- 7 weeks ago
Guty Espadas Jr defends his WBC Featherweight Title against undefeated Erik Morales on HBO Boxing After Dark.
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00:00:00The exceptions in the sport right now, right at the top of the pyramid, where you have Felix Sr. and Felix Jr., the Trinidads, and Jack and Shane Mosley, both of them tremendously functional and successful father-son relationships.
00:00:15Now, what of the two fighters we're about to see, Morales and Espadas, both of whose fathers were professional fighters?
00:00:21Functional. And you might even say stereotype smashing. Eric Morales was literally born in his father's gymnasium.
00:00:31His father, Jose, had a 15-year career as a professional, and he put every stumbling block he could think of in front of his son, who wanted to be a fighter at a very young age, to convince him not to become a professional fighter.
00:00:47When he allowed him to become a fighter, the father still insisted that he would go to school and to get a trade, which he did, something as a refrigerator technician.
00:00:59Guti Espadas Sr. was a flyweight champion of the world. He didn't want his son to become a fighter either.
00:01:07His son became a fighter, but before he could get the blessing of his father, he had to go to college, where he became a mechanical or machine engineer of some kind.
00:01:19What we've seen over the years of the sons of fathers who are fighters is that they have an unusual presence in the ring, simply from having been around it since they were children,
00:01:30and that they also are very, very determined because they don't want to disappoint their fathers.
00:01:38Conceivably, we could have a son of Morales versus Barrera tonight because both of these sons don't want to disappoint their fathers.
00:01:46Interesting observation. We turn to Emanuel Stewart, who's been watching this all of his boxing life.
00:01:52Larry suggests that the sons of fighters fight harder because they don't want to disappoint their dads.
00:01:59Good because it makes them more competitive, or bad because often they get outside their envelope and put themselves in dangerous situations.
00:02:06Kind of volatile and unpredictable because, as Larry said, that happens often.
00:02:10I saw some sons actually, to hurt their dads when they were upset, have bad performances.
00:02:15Really?
00:02:16You know, it's such a sensitive and volatile relationship, and the Mayweather case was a good example.
00:02:21First, he loved his daddy. Then he hated his daddy. Now he loves his daddy.
00:02:25And I think the biggest problem in many of the cases is the fathers were trying to live their lives through their sons,
00:02:31a lot of them, particularly when they were fighting.
00:02:33I think the real key is for the father to let his son grow up.
00:02:37Most of them try to keep their kids down and not let them go into the manhood and individuality.
00:02:42I think probably the case with Trinidad is maybe one of the best.
00:02:46I mean, even though he's still his father, he's a trainer, I've been with him, and he's let his son grow up.
00:02:51And his son is a man also, and he treats him that way.
00:02:53Hey, in both the cases of Mosley and Trinidad, the fathers proved themselves as parents
00:02:58before they ever had to be trainers and managers, and that is the heart of the matter.
00:03:02Right now, we're going to see two well-parented sons as they go against each other.
00:03:06Here's the tale of the tape for Eric El Terrible Morales and Gustavo Guti Espadas.
00:03:12And you can see that Espadas is two years older, Morales much better known.
00:03:16Espadas one inch taller, and Morales is rangier.
00:03:19Rangier certainly was in his previous weight class of 122 pounds.
00:03:22He has those long arms, which give him a four-and-a-half-inch reach advantage.
00:03:26They weighed in under the 126-pound limit.
00:03:29Tonight, Eric weighs just a tiny bit more unofficially as he enters the ring at 134.
00:03:34Rules of the bout with our unofficial ringside scorer, Harold Ledemuth.
00:03:38The Eric Morales goodiest fighter's fight is scheduled for 12 rounds
00:03:42using the unified rules of the Association of Boxing Commission.
00:03:45There is no standing eight count, no three-knockdown rule.
00:03:50Only the referee can stop the fight, and you cannot be saved by the bell in any rounds,
00:03:55including the 12th and final round.
00:03:57Jim.
00:03:58All right, Harold, it was just about one year ago to the day
00:04:03when Eric Morales fought Marco Antonio Barrera nearby in another hotel here in town
00:04:09in the fight which boxing magazines have chosen, and we would choose it to,
00:04:14as the fight of the year in 2000.
00:04:16It was a breathtaking display of two fighters punishing each other
00:04:19and risking their careers, but both Morales and Barrera have come back pretty well, Larry.
00:04:25Very often, a fight like that, the fighters leave a piece of themselves in that ring forever
00:04:31and never fully recover.
00:04:33We haven't seen any signs of that yet.
00:04:36A closer look at an unbeaten star of the sport, Eric El Terrible Morales.
00:04:44He is unbeaten in 10 championship fights, all at junior featherweight.
00:04:50And even though he's the challenger, he is a 7-1 favorite,
00:04:56although the fight opened at 3-1, all of his rooters from below the border
00:05:02have come up here and bet the fight up to a really out-of-line 7-1.
00:05:08And despite the fact that he's the challenger, Eric Morales will make twice as much money
00:05:18as Espadas, $400,000 to $200,000.
00:05:23And I mentioned that they are two well-parented young men.
00:05:27One way that showed up yesterday, an unusual moment in our fighter meeting with Goody Espadas.
00:05:32You don't often hear a fighter say about his opponent that he's a terrific human being,
00:05:37but Espadas, in effect, said that about both Morales and potential future opponents
00:05:42and fellow Mexico City fighter, Marco Antonio Barrera.
00:05:48A trio of Mexican fighters who challenge the stereotype of their countrymen
00:05:57as just being desperately poor and willing to give their bodies up
00:06:03in this rugged world of boxing.
00:06:06Spadas' father, as Larry alluded to earlier, insisted that his son go to college
00:06:13and get a degree before he would allow him to continue his professional boxing career.
00:06:17So Goody did that for him and then has gone on to enhance his career
00:06:22and become the first natural-born son of a world champion ever to win his own title in boxing.
00:06:29Closer look, Larry.
00:06:32He is learning English from his wife, who goes to college to become an English teacher.
00:06:39But in Spanish, he told us that he thought Eric Morales was a darling person,
00:06:45Morales having loaned him his car after a publicity tour in Tijuana to go shopping in San Diego.
00:06:55But Espadas has won 13 fights in a row, and he is going to try to make Morales his 14th.
00:07:02And now let's go to ring announcer Michael Buffer for the official introductions.
00:07:07Ladies and gentlemen, from the MGM Grand of Las Vegas, Nevada,
00:07:15Bob Arum's top-ranked incorporated in association with
00:07:18La Cerveza Mas Finis Corona presents
00:07:2212 rounds of boxing for the WBC Featherweight Championship of the World.
00:07:30Sanctioned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission,
00:07:33the three judges assigned to ringside.
00:07:36Scoring this ballot on the 10-point must system will be
00:07:39Dick Flaherty, Dave Harris, and Jerry Roth.
00:07:44And when the bell rings, your referee in charge of the action, Jay Nadee.
00:07:48And now for the thousands in attendance here at the MGM Grand of Las Vegas
00:07:53and the millions watching around the world.
00:07:57Ladies and gentlemen, let's get ready to rumble!
00:08:08Introducing first, fighting out of the red corner,
00:08:11wearing green, red, and white, and weighing in at 124.5 pounds.
00:08:17He has an outstanding professional record, 35 bouts,
00:08:21with 33 victories, including 21 knockouts, and only two losses.
00:08:27Ladies and gentlemen, presenting the reigning and defending
00:08:31WBC Featherweight Champion of the World,
00:08:36De Mérida, Mexico,
00:08:38Kuti Spada!
