Mexican Erik Morales won a wide decision over 39 year old Francisco Lorenzo on Saturday night at the Caliente Racetrack in Tijuana, Mexico. Morales retained his WBC Silver light welterweight title. His foe, Lorenzo was game for the fight and pushed Eric the entire way, but “El Terrible” won by scores of 116-111, 115-112, and 114-113. The comeback Morales is making could be historic as he pushes to be the first Mexican to win world titles in four different weight divisions. And top of Morales’ wish-list is a fight with fellow Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez.
Erik started off slowly, common for him, but moved okay for the 139 pounds he weighed in at for the fight. Then in the fifth round he planted a stiff right hand to the head of his opponent and knocked him to the canvas. Lorenzo wasn’t hurt and the Dominican jumped up to fight back harder than ever. The following rounds were a heady affair of surprisingly good action up to the final gong, and many critics will argue that Francisco should’ve gotten the nod. But Morales has now won 3 in a row with one knockout since his comeback began in March of this year and is in healthy, trim condition. Morales took 3 years off after losing to David Diaz – the man Pacquiao dominated before fighting DeLaHoya – but has returned in sufficient form, though his wins are against second tier opponents so far.
At this point, Morales is ranked number 2 by the WBC at light welterweight and number 6 by the WBA. The rankings are surprisingly high but name value means alot in boxing and clearly that’s what Morales is riding on. And if Pacman doesn’t fight JMM for a third time next, we might see Morales’ name against Marquez’s come 2011. It would sell well… but that might be the most you can say for it. Marquez is excelling against prime opposition, while Morales is struggling against… Lorenzo. Still, he’s now 51-6, and no one can question his heart to carry on.

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