From Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol to Mike Tyson vs Evander Holyfield, boxing is full of dramatic rivalries, but it was on one night in 2005 that Manny Pacquiao met his rival.
Manny Pacquiao was in his fair share of exciting moments in the ring, from ‘his ‘Pac-Man’s quadrilogy with Juan Manuel Marquez to his one-punch KO of Ricky Hatton.
However it was in 2005 when something awoke in Pacquiao’s career, when a fight was made that would pave the way for a career-defining trilogy for both men.
It was the night Pacquiao fought Erik Morales.
Manny Pacquiao’s biggest rival took unbelievable risk in the final round after warning from his father
With a record of 47-2, Morales challenged 39-2-2 Pacquiao for the vacant IBA world super featherweight title and WBA international super featherweight title.
The fight was razor-close, and unlike their next two encounters, made it all the way to the final round.
It was just before the final round that Morales’ father told him not to do anything stupid. Morales, knowing a win hinged on his performance in this round, seemed to ignore his father’s advice, and switched, unprompted, into a southpaw stance.
The commentators said: “I don’t know why he would fight Pacquiao southpaw, that seems dumb to me. I don’t understand that.”
“His father told him don’t do anything stupid […] he switched southpaw and got hit with a massive left hand. I think Morales wants to fight.”
Despite the risk taken by Morales, he did come out on top, and became the third man to defeat Pacquiao, prompting a second fight, which Pacquiao won by tenth-round stoppage, and a third, which Pacquiao won even more convincingly, stopping Morales in the third round.
Pac-Man lost his final fight to Yordenis Ugas after Ugas replaced Errol Spence as Pacquiao’s opponent.
Erik Morales lost to just six men in over 60 fights
Morales retired in 2012 with a record of 52-9. Though he lost nine times, there were three opponents he lost to more than once.
He retired after back-to-back losses to Danny Garcia and has also lost twice to Marco Antonio Barrera, who beat Prince Naseem.
Morales lost twice to Pacquiao, though of course also beat him in their first encounter.
His only other losses came at the hands of David Diaz, Zahir Raheem, and Marcos Maidana, who wore Floyd Mayweather’s tooth on a necklace after a moment of success in their fight.