00:08:43And his opponent across the ring, fighting out of the blue corner,
00:08:52wearing white, trimmed with green letters, and weighing in at 125 pounds.
00:08:57His professional record, a perfect one, consisting of 39 bouts,
00:09:0339 victories, including 31 knockouts, and a world title.
00:09:07But tonight, he is a challenger.
00:09:10Here is the former undefeated WBC Superbantamweight World Champion,
00:09:17Tomas y Caballeros de la Sonenote, Tijuana, Mexico,
00:09:23Eric El Terrible Morales!
00:09:28If I take him to a neutral corner, that corner, that corner,
00:09:36I want you there.
00:09:37In the neutral?
00:09:38In the neutral, if I take him over there.
00:09:39In the neutral?
00:09:40In the neutral if I take him over there.
00:09:43In the neutral?
00:09:44In the neutral?
00:09:45In the neutral?
00:09:46In the neutral?
00:09:47In the neutral?
00:09:48In the neutral?
00:09:49In the neutral?
00:09:50Well, 12 rounds.
00:09:51Touch gloves.
00:09:52Buenas suerte.
00:09:53Buenas suerte.
00:09:54Buenas su trabajo.
00:09:55Eric Morales got into a serious firefight with Marco Antonio Barrera,
00:10:00the last time we saw him in Las Vegas.
00:10:04Will this be more tactical?
00:10:07I think you're going to still see the aggressiveness of Morales
00:10:12be a big factor.
00:10:13He's very busy, and he seemingly punches much better
00:10:18with his left hand than he did previously in the fights back.
00:10:20He used to just be a right-hand puncher for the most part.
00:10:22And, Manuel, it took you about ten seconds to pick the winner
00:10:25in the last fight.
00:10:26See how you can do this time.
00:10:28Well, even before that, I think that Morales brings too much
00:10:31of everything in this fight.
00:10:33I think the experience, speed, the quality of our fight,
00:10:37the opposition he's been in against.
00:10:38The sheer aggression, the confidence with which he fights,
00:10:41his arrogance, his tremendous belief in his chin
00:10:45and his punching power.
00:10:46Yes.
00:10:47And I think that's going to be a big factor
00:10:49to do on Demonstrates.
00:10:50Eric Morales, starting off watching as Guti Espadas
00:10:53throws the first couple of jabs of the fight.
00:10:56Morales loves to attack over the top.
00:11:00His most effective punch is an overhand right.
00:11:03It comes chopping down on the head of opponents.
00:11:05It's the punch he used to start Junior Jones
00:11:08in his most electrifying performance.
00:11:10A full crown knockout in a bull ring in Tijuana.
00:11:14I'm a little surprised.
00:11:15I thought he would have been a little bit more aggressive.
00:11:17He's fighting a very tactical fight at this point in time.
00:11:19Showing respect.
00:11:20Yeah, which I think is going to give Guti a much better chance
00:11:23to get into the fight.
00:11:25And it's interesting, they're both Mexicans,
00:11:27and the most popular glove in big-time boxing
00:11:31is the Mexican gloves, the Reyes,
00:11:33and they're using the Japanese gloves.
00:11:35Winning.
00:11:37In all Mexican fights on the same for the WBC championship.
00:11:41Our spinning glove gets smaller and smaller,
00:11:43even as it tries to throw us off.
00:11:46We want us! We want us! We want us!
00:11:48Morales mostly reacting to what Espadas does
00:11:52in the first minute and a half of the fight.
00:11:54Eric not yet trying to take command.
00:11:56Which is surprising to me.
00:11:58But he's been going to the body with his left jab.
00:12:02He knows that Espadas is a pretty well-schooled fighter,
00:12:06that this could go rounds.
00:12:08So he's just staking out the territory right now.
00:12:15Espadas sneaking a right hand through Morales' guard.
00:12:20Morales, as I mentioned, out of his chin,
00:12:23has that arrogance that so many great champions have.
00:12:26He thinks he can take your bunt and hit you back harder.
00:12:34Espadas seem to be very relaxed in this fight.
00:12:36And even though his punches are not as crispy,
00:12:38surprisingly how he's catching Morales,
00:12:41particularly after Morales finishes up his punches,
00:12:44Espadas usually keeps coming back and catches him on the tail end.
00:12:47He's very smooth and fluid.
00:12:49Yes, yes.
00:12:50Reminds me a little of Alexis Arguello that way.
00:12:52But now, Morales gets in a right and a left,
00:12:55and Espadas doesn't look quite as confident anymore.
00:13:00It's a much more closer round than I would expect.
00:13:05Well, the winner doesn't have to win every round, does he?
00:13:08And he's weak.
00:13:10There's a lot of Huday.
00:13:24We're both first.
00:13:25Round one, a tactical round in which, if anything,
00:13:29Espadas may have gotten slightly the better of Eric Maro.
00:13:33Don't worry about the experience, the experience is nothing here, we're going to fight.
00:14:03Okay, don't forget, the body's there, the plexus is there. Let's use the uppercut.
00:14:12Seconds out!
00:14:16CompuBox numbers in round one, neither here nor there.
00:14:19It's minus 11 of 53, Morales 9 of 60, inconclusive.
00:14:33Errol Letterman gives the first round to Eric Morales.
00:14:42I think Morales' punches seem to have a little bit more power, and they're a little bit more accurate.
00:14:47And then there's a little bit more of a loop into the punches of his spot,
00:14:51which maybe doesn't look as effective with officials.
00:14:56Now Morales starts to open up, throwing hard punches to the head, hallmark of his style.
00:15:02As a junior featherweight, almost every one of his opponents is shorter,
00:15:06and sometimes much shorter than Morales.
00:15:08Now he's faced with a fighter who is his size,
00:15:12and maybe that's giving him a little bit of pause here in figuring him out.
00:15:18That's a big left hook by Morales.
00:15:20He follows up, misses with the right hand, goes to the body,
00:15:23and lands another left hook upstairs.
00:15:26Combination punching from Eric Morales there.
00:15:29There's that right, cranking to the ear of Goody Espatas.
00:15:36Espatas not as active in this round, as Morales has stepped up his own punch output.
00:15:45Ispatas and the left hook to the body.
00:15:51There's a hard right hand by Espatas, and the left hook to the body.
00:15:54Here's a hard right hand by Espatas, and the left hook to the body.
00:16:00Trading uppercuts at close range, Morales tapping Espatas on the chin with a right hand.
00:16:06Morales tapping Espatas on the chin with a right hand, and they step away from the ropes.
