiao knocked down Morales twice in the final seconds of round ten and the fight was stopped.

He fought Pacquiao for the third time in a non-championship title bout, on November 18, 2006. Morales was defeated by a knockout in three rounds. After the fight, Morales said "Maybe it's time I should no longer be doing this." He sat speechless in his corner for five minutes afterward. "I did everything in camp necessary to win this fight. I didn't win it. It wasn't my night...it just wasn't meant to be."[9] Asked by Larry Merchant whether he would retire from boxing, Morales offered, "Maybe this is the way to end it. It's a beautiful night, and there's a lot of good people (here in the audience)...it was always a pleasure to give the public great fights."

[edit] Lightweight

Morales moved up to the lightweight division in search of a possible fourth WBC title. During a holiday visit to the Philippines in January 2007, Morales told a local newspaper that he was fighting again but declined to name his next opponent. He stated that he had unfinished business in the boxing ring and was determined to regain recognition as a world champion. He also expressed his desire to become the first Mexican fighter to win four WBC titles in different divisions and surpass Julio César Chávez's record by campaigning at the Lightweight class of 135 lb (61 kg).[10]

[edit] Diaz vs Morales

On August 4, 2007, Morales fought David Díaz for the WBC lightweight title and lost a close unanimous decision at the Allstate Arena. Judges Herminio, Cuevas Collazo and Robert Hecko both scored Round 1, 10–9 Morales, even though Morales knocked down Díaz in that round. Collazo then went on to score Round 2, 10–8 for Diaz, when not only did a knockdown not occur, but the two other judges saw it as a Morales round. The final scores read 114–113 (Collazo), 115–113 (Hecko) and 115–112 (Uratani), all in favor of Díaz. It was Morales' fifth loss in his last six bouts. During the post-fight press conference, Morales announced his retirement from boxing.[11]

[edit] Comeback

In various interviews conducted in 2009, Morales began to state that he would fight again in late 2009 to early 2010, after he gave his body enough time to rest. Morales also stated that he would continue to fight as a lightweight.[12]

His first comeback fight was then set for México in early 2010, against ranked Nicaraguan welterweight contender Jose Alfaro.

[edit] Light Welterweight

On April 9, 2011, the MGM Grand Garden Arena hosted HBO Pay Per View's "Action Heroes." The main event featured Erik Morales vs Marcos Rene Maidana.

Many boxing pundits felt that an aging Morales, fighting a couple of divisions above his best weight, stood little chance against the hard hitting Maidana. However, Morales turned back the clock and gave his best performance since handing Manny Pacquiao his most recent defeat over six years ago. The opening bell saw Maidana jump on the older Morales. Morales' eye was badly swollen in the first round by a series of hard Maidana shots, especially a devastating uppercut, and it looked like the rout was on. However, Morales held his own through the next few rounds before rallying himself in the 8th–10th rounds. Although Maidana was using combos to hurt "El Terrible" Morales started turnin the tide mid-fight throwing very heavy counter-punches almost knocking Maidana down. However, just when the fight seemed within his Morales grasp, Marco Maidana took over by throwing combos at Morales giving him the final rounds of the fight. Morales put up a valiant effort, performed better than anyone thought possible, won the crowd over, and gave the boxing public another "Fight of the Year" candidate. However it just wasn't enough. In the end, Maidana's youth and Morale's age and mileage were just too much to overcome and Maidana eked out a majority decision victory with scores of 114–114 and 116–112 twice.

[edit] World title in fourth weight class

Morales was due to fight WBO Inter-Continental Light Welterweight Champion Lucas Matthysse as an under card to the Victor Ortiz vs. Floyd Mayweather bout. Matthysse has pulled out of the bout citing a viral infection.

On September 17, 2011, Morales won the WBC Light Welterweight Championship with a win over un-rated Pablo Cesar Cano. The title had been vacant after previous champion Timothy Bradley's status had contentiously been changed to Champ in Recess due to inactivity, many including experts and commentators, saw the title won by Morales as a paper championship. Following Morales' win, he would be rated No.7 on Ring Magazine's Light welterweight ratings, with all other title holders and highly-rated contenders ranked above him.

