A LOOK INTO THE REMATCH - BARRERA VS MORALES

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By Ron Brashear

Inside Boxing Writer

Photos: Michael V. Ornelas/Inside Boxing

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (INSIDE BOXING 6/20/2002) - On Saturday night, 6/22, at the MGM Grand live from Las Vegas, Erik Morales (41-0, 31 KOs), WBC World Featherweight Champion will battle Marco Antonio Barrera (54-3, 39 KOs) for the world featherweight championship in a highly anticipated rematch. In case you missed their 1st bout on 02/19/2000, which Ring Magazine voted FIGHT OF THE YEAR 2000, you definitely do not want to miss this one. Its not often that re-matches live up to the hype and statue of the original fight, however, its hard to imagine that this one will not. These two featherweight warriors will put the pride of Mexico on Center Stage come Saturday Night. Morales is from Tijuana and Barrera is from Mexico City.

The only thing light about these fighters is their weight - 126lbs each! They are both heavy punchers and they both possess a heavy heart of courage! In their 1st battle, which Morales won by a Split Decision, despite being knocked down in the 12th round, was an action-packed fight from the opening bell all the way to the end. The decision prompted the WBO to reinstate Barerra as the WBO Champion regardless of the decision lost. I, like many others, thought Barrera did enough to deserve the victory.

So the stage is set, and I envision Barrera striving to take this fight out of the Judge's hands! However, that is not going to be an easy task to accomplish against "El Terrible" Erik Morales. After all, this undefeated Champion will bring a 13-0 Championship record into the ring. This fight is truly a toss-up, a flip of the coin. The only thing is, you may want to make sure you're tuned in to see how this coin lands! Even the odd makers in Vegas, as of 4:00 EST, had Barrera a slight favorite in this fight. Barrera -175 and Morales +155. I can ensure you this is based on recent activity of late. Barerra has been looking very impressive with wins over former World Champions, TKOed Enrique Sanchez in 6th round in September 2001, a 12 round unanimous decision of Naseem Hamed in April 2001, and TKOed Jesus Salud in 6th rounds in December 2000.

Whereas Morales didn't look that impressive in his last outing against Injin Chi, of Korea, in winning by unanimous 12 round decision in July 2001, as well as the fight prior to that when he defeated Guty Espadas by unanimous decision in February 2001. However, its hard to count out a 41-0 Champion, especially when he knows the opposition has the potential to take his head off. My only prediction for this fight is that it will be a good one!

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Ron Brashear can be contacted at brashear@insideboxing.com, ron@brasheargear.com