00:16:10from the ropes it's interesting that morales is fighting more at the tempo that's more beneficial
00:16:16for espadas instead of setting the tempo as i thought he would himself
00:16:23the spot is a very relaxed head which makes him take a punch a lot better too
00:16:28i think larry's larry's right on point in in pointing out that morales isn't used to fighting
00:16:33guys his own height that's correct it's a different look another big left hook by morales
00:16:38and espadas was momentarily wobbled in so he's such a gangly kid that sometimes his body
00:16:44movements looks as if he's hurt but maybe he isn't even here
00:16:58but maybe he's just a little reminder of what morrera morales looked like for 12 full rounds
00:17:04last year
00:17:08morales blocking espadas's body shots with the elbows coming back and throwing
00:17:12upstairs and this is what the mexico's fans here were looking forward to
00:17:18yes that's what they paid for baby
00:17:23just a little reminder of what morrera morales looked like for 12 full rounds last year
00:17:29that's why i don't have to stay there you don't have to stay there why are you exchanging
00:17:43punches to this guy you're dominating him from the outside what you don't have to do that please listen
00:17:51listen to me move around
00:18:02you gotta throw up down and up but throw the straight right to the body
00:18:09here's that exchange at the end this is in real speed this is not speeding up stuff this is how it
00:18:16happened and i think i would give the advantage of that to espadas
00:18:28well espadas stayed in his envelope floor morales was winging his shots
00:18:35round two another relatively even compu box round espadas 21 of 79 morales 26 of 89
00:18:41and once again letterman airs in favor of the harder puncher eric morales
00:18:50but i think at this stage the biggest thing is that morales is maybe larry said because of
00:18:54fighting someone that's tall for a change coupled with the fact that he is fighting a defended champion
00:18:59may have caused him to make adjustments that trump is not to the better i think he's fighting more to
00:19:05espadas events by fighting this way for the first four minutes of the fight he treated espadas with
00:19:09more respect than he ever showed to marco antonio barrera last year that's correct
00:19:13well but barrera didn't give him a chance barrera was right in his chest and was challenging him and it
00:19:18became a holy war this is just a really good boxing match between two well-schooled tough fighters
00:19:27but you know you have a feeling that we can see much more of what happened at the end of that last round
00:19:31as a fight goes on
00:19:44right hands over the top but espadas is
00:20:12it's having an advantage by catching punches and usually coming back on the tail end like right
00:20:16there and he's catching morales a lot after that they finish up punching the same way that
00:20:21barrera taught barrera would let morales throw big flurries and would catch him on the tail end
00:20:26as he pulled out
00:20:29if there was an edge for barrera in the fight against or an edge for morales i should say in
00:20:34his fight against barreras barrera it was at the end of the day that he was busier throwing more jabs
00:20:40and more punches morales is a very busy fighter that's the one thing that's been a big asset for
00:20:44him which would always happen within a lot of close fights if they go to the decision because he
00:20:49in between the big punches he's still throwing punches all the time which still which helps him to
00:20:53steal rounds he steals close rounds because he's flurrying flurrying flurrying particularly at the end
00:20:59even if they're not landing he's still throwing that's right and the judges can't always see whether
00:21:04the punch lands no no we can't always see for sure
00:21:06if he doesn't talk to you we can't always see for sure
00:21:10he doesn't talk to people like that and theistä fromebbi
00:21:14Espatas to the body
00:21:23Well, we told you that both fighters' fathers
00:21:33were professional prize fighters of the two.
00:21:37By far the more decorated was Gustavo Espada Sr.
00:21:41Back in the early 1970s,
00:21:42he won a flyweight world championship
00:21:44and wound up with a ring record of 39 wins,
00:21:48five losses, and six draws.
00:21:51Espada was the first world champion
00:21:53from the town of Merida,
00:21:55essentially a suburb of Mexico City.
00:21:58Morales' dad, Jose Morales,
00:21:59was also a professional fighter,
00:22:02more of a journeyman than Guti Espada Sr.,
00:22:05but a legitimate professional fighter
00:22:06who fought some of the better Mexican fighters
00:22:08in his day before deciding that refrigerator repair
00:22:13was a better way for him to earn a living.
00:22:15Harold Lederman, how'd you score it?
00:22:24Okay, Jim, I got it two rounds to one, 29-28,
00:22:27Eric Morales.
00:22:28I gave Eric Morales the first two rounds.
00:22:30Jim, I'll tell you, it's sort of a herky-jerky style he's got.
00:22:33He leans in with that hard left jab to the body,
00:22:35and then he goes upstairs with the right hand.
00:22:37It's that one-two.
00:22:38You know, he's working it up and down,
00:22:40works that left jab beautifully.
00:22:41Guti Espada Sr. is standing very, very straight up.
00:22:45He's an easy target.
00:22:46He doesn't move his head much.
00:22:47But in the third round,
00:22:49Guti Espada Sr. walked him down,
00:22:50pressed him back, and knocked him into the ropes.
00:22:52So I thought Guti won the third round.
00:22:54Two to one, Eric Morales.
00:22:57I have the same score.
00:23:02And I think that Espada Sr. is giving Morales
00:23:06more problems to solve than he anticipated.
00:23:14Jane 80, warning Morales first,
00:23:16not to hold behind the head while hitting,
00:23:18and then turning and offering the same warning to Espada Sr.
00:23:20just to be fair.
00:23:29Hard right hand to the body by Morales.
00:23:31Morales is not as crisp with this combination.
00:23:36There seems to be a little bit more of a gap
00:23:38than him that he usually has shown in the past of his fights.
00:23:41And, you know, I don't know.
00:23:42It could be possibly he's been maybe over-trained.
00:23:45What did happen is when he's been having so many big fights
00:23:47and he seemingly loves boxing,
00:23:49and something is missing.
00:23:51It seems like he's a little still.
00:23:52It's something or something.
00:23:53It's not the crispness that he has shown in the past
00:23:55in most of his fights.
00:23:57Or for some reason,
00:23:58again,
00:23:59a greater level of respect for Espada's
00:24:01than he's shown for most other opponents.
00:24:03That's correct.
00:24:11At the end of round two,
00:24:12when they traded shots toe-to-toe,
00:24:15Morales looked as though he was comfortable with that.
00:24:18But in the corner,
00:24:19Morales' trainer,
00:24:20his father, Jose Morales,
00:24:22said,
00:24:22why did you do that?
00:24:25You don't have to do that.
00:24:27So he punched again in round three.
00:24:28But certainly he's not hurting the spotter that much.
00:24:32He's landing a lot of punches,
00:24:33and the spotter is such a relaxed kid
00:24:35that he seems to take the punches
00:24:37and comes right back.
00:24:38And if this fight goes down the stretch
00:24:40and he picks it up a little bit more,
00:24:42I think he can be
00:24:43a much more tougher opponent than I expected.
00:24:45Well, one question you always ask
00:24:47when a guy moves up even four pounds in weight
00:24:49from 122 to 126
00:24:51is does he carry his punch with him?
00:24:53Well, that's obvious in effect.
00:24:54But I think in Morales' case,
00:24:56the extra weight was his advantage.
00:24:59But for whatever reason,
00:25:00I just think that maybe somewhere along the way
00:25:02may have been a little bit too much
00:25:03of a training possibility
00:25:04for a efficient fight.
00:25:06Of course, while Morales' punch
00:25:08may go up in weight with the 126,
00:25:10he's fighting against bigger targets.
00:25:11And again,
00:25:12can absorb the blows.
00:25:13Exactly.
00:25:14And to make the point
00:25:15that Larry made earlier,
00:25:16Espatas, one of the first opponents
00:25:17Morales has ever seen,
00:25:19who is his height,
00:25:20or perhaps even taller.
00:25:22And very relaxed.
00:25:24Very.
00:25:28Gudi Espatas Sr.,
00:25:29father of,
00:25:30is a cut man and second
00:25:33in Gudi's corner.
00:25:35Whereas,
00:25:36Jose Morales
00:25:37is the trainer
00:25:39for Eric Morales
00:25:40across the rim.
00:25:43That's Morales' senior
00:25:45leading him from the far side
00:25:46and talking to his son.
00:25:51Give him some more room.
00:25:55Give him some more room.
00:25:58You need to have
00:25:59a little more angle there.
00:26:00You're too straight up.
00:26:01Now, move around,
00:26:03and let's do something
00:26:04a little more than what you've been doing.
00:26:05You've got to watch out
00:26:08if you go out.