Morales will face 23-year-old Danny Garcia (22–0, 14 KOs), one of boxing's rising talents, on January 28, 2012, who is coming off a career-best victory against former titleholder Kendall Holt on Oct. 15 on the Bernard Hopkins vs. Chad Dawson undercard.

[edit] Record

Morales' record consists of 52 wins, 36 of these by knockout, and 7 losses (2KO). He won eight world titles in four different weight classes and successfully defended his titles fifteen times. Morales also holds victories over champions Kenny Mitchell, Hector Acero-Sanchez, Daniel Zaragoza, Junior Jones, Jose Luis Bueno, Wayne McCullough, Marco Antonio Barrera, Kevin Kelley, Guty Espadas Jr., In Jin Chi, Paulie Ayala, Jesús Chávez, Carlos Hernández and Manny Pacquiao.

[edit] Outside the ring

Morales was trained and managed by his father José Morales and was promoted by Bob Arum and Top Rank organization. His brothers are undefeated prospect Iván Morales and former WBO Super Flyweight Champion Diego Morales. Erik and his wife Andrea have three children.

Erik Morales currently spends his time managing a $3.5 million budget running the parks and recreation department in Tijuana. Morales donates his salary back to the department to further help fund it. Morales was quoted as saying, "This is just a way for me to be able to thank the people who have been so good to me all my life."[13]

