1. Erik Isaac Morales Elvira was born on September 1,1976 and is a Mexican former professional boxer who competed from 1993 to 2012.
59 Facts About Erik Morales
1. 2.
Erik Morales is the first Mexico-born boxer in history to win world championships in four weight classes, ranging from super bantamweight to light welterweight.
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Erik Morales was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in June 2018.
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Erik Morales was born in the Zona Norte section of Tijuana.
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Under the tutelage of his father, Jose Morales, a fighter himself, Erik started boxing at the age of five and amassed a very impressive amateur career that totaled 114 fights, winning 11 major titles in Mexico in the process.
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Erik Morales made his professional debut at the age of 16 by knocking out Jose Orejel in two rounds.
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In September 1998, in another landmark fight, Erik Morales knocked out former two-weight world champion Junior Jones of the United States.
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In October 1999, Erik Morales fought and defeated former WBC Bantamweight Champion Wayne McCullough of Northern Ireland, saying that McCullough gave him one of the three toughest fights of his career.
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In February 2000, Erik Morales defeated Marco Antonio Barrera to win the WBO Super Bantamweight title, in a fight that is considered one of boxing's classics.
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Erik Morales was the biggest puncher I ever faced in the ring.
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Erik Morales fought again in 2000, knocking out Rodney Jones in the first round.
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Erik Morales won a close twelve-round decision to claim his third world title in his second weight division.
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In July 2001, Erik Morales defeated future champion In Jin Chi of South Korea and retained his title.
14.
Chi gave a strong effort, but Erik Morales was the sharper, harder puncher and outworked him for much of the fight.
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Erik Morales was cut and swollen over the left eye in the sixth round by an accidental clash of heads and Chi was penalized one point in the tenth round.
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Erik Morales then tasted defeat for the first time in his 42nd professional fight when he lost a controversial majority decision and his WBC title against Lineal Champion, Marco Antonio Barrera in June 2002, in a re-match of their February 2000 fight.
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Erik Morales constantly pressed forward and dominated much of the first half of the fight.
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Erik Morales was cut on the bridge of the nose in the 2nd round, and cut and swollen over his right eye in the 8th.
19.
Barrera fought cautiously in the early rounds, but rallied as the fight progressed, although Erik Morales seemed to narrowly win rounds 10 and 11, which when including his dominance in the first half of the fight, seemed to seal him the close victory on the score-cards.
20.
Erik 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.
21.
The early rounds were close, but Erik Morales started to dominate in the middle rounds, consistently landing the harder punches and Ayala's left eye began to swell.
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Erik Morales slowed his pace in the late rounds and Ayala rallied, but Morales rocked him with a series of punches in the 12th round.
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Erik Morales scored three knockdowns and stopped Croft in the 3rd round.
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Erik Morales knocked down Velardez in the 1st, 4th and 5th rounds when the fight was stopped without a count.
25.
Erik Morales vacated his WBC Featherweight title immediately after the bout, remaining in the super featherweight division.
26.
On February 28,2004, Erik Morales captured the WBC Super Featherweight title by unanimous decision over Jesus Chavez.
27.
Erik 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.
28.
On July 31,2004, Erik Morales unified his WBC Super Featherweight title with the IBF version by way of a twelve-round unanimous decision over Carlos Hernandez.
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Hernandez constantly pressed forward, but Erik Morales boxed effectively consistently landing the harder, more accurate punches that rocked Hernandez several times.
30.
On November 27,2004, Erik Morales fought Barrera for the third time in a bout for the WBC Super Featherweight title.
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Erik Morales came back strongly in the second half of the fight and won four of the last six rounds on two judges' scorecards.
32.
On March 19,2005, as a betting underdog, Erik Morales defeated then three-division world champion Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, by a unanimous decision.
33.
On September 10,2005, Erik Morales moved up to the lightweight division and was defeated by unanimous decision by Zahir Raheem.
34.
On January 22,2006, Erik Morales fought Pacquiao in a rematch from their bout ten months before and was defeated in ten rounds.
35.
Erik Morales fought Pacquiao for the third time in a non-championship title bout, on November 18,2006.
36.
Erik Morales moved up to the lightweight division in search of a possible fourth WBC title.
37.
Erik Morales stated that he had unfinished business in the boxing ring and was determined to regain recognition as a world champion.
38.
In various interviews conducted in 2009, Erik Morales began to state that he would fight again in late 2009 to early 2010, after he gave his body enough time to rest.
39.
Erik Morales stated that he would continue to fight as a lightweight.
40.
Many boxing pundits felt that an aging Erik Morales, fighting a couple of divisions above his best weight, stood little chance against the hard hitting Maidana.
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However, Erik Morales turned back the clock and gave his best performance since beating Pacquiao.
42.
Erik Morales' eye was badly swollen in the first round by a series of hard shots, especially a devastating uppercut, and it looked like the rout was on.
43.
Erik 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.
44.
On September 17,2011, Erik Morales won the WBC Light Welterweight Championship with a win over un-rated Pablo Cesar Cano.
45.
Erik Morales is the inaugural Mexico-born boxer to win world titles in four different weight classes.
46.
On March 24,2012, Erik Morales faced 23-year-old Danny Garcia in another chapter of the storied "Puerto Rico vs Mexico" boxing rivalry.
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However, Erik Morales attended the weigh-in over two pounds above the light welterweight limit.
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Erik Morales remained champion until the fight, but only Garcia could win the belt by defeating him, as a Morales win would vacate it.
49.
Erik Morales was knocked out by Danny Garcia in the 4th round, the fight was aired on Showtime Boxing.
50.
Erik Morales did head to the wrong corner at the end of the last round.
51.
Erik Morales was tested positive for use of the banned substance Clenbuterol, a weight-loss drug, it reduces fat deposits and is believed to increase muscle mass.
52.
In March 2013, Erik Morales revealed plans to fight at least once more.
53.
In June 2014, Erik Morales officially announced his retirement forgoing a farewell fight.
54.
Erik Morales was trained and managed by his father Jose Erik Morales and was promoted by Bob Arum and Top Rank.
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Erik Morales's brothers are Ivan Morales and former WBO Super Flyweight Champion Diego Morales.
56.
Erik Morales currently spends his time managing a $3.5 million budget running the parks and recreation department in Tijuana.
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Erik Morales donates his salary back to the department to further help fund it.
58.
On May 30,2015, Erik Morales agreed to train former light welterweight champion Jessie Vargas for his then-upcoming fight with Timothy Bradley.
59.
Erik Morales served on the legislative body's committee on sports.