00:26:10Can you hear me?
00:26:10Move over something.
00:26:12We'll stop the fight
00:26:12until you do this.
00:26:13We'll stop the fight
00:26:13until you do this.
00:26:13We'll stop the fight
00:26:14until you do this.
00:26:20Max.
00:26:21Jay Nady,
00:26:22the referee,
00:26:23does not speak Spanish,
00:26:25but so far,
00:26:27he hasn't had to.
00:26:29Fighting at an extremely
00:26:31measured pace.
00:26:33Espatas threw only 50 punches
00:26:35in round four.
00:26:36Morales threw 61,
00:26:37landed 20.
00:26:39Those are not big punch numbers
00:26:40for fighters in this weight class.
00:26:42Now, here comes Morales
00:26:43trying to launch
00:26:44a full-scale assault
00:26:45with that overhand run.
00:26:47And for the second time,
00:26:49Nady warns the fighters
00:26:50not to hold behind the head.
00:26:55Tremendous temptation
00:26:56once your hand is there
00:26:57to try to steady the target.
00:27:01Right hand lands for Morales.
00:27:03Espatas shakes it off.
00:27:04I have a feeling that
00:27:09as the fight goes on
00:27:10that the spot is going to
00:27:11pick up the tempo
00:27:11and it's going to turn out
00:27:12to be a pretty exciting fight
00:27:14going on the stretch.
00:27:15Because he seems to be
00:27:16so relaxed
00:27:17and he can see
00:27:18Morales' punches
00:27:19coming to the degree
00:27:20that it's not even
00:27:21affecting him that much.
00:27:23And I think
00:27:23at a certain stage,
00:27:25he himself has had
00:27:26a lot of respect
00:27:26for Morales.
00:27:27I've been speaking
00:27:28so much about Morales
00:27:29respecting him.
00:27:30And I think he's going
00:27:31to start picking it up
00:27:32a little bit
00:27:32as the fight goes on.
00:27:33Sure doesn't look like
00:27:34a fight in which one guy
00:27:35was a 7-to-1
00:27:36betting favorite, does it?
00:27:38Definitely.
00:27:38Must be a lot of nervous
00:27:39Morales money
00:27:40in the building
00:27:41at this moment.
00:27:41Yes.
00:27:42I thought that the 7-to-1
00:27:43was a justifiable launch
00:27:44to it.
00:27:45But for whatever reason,
00:27:46this kid seems to avoid
00:27:47most of the punches
00:27:48with his relaxed motion.
00:27:50And if he can pick up
00:27:51the tempo a little bit more,
00:27:52it's going to make
00:27:53it a very close fight.
00:27:54This is the kind of fight
00:28:02in which Morales
00:28:03might wish at some point
00:28:05that he had worked harder
00:28:06over the years
00:28:06on developing a body attack.
00:28:08He's been so much
00:28:09the Air Force
00:28:10coming over the top
00:28:11and just strafing opponents
00:28:13with the overhand right
00:28:14and generally scoring
00:28:15knockouts
00:28:16that he hasn't really
00:28:17had to focus that much
00:28:18on throwing to the body.
00:28:22Studying what I
00:28:23I believe I see
00:28:24in the eyes of the two,
00:28:25I see that Morales
00:28:26is probably having
00:28:27a lot of doubts
00:28:28about a lot of things
00:28:28at this point in time also.
00:28:31And his confidence
00:28:31seems to not be what it was
00:28:33at the beginning
00:28:33of the fight.
00:28:34Even though he's winning
00:28:35the fight,
00:28:36even though he's winning
00:28:36the fight,
00:28:36he seems to be still
00:28:37having a lot more respect
00:28:38right now at this point
00:28:39in time.
00:28:39Now, he's not fighting
00:28:40like El Terrible.
00:28:41He's not just going in there
00:28:43and commanding his opponent
00:28:44the way he's been
00:28:45accustomed to doing.
00:28:46That's correct.
00:28:47Jim, I believe
00:28:48he didn't feel much
00:28:50that Espadas
00:28:51was much of an opponent.
00:28:53He didn't pay him
00:28:54much respect.
00:28:55Every time we've talked
00:28:56to him,
00:28:57he's always respected
00:28:58his opponents.
00:28:59And he showed,
00:29:00I think,
00:29:00a transparent lack
00:29:02of respect
00:29:04for Espadas.
00:29:05And maybe he's
00:29:06underestimated him.
00:29:07Which could translate
00:29:08to some frustration
00:29:09if things continue
00:29:10to go the way
00:29:10they're going.
00:29:12In training,
00:29:13I mean,
00:29:13in the lead,
00:29:15he mentioned that
00:29:16Espadas threw too many
00:29:17looping,
00:29:18gangly,
00:29:18slow punches.
00:29:19And so therefore,
00:29:20he just named
00:29:21everything that Espada did.
00:29:32Let's get that iron on him.
00:29:34We have to...
00:29:35He's swollen a little bit.
00:29:41He's moving around too much,
00:29:42so you've got to press
00:29:43the fight.
00:29:46Don't blow your nose.
00:29:50He's moving around a lot,
00:29:51so you need to put
00:29:52some pressure.
00:29:52He's boxing you.
00:29:53He's boxing you.
00:30:00The other...
00:30:01The opponent's got his left eye
00:30:02swollen.
00:30:04You've got to keep
00:30:05throwing that right hand.
00:30:06Don't...
00:30:08You've got to watch out.
00:30:09When you come out,
00:30:10be careful.
00:30:11You've got to watch out.
00:30:11When you come out,
00:30:12be careful.
00:30:12You've got to watch out.
00:30:13When you come out,
00:30:14be careful.
00:30:22Box.
00:30:25Round six.
00:30:26Scheduled 12.
00:30:27Closer than expected
00:30:28fight so far
00:30:29between Gudi Espadas
00:30:30and Eric Morales.
00:30:33Morales with
00:30:34a CompuBox edge
00:30:35in punches thrown
00:30:36and landed,
00:30:37but it's been a relatively
00:30:38slow-paced fight
00:30:39for featherweight.
00:30:39The two fighters
00:30:40showing each other
00:30:41a lot of respect
00:30:42and there's a right hand
00:30:43by Gudi Espadas
00:30:44that Morales saw coming
00:30:46when it landed anyway.
00:31:07with right hand
00:31:11by Morales
00:31:12as he backs away.
00:31:14Espadas won this version
00:31:15of the featherweight crown
00:31:17from seemingly washed up
00:31:19Luisito Espinoza.
00:31:23Defended it against
00:31:23a lesser-known opponent
00:31:24so he didn't have
00:31:25big credentials
00:31:26coming in
00:31:27even though he's
00:31:28the titleist in the fight.
00:31:29The speed has been
00:31:33the biggest factor
00:31:34in this fight
00:31:34and plus being busy
00:31:35has been a big advantage
00:31:37of the rounds
00:31:38but if a spotter
00:31:39would pick up his tempo
00:31:40and punch with more speed
00:31:41the fight's going to be
00:31:42very, very close
00:31:43going down the stretch.
00:31:44The spot has been stopped
00:31:59only once in his career
00:32:00four or five years ago.
00:32:04The American
00:32:05Darryl Pinckney
00:32:07but he's become
00:32:12a much better fighter
00:32:13over the last several years.
00:32:16Darryl Pinckney
00:32:17has a career record
00:32:18right at about 500
00:32:19more than 20 losses
00:32:21but he has wins
00:32:22over two world champions
00:32:23Junior Jones
00:32:24and Goury Espadas.