[edit] Professional record

52 Wins (36 knockouts, 16 decisions), 7 Losses (2 knockouts, 5 decisions), 0 Draw
Res. Record Opponent Type Rd., Time Date Location Notes
N/A United States Danny Garcia - ? (12) 2012-03-24 United States Reliant Arena, Houston, Texas WBC Light Welterweight title on the line.
Win 52–7 Mexico Pablo César Cano TKO 10 (12) 2011-09-17 Nevada MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Won vacant WBC Light Welterweight title.
Loss 51–7 Argentina Marcos René Maidana MD 12 2011-04-09 Nevada MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States For Interim WBA Light Welterweight title.
Win 51–6 Dominican Republic Francisco Lorenzo UD 12 2010-12-18 Mexico Caliente Racetrack, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico Retained WBC Silver Light Welterweight title.
Win 50–6 Scotland Willie Limond KO 6 (12), (2:46) 2010-09-11 Mexico Plaza Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico Won vacant WBC Silver Light Welterweight title.
Win 49–6 Nicaragua José Alfaro UD 12 2010-03-27 Mexico Arena Monterrey, Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico Won vacant WBC International Welterweight title.
Loss 48–6 United States David Díaz UD 12 2007-08-04 Illinois Allstate Arena, Rosemont, Illinois For WBC Lightweight title.
Loss 48–5 Philippines Manny Pacquiao KO 3 (12), (2:57) 2006-11-18 Nevada Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada For WBC International Super Featherweight title.
Loss 48–4 Philippines Manny Pacquiao TKO 10 (12), (2:33) 2006-01-21 Nevada Thomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada For WBC International Super Featherweight title.
Loss 48–3 United States Zahir Raheem UD 12 2005-09-10 California Staples Center, Los Angeles, California For vacant WBC International Lightweight title.
Win 48–2 Philippines Manny Pacquiao UD 12 2005-03-19 Nevada MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Won vacant WBC International & vacant IBA Super Featherweight title.
Loss 47–2 Mexico Marco Antonio Barrera MD 12 2004-11-27 Nevada MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Lost WBC Super Featherweight title.
The Ring magazine's "Fight of the Year" (2004)
Win 47–1 United States Carlos Hernández UD 12 2004-07-31 Nevada MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Retained WBC & won IBF Super Featherweight titles.
Win 46–1 Mexico Jesús Chávez UD 12 2004-02-28 Nevada MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Won WBC Super Featherweight title.
Win 45–1 Mexico Guty Espadas, Jr. KO 3 (12), (2:58) 2003-10-04 CaliforniaStaples Center, Los Angeles, California WBC Super Featherweight Title Eliminator.
Win 44–1 United States Fernando Velárdez TKO 5 (12), (1:02) 2003-07-31 NevadaMandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada Retained WBC Featherweight title.
Win 43–1 United States Edward Lee Croft TKO 3 (12), (2:16) 2003-2-22 MexicoPlaza Mexico, Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico Retained WBC Featherweight title.
Win 42–1 Mexico Paulie Ayala UD 12 2002-11-16 NevadaMandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada Won vacant WBC Featherweight title.
Loss 41–1 Mexico Marco Antonio Barrera MD 12 2002-06-22 Nevada MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Lost WBC Featherweight title. For vacant The Ring Featherweight title.
Win 41–0 South Korea In-Jin Chi UD 12 2002-07-31 CaliforniaStaples Center, Los Angeles, California Retained WBC Featherweight title.
Win 40–0 Mexico Guty Espadas, Jr. UD 12 2001-02-17 Nevada MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Won WBC Featherweight title.
Win 39–0 United States Rodney Jones KO 1 (1:02) 2000-12-09 MexicoAuditorio Municipal, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Win 38–0 United States Kevin Kelley TKO 7 (12), (2:30) 2000-09-02 TexasDon Haskins Convention Center, El Paso, Texas Won Interim WBC Featherweight title.
Win 37–0 United States Michael Leroy Juárez KO 3 (1:12) 2000-06-17 CaliforniaStaples Center, Los Angeles, California
Win 36–0 Mexico Marco Antonio Barrera SD 12 2000-02-19 NevadaMandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada Retained WBC & won WBO Super Bantamweight titles.
The Ring magazine's "Fight of the Year" (2000)
Win 35–0 Northern Ireland Wayne McCullough UD 12 1999-10-22 MichiganJoe Louis Arena, Detroit, Michigan Retained WBC Super Bantamweight title.
Win 34–0 Philippines Reynante Jamili TKO 6 (12), (0:11) 1999-07-31 Mexico Plaza de Toros, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico Retained WBC Super Bantamweight title.
Win 33–0 Mexico Juan Carlos Ramírez TKO 9 (12), (0:28) 1999-05-08 NevadaHilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada Retained WBC Super Bantamweight title.
Win 32–0 Puerto Rico Ángel Chacón KO 2 (12), (1:50) 1999-02-13 NevadaThomas & Mack Center, Las Vegas, Nevada Retained WBC Super Bantamweight title.
Win 31–0 United States Junior Jones KO 4 (12), (2:55) 1998-09-12 MexicoPlaza de Toros, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico Retained WBC Super Bantamweight title.
Win 30–0 Mexico José Luis Bueno KO 2 (12), (1:19) 1998-05-16 MexicoPlaza de Toros, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico Retained WBC Super Bantamweight title.
Win 29–0 Argentina Remigio Molina TKO 6 (12), (0:14) 1998-04-03 MexicoTijuana, Baja California, Mexico Retained WBC Super Bantamweight title.
Win 28–0 United Kingdom John Lowey TKO 7 (12), (3:00) 1997-12-12 MexicoAuditorio Municipal, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico Retained WBC Super Bantamweight title.
Win 27–0 Mexico Daniel Zaragoza KO 11 (12), (2:59) 1997-09-06 TexasCounty Coliseum, El Paso, Texas Won WBC Super Bantamweight title.
Win 26–0 United States Concepcion Velásquez TKO 8 (1:11) 1997-04-04 NevadaLas Vegas, Nevada
Win 25–0 United States Robbie Lovato UD 10 1996-11-29 MexicoTijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Win 24–0 Argentina Pedro Javier Torres KO 2 (1:50) 1996-10-12 CaliforniaArrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California Retained NABF Super Bantamweight title.
Win 23–0 Dominican Republic Hector Acero Sánchez UD 12 1996-06-07 NevadaCaesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada Retained NABF Super Bantamweight title.
Win 22–0 United States Lee Cargle TKO 2 (0:11) 1996-04-22 MexicoTijuana, Baja California, Mexico Retained NABF Super Bantamweight title.
Win 21–0 United States Rudy Bradley TKO 11 (0:02) 1996-02-25 NevadaLas Vegas, Nevada Retained NABF Super Bantamweight title.
Win 20–0 United States Kenny Mitchell TKO 2 (2:30) 1995-12-18 MexicoTijuana, Baja California, Mexico Retained NABF Super Bantamweight title.
Win 19–0 Mexico Enrique Angeles UD 12 1995-11-10 MexicoTijuana, Baja California, Mexico Retained NABF & Mexico Super Bantamweight titles.
Win 18–0 Mexico Alberto Martínez TKO 4 (0:42) 1995-09-09 NevadaCaesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada Retained NABF Super Bantamweight title.
Win 17–0 Mexico Juan Luis Torres UD 12 1995-07-14 NevadaLas Vegas, Nevada Won vacant NABF Super Bantamweight title.
Win 16–0 Mexico Armando Castro TKO 10 (1:04) 1995-06-02 MexicoTijuana, Baja California, Mexico Retained WBC Mundo Hispano Super Bantamweight title.
Win 15–0 Mexico Enrique Jupiter TKO 6 (0:28) 1995-04-21 MexicoTijuana, Baja California, Mexico Won Mexico Super Bantamweight title.
Win 14–0 United States Ricky Hernández KO 1 (0:14) 1995-02-03 MexicoTijuana, Baja California, Mexico Retained WBC Mundo Hispano Super Bantamweight title.
Win 13–0 Mexico José Valdez TKO 3 (2:14) 1994-12-19 MexicoTijuana, Baja California, Mexico Won WBC Mundo Hispano Super Bantamweight title.
Win 12–0 Mexico Ramón Magana TKO 2 (1:19) 1994-11-28 MexicoTijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Win 11–0 Mexico Idelfonso Bernal KO 3 (0:21) 1994-10-17 MexicoTijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Win 10–0 Mexico Julio César Cardona KO 2 (1:01) 1994-08-22 MexicoTijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Win 9–0 Mexico Isidro Nolasco UD 8 1994-03-26 MexicoMexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico
Win 8–0 Mexico Paul Olvera KO 3 (2:55) 1994-01-21 MexicoTijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Win 7–0 Mexico Alfonso Mota KO 2 (1:19) 1993-12-06 MexicoTijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Win 6–0 Mexico Jaime Abrica KO 2 (0:03) 1993-10-22 MexicoTijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Win 5–0 Mexico José Álvarez UD 6 1993-07-26 MexicoTijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Win 4–0 Mexico Marco Tovar TKO 1 (0:59) 1993-07-08 MexicoPlaza de Toros, Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Win 3–0 Mexico Óscar Maldonado KO 3 (0:32) 1993-05-25 MexicoTijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Win 2–0 Mexico Jaime Rodríguez KO 2 (1:11) 1993-05-07 MexicoTijuana, Baja California, Mexico
Win 1–0 Mexico José Orejel KO 2 (0:19) 1993-03-29 MexicoTijuana, Baja California, Mexico Morales' Professional Debut at 16 years old.