00:32:30Espadas commanding
00:32:32this inside exchange
00:32:33now Morales comes back
00:32:34and Espadas
00:32:40backing Morales
00:32:42into the ropes
00:32:42and raking him
00:32:43with the left hook.
00:32:44and raking him
00:32:45with the left hook.
00:32:48Slow round for Morales
00:32:50Espadas seizing
00:32:52some of the initiative here.
00:32:53Espadas seizing
00:32:53some of the initiative here.
00:32:55Espadas seizing
00:32:55some of the initiative here.
00:33:00Morales is going to be
00:33:01to be able to move on to the left hook.
00:33:05As slow as Espadas is
00:33:06Morales still can't hit him
00:33:08with solid punches.
00:33:08He barely can touch him
00:33:10using grazing punches
00:33:11on the side of the head.
00:33:12But whatever he wears
00:33:13and he has a whip
00:33:13avoid most of his blows.
00:33:15Great!
00:33:15On February 26th
00:33:25a brand new episode of Real Sports
00:33:26with Brian Gamble.
00:33:27Among the stories,
00:33:28Mark Cuban,
00:33:28the NBA's youngest
00:33:29and most controversial owner certainly he's been in the news the last couple of
00:33:34days after having run on to the court during an on-court fight also out of
00:33:39work baseball umpires looking to rebuild shattered lives hello Eric Greg
00:33:44that's Monday February 26 9 30 p.m. Eastern and Pacific time real sports
00:33:49nothing is out of bounds
00:33:59you're smarter than him you're better than he is you can dominate him
00:34:06CompuBox numbers in round six favor Espadas landing 27 of 62 to only 10 of 54 for Morales who spent most of the round missing with his right hand
00:34:26I gave that round to the spotters
00:34:29Harold did you give it to Espadas also absolutely when I disagree with Larry Merchant
00:34:35four rounds to two 58 56 Eric Morales Jim I gotta tell you I don't know the goodiest spot is the champion but
00:34:44he just ambles forward like that and then the first six rounds through very very few punches as I saw it
00:34:49Morales was the busier guy and that's why I got him ahead not far ahead four to two it's either guy's
00:34:55but in round six goody Espadas did just what he's doing right now move his hands let the punches go and whack Derrick Morales
00:35:04he could still win this fight this is exactly what Emanuel Stewart said would happen as he told you that Espadas would
00:35:09begin to pick up the tempo in the middle rounds starting in the last round he did
00:35:14it similarly he seemed to have more confidence in himself at this point than Morales even though Morales has better speed but Espadas seem to be more
00:35:23stabilized and I think he's going to pick it up even more so and for whatever reason certain
00:35:28chemistry's between certain styles sometimes just work different now
00:35:32now maybe Spada may not be a flashy fighter may not be a fast fighter but his body rhythm
00:35:38seemingly is throwing off Morales and Morales can't land the solid blows that he's landed on other opponents
00:35:44see that he just pulled back and then shoot a counter jab with his left hand after blocking a punch with the same left hand
00:35:51and those type things simply are troubling Morales at this stage
00:35:58remember how Julio Cesar Chavez just couldn't have his way with Frankie Randall after having dominated so many other fighters
00:36:06with similar styles there was something about Randall that was impossible for Chavez
00:36:10but when they made the fight I told Don King this is the worst fight to make simply because Julio has that real
00:36:16beautiful habit of picking off right hands in a Mexican way when he picks a right hand off just like you pick off a jab
00:36:23you know he pairs it off and Morales shut such straightly right hands through the center and Julio never picked count of him
00:36:30because he shot such a straight line down
00:36:33here in round seven Espadas is again throwing more punches physically punishing Morales at close range
00:36:39and easily winning the round
00:36:41not as crisp with his punches but it's still effective
00:36:45brewing upset here in Las Vegas as Goody Espadas is giving overwhelmingly favorite Eric Morales a difficult run for his money
00:36:54they come down the stretch of the seventh throwing punches and Morales lands a big uppercut
00:36:59but Espadas goes right back in
00:37:01the first two and a half minutes but then Morales landed two sizzling left hooks in the last 10 seconds of the round
00:37:29in the last 10 seconds of the round
00:37:32In the last 10 seconds of the round
00:37:33That's the win and that's it
00:37:36great five
00:37:38You're gonna retain your title if you fight that way
00:37:44You gotta keep throwing through the body
00:37:48That's the eighth round. You have five more
00:37:51You're going to come in with us this is his spot is to the first two two-and-a-half minutes of that round
00:38:11Dominating Morales and seemingly presenting problems that Morales couldn't cope with
00:38:16But even when Morales came back at the very end, he is a thoroughbred
00:38:22Oh, yes, we'll figure that into Morales' height
00:38:24Rudy Espadas landing 53% of his power shots in round seven by CompuBox numbers
00:38:29Letterman gave the round to Morales despite the CompuBox numbers that heavily favored Espadas
00:38:37No doubt Letterman's opinion changed by those two left hooks at the end of the round
00:38:42I called it an even round, Jim
00:38:44I didn't think either of the fighters deserved to lose it
00:38:49Well, I gave it to that spotter myself because he fought consistently at the home round
00:38:53And even when he got hit at the end, he always came back with a follow-up puncher
00:38:57He never stopped punching
00:38:58Which brings up an interesting point
00:39:00I think it's a tricky fight to score
00:39:02And I think you could see three markedly different scorecards at the end of this fight from the judges
00:39:06Well, I think which may be a big factor the first three rounds
00:39:10Which is primarily dominated by Morales could be a big factor
00:39:14Could make it tough for Espadas to come back and pull out a decision
00:39:16That's right, great catch-up
00:39:18Plus, any time one guy is favored, as heavily as Morales has been favored here
00:39:26The judges look a little bit extra hard to try to find those rounds that they think the favored fighter is winning
00:39:35They want to be in the norm with the other judges
00:39:37And they're a little reluctant to say, well, Goody's won three rounds in a row here because he's such a heavy underdog
00:39:43That's right
00:39:45Shouldn't be that way, but that's like
00:39:47That's the nature of the beast
00:39:49I mean, this is subjective scoring
00:39:50These judges sit as though in isolation booths
00:39:53They don't know what the other judges are saying
00:39:55But they do know that they could stick out like a sore thumb
00:39:57If at the end of the fight, their card is the one that's totally different
00:40:00That's right, and they don't like to be
00:40:02Everyone likes to be consistent
00:40:03Exactly
00:40:03They want to be in the norm
00:40:04In fact, a lot of times after the fights, they have all of the fishers over here and they critique him
00:40:08That's how Felix Trinidad was given rounds early in the fight against Oscar De La Hoya
00:40:12The fight was so heavily ballyhooed
00:40:14The judges just couldn't quite go to the point of saying that one fighter had won six or seven rounds in a row
00:40:20They always try to leave it going down a stretch where there's still room and a possibility of the other guy winning
00:40:25Even though he may have not won certain rounds
00:40:27They start giving him those rounds because he did better than he did in another round
00:40:30Human nature, I gave the last close round to this guy, I'll give this close round to the other guy
00:40:36Well, given the subjectivity of scoring and the difficulty of scoring a fight like this, perhaps
00:40:42I still trust blaine ford and jerry roth two of the better officials around
00:40:48I don't know much about the third official
00:40:51Dave harris of texas
00:40:53Interestingly because the barrera morales fight was so close and the scoring so controversial
00:40:59And because goody espadas is a friend of barrera's from mexico city
00:41:02I thought when I asked him yesterday about that decision that he would say that barrera had been the winner instead
00:41:07He said exactly the opposite. He said no, no morales won the fight the judge is judge
00:41:12We fight if they chose him the winner. He was the winner. That's that
00:41:15Yeah, let me correct myself, but dwayne ford is
00:41:19in this fight the
00:41:21Officials are jerry roth dave harris of texas and dick flarity of massachusetts
00:41:27and we'll see
00:41:37When you gotta make your fight, don't do his fight, make your fight
00:41:47You don't need to exchange
00:41:50Watch it like that
00:41:51He doesn't want to fight you got him, but if you don't fight, there's gonna be no fight
00:42:12Morales is a counter puncher basically
00:42:14And here you see espadas taking the fight to him
00:42:20And morales seems to be a little bit befuddled on how to counter him
00:42:24CompuBox numbers now favoring espadas
00:42:27In the last round he landed 13 of 56 to only 5 of 36 for morales
00:42:32arold letterman scoring the round for espadas
00:42:35Fight appears to be getting closer still
00:42:38Well, I don't think that morales has figured out how to fight espadas at this stage still
00:42:43And I think espadas biggest problem is he's just not an aggressive guy by nature
00:42:49As compared to a lot of the other top guys up there like ahmed and borrera
00:42:53And that's been the biggest difference
00:42:55He's just still a little too relaxed too laid back
00:42:58And by the same token morales has not figured out exactly how to be effective
00:43:03With espadas because his style has given him a lot of problems
00:43:06Larry merchant making an interesting observation earlier when he said that he didn't think morales had taken espadas seriously enough
00:43:12Eric may be learning a lesson here about how you have to be ready every night in boxing now
00:43:19There's no such thing as a safe fight
00:43:26Right hand for espadas
00:43:29As morales bags back he stays straight up he doesn't seem to go underneath the punches
00:43:33And espadas by stretching out that right hand a lot longer and being taller than most of the guys that he's felt
00:43:40He's able to reach morales
00:43:42As larry said earlier he's not used to fighting tall guys
00:43:45And normally when he pulls back the short guys would be short
00:43:48But espadas long arm seems to catch him
00:43:50He's been straight up again
00:43:52Espadas is dictating the tempo of the fight
00:43:54And morales is not throwing points
00:43:56And he's back and straight back wide open for our long right hands
00:44:02Morales appears to be waiting for one big shot
00:44:06Which is no way to fight a guy who is as comfortable and in rhythm as espadas has been in the last few rounds
00:44:16Big right hand for morales
00:44:17But he doesn't step all the way in
00:44:23Tries to go to the body espadas looking to counter
00:44:27The espadas are so relaxed that's what's troubling
00:44:29That's right and morales wasn't
00:44:32Comfortable going in now he lands a left hand
00:44:36Morales worried that espadas was playing possum there
00:44:39Yeah, he tried but a good shot but he's been able to take the punches because he sees them coming
00:44:47No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no!
00:45:08Tell you one thing, morales had a fight against prince nassim
00:45:13And he backed straight out with his head off as often as he's done it here
00:45:16he cannot be a person of saying fighting the fight and he's fighting right and I'm not just
00:45:24involved with Prince Prince especially he's a tremendous one punch puncher I'll probably say
00:45:30he had Mike Tyson maybe the best two single one punch punchers in boxing and for the 126 pounds
00:45:35that's amazing you need to move you can't just fight in spurts in the last five seconds of a
00:45:43fight you're going to throw punches make sure you throw to the body your obligation is to fight so
00:45:49let's fight hey it's it's we need more pressure from you the last three rounds you got to put a
00:45:59lot of pressure you've got to put pressure no body punches
00:46:03now it's had a good flurry inside on the ropes uppercut right hook but I have to score even
00:46:20after nine rounds four rounds a piece and one evil Harold letterman how do you have it through
00:46:28now Larry knows even rounds will kill you okay five rounds to four 86 85 Eric El Terrible Morales Jim
00:46:37I gotta tell you the guys that are winning the rounds are the guys that are punching
00:46:40so goody his plan has made it real close he's caught up tremendously I got a five to four
00:46:49it's about as close as you can get if Goody will start to move his hands and win the fight
00:46:53if Eric will keep throwing that right hand over the top he'll win it if they both look at each
00:46:58other we got a problem five four is not as close as you can get it four four and one is as close as you
00:47:07get it all right you two boys settle down over there usually in close fights going down the stretch
00:47:15the guy with the better hand speed usually can pull the fights out in that case Morales yeah Morales
00:47:21should pull it out normally because he's got better speed but you know it's really a case as Larry was
00:47:27saying and how who throws the most punches is who's winning the rounds I'm just amazed at the amount of
00:47:32respect that Morales is still showing Goody Espada said you would think that the Eric Morales
00:47:37we've seen in the past would simply open up let his hands go and try to rip Espada out of there with
00:47:43his activity level and his punching power he's not doing it no he's not just just let's also throw this
00:47:49into the mix that this is the first serious fight he's had since the Barrera fight and maybe that could take
00:47:58something out of there were no signs of it in his knockout of Kevin Kelly in El Paso
00:48:07well Kelly at his age is not on the level of these guys
00:48:13one minute left of the 10th championship rounds waiting they're still throwing punches at more like a light
00:48:25heavyweight rate than a featherweight rate a long right hand touches the chin of Espada's for Morales
00:48:31Morales showing a bigger activity level now moving his feet anyway and trying to release his hands
00:48:37the speed and natural physical coordination is going to try to pull him through the weather decision but it's still not the
00:48:50performance that he should have gave tonight because Espada's was a basically fundamental fighter
00:48:55fight is so close and tactical enough that the routers for the two fighters don't really seem to know how to react
00:49:03but that's the very well here in the world have not had the big chance we're expected to hear
00:49:08goodie goodie goodie goodie terrible we haven't heard it I think people are
00:49:14puzzled by what they're watching here I am not what they expected
00:49:18this is as close to a chess match as these two kinds of fighters can get
00:49:24I think he was making a maybe a more milder version but similar to the Barrera fight still
00:49:29Now you're doing it. Now you're giving him a lesson.
00:49:34You've got to be more alive.
00:49:36We've got two more rounds.
00:49:39Don't be overconfident.
00:49:48Goody, don't you want to win this fight?
00:49:51Then put something in there.
00:49:56You know what you're doing?
00:49:58You're moving around like you're throwing one punch at a time.
00:50:05Morales showed a little bit more life in this fight.
00:50:09That right hand and another right hand later on.
00:50:13Probably won him the round.
00:50:20So perhaps a little bit of a cushion for Morales as we go to round 11.
00:50:25Still the possibility of a major upset as Goody Espadas at the very worst is in the fight with Eric Morales going to the last two rounds.
00:50:36Morales trying to set up a chance to fight the winner of the fight on April 7th between Marco Antonio Barrera and Prince Nassim Hamed.
00:50:44But while Barrera looked sensational in his last fight, as he prepared for the fight against the Prince, Morales has looked anything but sensational here.
00:50:55Well, that may be a matter of styles of opponents.
00:50:59But nevertheless, you're right, Jim.
00:51:02And the impressions matter.
00:51:04No, he's by Dima.
00:51:13That's whether he's over here.
00:51:15I think the rail was the one that really hit the choice because I understand that the top-ranked people was offering him the fight with Morales
00:51:24at the equal money that he was getting to fight
00:51:26Naz, but he actually believes in his heart that he can beat Nassim
00:51:31easier than he can in a rematch with Morales, and that's why he wanted to go after Naz, I understand.