[edit] Titles in boxing

Major World Titles:

Minor World Title:

Regional/International Titles:

Special Titles:

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Daniel Zaragoza
WBC Super Bantamweight Champion
September 6, 1997 – February 19, 2000
Vacated
Vacant
Title next held by
Willie Jorrin
Preceded by
Marco Antonio Barrera
WBO Super Bantamweight Champion
February 19, 2000
Immediately vacated
Vacant
Title next held by
Marco Antonio Barrera
New title WBC Interim Featherweight Champion
September 2, 2000 – February 17, 2001
Unified
Vacant
Title next held by
Humberto Soto
Preceded by
Guty Espadas, Jr.
WBC Featherweight Champion
February 17, 2001 – June 22, 2002
Succeeded by
Marco Antonio Barrera
Vacant
Title last held by
Marco Antonio Barrera
WBC Featherweight Champion
November 16, 2002 – October 4, 2003

Vacated

Vacant
Title next held by
In Jin Chi
Preceded by
Jesús Chávez
WBC Super Featherweight Champion
February 28, 2004 – November 27, 2004
Succeeded by
Marco Antonio Barrera
Preceded by
Carlos Hernández
IBF Super Featherweight Champion
July 31, 2004 – July 31, 2004

Stripped

Vacant
Title next held by
Robbie Peden
Vacant
Title last held by
Timothy Bradley
WBC Light Welterweight Champion
September 17, 2011 – present
Incumbent
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