00:51:36Yeah, but also if he loses to Naz, he can always have that rematch with Morales.
00:51:40It was a smart move in every way.
00:51:43Well, only if Naz beats him in his and knocks out Morales, they could still fight, but there would not be as much money,
00:51:50but it would still be a great fight, particularly for the Mexican fans.
00:51:52Manny, everybody wants the chance to clip Naz on his overhanging, too often exposed chin.
00:51:59What they don't think about is the price you pay for getting that close.
00:52:02And you know, the thing is, he's been doing that since he was nine years old.
00:52:06He's been leaving his chin out there and saying, come and get me, right?
00:52:09He's very effective at it, and in some fights, that's the strategy is just boxing, just go back to your street fight ways.
00:52:16But he's very special, believe me.
00:52:17Oh, yeah.
00:52:18The only featherweight in the history of the sport who can hit you with either hand and stand aside to let you fall.
00:52:22Yes, you can do it in the first round, out of last round.
00:52:25That's right.
00:52:30Spadis with a right hand up the pipe.
00:52:33One punch at a time for both fighters through much of this round.
00:52:37Now they trade shots.
00:52:38Forty seconds to go in the round.
00:52:41Spadis trying to respond to his corner's instruction to bring more activity.
00:52:45Morales trying to find an opening to counter.
00:52:47The Mexico City crowd on its feet as Goody comes along.
00:52:56The Tijuanans want to stand up, too.
00:53:00Slow Goody, but consistent.
00:53:03Yep.
00:53:05And confusing.
00:53:06Kind of a tortoise and hare thing.
00:53:08But don't move the tortoise out yet.
00:53:11He's moving this one up on the last one.
00:53:13He's moving this one up on the last one.
00:53:18One round to go.
00:53:24They're going to give it a turn.
00:53:33Don't fight with him, Eric.
00:53:36Only two rounds to go.
00:53:37okay it's the last round coming up you need to knock him out
00:53:51this is it
00:53:55come on please you need to do something let's go with the right hand
00:54:04take a deep breath because you need it
00:54:09you can do it
00:54:11go down and then come up on it surprise him on the top
00:54:17you can do it
00:54:18i have this fight dead even five five and one
00:54:23and harold letterman i would think probably has morales ahead by a point
00:54:28so is harold what you got okay jim you're absolutely right
00:54:31one oh five one oh four six rounds to five eric morales jim i'll tell you i'll never know why in round 11 eric morales laid on the ropes and let goody espadas pound him to death to the body
00:54:43i mean he's the challenger if he gets a draw it's as good as a win for goody espadas
00:54:48mr champion he would retain the title i tell you jim this fight is very very close
00:54:53eric morales must win this round without doubt he's got to move his hands goody the reason he's behind this he was just too lackadaisical throughout the fight didn't throw enough and you heard goody espadas's corner telling him he needs a knockout in the fight i'm surprised by that manny i think i'd have told goody go win the round that's correct you know and still it's amazing he's still too lackadaisical and relaxed he's been able to make morales miss but nevertheless he's never picked up the pace and for the
00:55:23the most part the fight has really been determined by the fact that he's actually just too lackadaisical not so much that morales has been that effective but he's been busy but normally closing the show the guy with the faster hands normally can pull the fight out but for whatever reason morales has been unable to hit him this round maybe espadas is thinking that that's the first solid blower that was landed by a spotter that's right
00:55:45he's gonna have to come and get me but in commercial and marketing terms it's morales who's the champion here
00:55:57definitely regardless of who has the belt well he knows the situation he's getting half as much money
00:56:03as morales morales has fought here many times he's the favorite espadas knows that he's not in a normal championship situation
00:56:13yes but nevertheless he should still pick up his place
00:56:16big right hand by espadas morales drops his hands espadas steps in and cracks him again
00:56:22similarly here
00:56:23it is espadas who's making the action in the 12th round as morales walks around backward
00:56:36and looks at it landed a very good left hand in close quarters
00:56:41and espadas races across the ring to straight morales again as eric walks around with his hands at his
00:56:48waist i think morales is exhausted
00:56:53a seemingly under trained eric morales in severe danger of losing his foothold in the featherweight division
00:57:01right off the bat before he ever gets a shot at the prince
00:57:04what a letdown that would be for him
00:57:06what a letdown that would be for him
00:57:08well he definitely has lost this one he misses virtually all the verge of being
00:57:11uh eight and a half it's a tenth round
00:57:13well let's remember he did get the verdict over barrera
00:57:17in the 12th round espadas dominated what action there was
00:57:24i gave the fight to espadas on larry merchant's scorecard espadas is a winner
00:57:28on harold letterman's scorecard i think it's probably a draw six rounds apiece which makes
00:57:34a spot as a winner as the champion and how do the three official judges have it
00:57:41this is nervous time for all the people in the house who bet eric morales into a seven to one
00:57:48favorites role and but let's remember morales is the house fighter absolutely right
00:57:56absolutely right most ringside observers thought that he had lost the barrera fight but he wound up
00:58:03getting the split decision there let's see what happens this time
00:58:06tombs isn't on the one and he's doing it and that's the final card okay chip as you said 114 114
00:58:15six rounds apiece without question a draw the last round goody espadas rattled eric morales
00:58:22early on with a solid right hand and i can't have to tell you the truth from there i think the spot is
00:58:27went around easily if you look at my scorecard from rounds 8 to 12 goody espadas wins four out of
00:58:34four out of five rounds this is what happened a certain nearby observer has the draw ballot in
00:58:47the office pool which of course which of course provides no reward for fun only but uh you know
00:58:54i know you'd get a huge kick out of that manny if your little draw ballot was the right one huh
00:58:58we'd all pat you on the back and wait to see who draws the right one number next week i'd be very
00:59:04surprised well i don't think this will be a draw but uh but it certainly could easily be i mean it
00:59:12it was a fight in which i don't think either fighter is going to put this in a time capsule
00:59:16and say that's one of my great performances i want you to i want you to see what i did in this fight
00:59:21because it was a questionable output on both sides but espadas winning four of the last five rounds
00:59:27on letterman's card and and what a damaging black mark that is against morales's career at this
00:59:32moment even if he pulls out a win every day he pulls out a win particularly having a controversial
00:59:37the controversial win over burrara and then this year fight right when he's right here close to
00:59:42being in a big mega million dollar fight with the winner of the burrara her mid fight it does not do
00:59:47him any good in terms of his market value the compu box numbers at the end of the fight are going to
00:59:52favor espadas and by fairly solid margins as the result of morales's inactivity down the stretch
01:00:08and now michael buffer has the story to tell so let's go see michael buffer with the official
01:00:14decision ladies and gentlemen we go to the score cards jerry roth scores the belt
01:00:19116 to 112 dick flaherty has it 115 to 113 and dave harris scores at 116 to 112
01:00:30all for the winner by unanimous decision and new undefeated wbc featherweight champion of the world
01:00:38and now here is the opposite side of that story in a fight in which morales gets a unanimous decision
01:01:07by a fairly substantial margin espadas by compu box numbers landed 62 more punches through 39 more
01:01:15punches and landed at a higher connect percentage this is when the cynical viewer says what fight
01:01:21were the announcers watching i would say what fight were the judges watching well i definitely felt that
01:01:27the decision was not a fair decision i thought the last round was virtually almost a knockdown and i
01:01:32thought that a spot of crushed the fight all the way it should have been definitely a much better
01:01:36decision how could it have been a unanimous decision by a margin like that hard to figure here's larry
01:01:41merchant thank you jim congratulations eric
01:01:45was he a better fighter than you thought he threw a lot of punches and he landed more and he fought with
01:02:00a lot of heart with a lot of heart did you underestimate him
01:02:18I thought he was good, but I threw the most punches, I landed a lot of shots, and I moved
01:02:30around and I boxed them.
01:02:35You fought a very tall fighter.
01:02:37You usually are fighting fighters shorter than you.
01:02:39Did that present any problems?
01:02:41No, no, no, no. Simplemente que la mayoría de los peleadores que me tienen muy bien visto,
01:02:58y todo el tiempo se están cuidando de la derecha, y están queriéndome contra golpear, entonces
01:03:03para mí es muy difícil tener que boxear adentro o querer entrar, tengo que hacerlo con mucha
01:03:08precaución.
01:03:09La verdad, no era una pelea para arriesgar y tener que moverme.
01:03:14I had to move. He was putting the pressure, and then it was hard for me to get in there,
01:03:19but I think I did enough because I outboxed him.
01:03:23Do you feel in any way that for the second time in a row you got a very close decision when
01:03:31there were people in the crowd who thought you didn't deserve it?
01:03:34¿Tú sientes que dos veces corridos, dos veces en línea, tú has recibido dos decisiones
01:03:40bien cerradas? Y aunque hay mucha gente que no piensa que tú te merecitas esta decisión.
01:03:45Bueno, a la gente le gusta ver peleas muy cerradas, ¿no? El público está muy dividido porque
01:03:50hay mucho público de él, mucho público mío. Cada quien defiende a su peleador, pero lo que
01:03:57ellos querían ver era una pelea como la de Barrera. Yo se los dije que no tenía necesidad
01:04:01porque tenía suficiente aire para mantenerme afuera.
01:04:05The public always wants to see a war. They wanted to see another Morales Barrera,
01:04:09but we figured that we didn't do that. I didn't have to struggle and make that kind of a fight
01:04:14because I had enough stamina to go the 12 rounds.
01:04:17Thank you very much. Congratulations, Eric. Jim?
01:04:20All right. Let's take a look at these judges' scorecards, and you can see once again the margins,
01:04:28115, 113, 116, 112, 116, 112, all for Morales. If you look at the three cards broken down round
01:04:35by round, it's a crazy quilt. These three judges were all over the ballpark in determining which
01:04:40rounds they gave to which fighters. It underscores what a difficult fight it was to score. It's one
01:04:45thing for him to get a close decision against Barrera when he fought brilliantly against an
01:04:50opponent who did the same. This was not a brilliant performance by Eric Morales, and it's hard to
01:04:54imagine how these scores evolved. I personally thought that it was bad scoring. In fact, the last
01:04:59round he lost almost to the point where it was almost a 10-8 round, and he virtually tried it all. He
01:05:04was trying to survive, and the last part of the whole fight, he pretty much was just doing very little.
01:05:09I think that Espada at least should have got a much closer decision than that. Espada told us
01:05:14yesterday. The judges scored the fights. We're the fighters. They're the final authority. If they
01:05:19say the winner is the winner, that's who it is. Let's see if he still feels that way. Larry?
01:05:24All right. Thank you very much, Jim. Good day. You were the champion. Did you feel you lost your
01:05:30championship in the ring tonight? You never know when you're going to lose. The champion never goes in
01:05:47to lose. The decision was that the judges, there's no big fear. In your heart, do you think you won the
01:05:53fight? Yes, in my heart, I knew I won the fight. He ran all night. He didn't want to fight, and I knew that I won,
01:06:10but I'm a champion. I can take a defeat. Thank you very much. All right, just his final word.
01:06:17Let us now celebrate the one star who came out of tonight, Six Heads, Six Heads Lewis,
01:06:26who beat James Page for a version of the Welderweight title. The number six is an underestimated number.
01:06:33The Detroit Tigers used to call the great Al Kaline, who wore the number six, six. Six is great,
01:06:41they used to say. And I seem to remember a college quarterback named Sonny Sixkiller. So let us
01:06:49celebrate the number six and Six Heads Lewis, who stole the show tonight. Jim? Next up is the number seven,
01:06:58as in April 7, when Emmanuel Stewart's fighter, Prince Nassim Hamed, takes on Marco Antonio Barrera
01:07:04in the next big fight in this division. And I assume, Manny, that will be a better fight than this.
01:07:10It will be a better fight. I think after what I saw tonight, Barrera is a much more dangerous fighter,
01:07:14and I'm smiling because I just hope that we get by Barrera and we have to fight Morales.
01:07:19It would not be much of a contest if Morales fights. Unless Morales gets a lot better than he
01:07:23showed tonight. All right, we'll have a final word on what took place here in the ring in just a minute.
01:07:28Let's look ahead to some upcoming programs here on HBO.
01:07:31We're not wrong in what we're doing. If we are wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong.
01:07:38We are determined to work together here in Montgomery. To work and to fight until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.
01:08:00He knows what you're thinking before you do. You can't hit him. You can't hurt him.
01:08:07You most certainly can't beat him. He sees through you. And it's only a matter of time before he breaks you.
01:08:16Roy Jones Jr. is unbreakable. World Championship Boxing. Jones vs. Harmon. Plus Gainer vs. Polo.
01:08:23Live, Saturday, February 24th on HBO. The heart and soul of boxing.
01:08:28Wednesday, February 21. Don't miss the next installment of On the Record with Bob Costas.
01:08:34The sports show unlike any other on television broadcast live from New York City.
01:08:37Every Wednesday at 11 p.m. 8 Eastern and Pacific. Only on HBO.
01:08:42On Monday, February 26th and 930 Eastern, catch the latest edition of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.
01:08:47Among the stories, the profile of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, the NBA's youngest and now most controversial tycoon.
01:08:53Then the story of Rutgers women's basketball coach Vivian Stringer, who's overcome a string of tragedies so long it almost defies belief.
01:09:01Real sports, nothing is out of bounds. Once again tonight on Boxing After Dark, you saw Andrew Six-Head Lewis introduce himself to the welterweight world.
01:09:12The unbeaten Guy Annan became the first ever from his country to win a world title as he defeated James Page to take a vacant version of the welterweight crowd.
01:09:22And then, in the main event, Guti Espadas and Eric Morales fought a curious, sometimes lethargic bout.
01:09:30Seemingly a pitched battle in terms of competition. Very close.
01:09:35Espadas taking most of the last rounds, but Morales winning a unanimous decision.
01:09:41Next on HBO, coming up immediately following this, stay tuned for Oz.
01:09:47And now for the entire HBO boxing crew. I'm Jim Lampley saying so long from Las Vegas, Nevada.
01:09:54The executive producer of HBO Sports is Rick Bernstein.
01:09:57The next edition of Boxing After Dark was produced by Kendall Reid and directed by Mark Payton.
01:10:01Associate directors, Thomas Huffine and Mike Whalen.
01:10:04Assistant to the producer, George Jakovic and Greg Stern.
01:10:07Production manager, Mark Hayton. Technical supervisor, Bob Hunter.
01:10:11And the technical director was Doug Getz.
01:10:27Marion Har εν.
01:10:28Dr.
01:10:28And what, he can.
01:10:30Does heenc theEmla Pr 자연 experience in their own character?
01:10:44You're not that, Dean Mir nimmersocolon?
01:10:46Yes, sir.
01:10:47The new saúde was preached in theесс.
01:10:51The meaningful value of his всем comrades in his own은,
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