Doghouse Boxing fight picks for Morales vs. Barrera III
 Compiled by Anthony Cocks, DHB Site Editor (November 27, 2004) 
Photo © HBO-PPV
The bitter rivalry continues this Saturday night on HBO pay-per-view when Erik 'El Terrible' Morales, 47-1 (34), and 'The Baby-faced Assassin' Marco Antonio Barrera, 58-4 (41), both be trying to cement their legacies in the rubbermatch of their ongoing war. Despite splitting a pair of fights contested at 122 and 126 pounds, most pundits feel the judges got the decisions wrong in both instances and in this fight at 130 pounds fans are hoping for a definitive winner. Read on to find out who the DoghouseBoxing scribes believe is going to win and why.

Anthony Cocks: Morales is the obvious pick here as he is now a fully fledged junior lightweight and has been in outstanding form. The bad blood between theses two warriors is well documented and is sure to make for an exciting, feisty battle. Despite Barrera's mixed fortunes of late, he will undoubtedly rise to the occasion but I just don't see him walking away with the win against the bigger, stronger and angrier Morales. Morales by close decision.

Ed Ludwig: The trilogy concludes between Erik Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera. Morales is pound for pound one of the very best and he will prove that with an old fashioned ass whooping. No disrespect to Barrera but his time has passed. Morales will take it with a ninth round tko!
 
Martin Wade: Uhhm…War! No seriously I just don’t see any one of these warriors dominating the other under any circumstances. Like the “Thrilla in Manila” this one will come down to the waning championship rounds. Morales will blow his wad trying to get Marco out of there early and pay dearly for it. Barrera by 11th round TKO.

Tom Gray: Morales vs. Barrera III - Tough call, but Morales is more natural at the weight.  I wouldn't be surprised to see "The Baby Faced Assassin" win, but my gut instinct is that Morales takes a close decision.  It should be a far better fight than the last one, but it won't equal fight one.
Benny Henderson Jr.: As for Morales-Barrera I think it will be a shoot out and be runner up for fight of the year, of course Tito-Mayorga holds that spot. I see Barrera holding on to get the SD.

Ben Carey: Morales UD. Though in the minority, I was one of the few who felt Barrera did enough to edge both contests between these modern legends. But this time around I make "El Terrible" a strong favourite to prevail in this eagerly awaited rubber match. The extra poundage should suit Morales, who continues to dominate his opponents as he moves through the classes. He looked as good as ever against Carlos Hernandez. While Barrera also delivered a punch-perfect display in dismantling Paulie Ayala, it's still difficult to erase the memory of seeing Marco being systematically undone by Manny Pacquiao. It will be interesting to see if both men are prepared to go to war in this fight after they elected to box a cautious chess match in the rematch. Either way, Morales has shown no signs of being on the slide. Whatever Barrera chooses to do, I think Morales can outbox and outslug his bitter rival to take a deserved decision.

Greg Goodrich: Morales has every reason to win this bout - he is younger, bigger and riding a crest of multi-division title success. He has distinct advantages in reach, and likely should turn the bout into a box-fest - code word for good boxing and great fighting. Barrera on the other had appeared the aggressor in both previous fights at 122 and 126. However, this bout is scheduled for 130. To what extent the Pacquiao loss figures to play in this rubber match is anyone's guess. I suspect based upon their prior appearances against Paulie Ayala, that Barrera is far from finished, and Morales will once again have his hands full. I'll tab Barrera by upset in a close but convincing unanimous decision.

Gary Pino: Morales vs. Barerra is going to be a great fight! One thing that I noticed in Morales' last fight is he has a much better chin than I originally thought? This guy has proved me wrong time and time again and I look for Morales to catch Barerra early with a big shot which would either end the evening or set the tone for the rest of the fight. Morales in 6 exciting rounds.
Aaron Imholte: Morales-Barerra should give us plenty of fireworks with two guys who can hit and who hate each other. I'm going to call a surprise early stoppage here and say Morales wins in the 6 or 7th round after beating Barrera to the punch all night long.

Rob Scott: Don't use Barrera's loss to Pacquiao as a measuring stick to this fight. Pacquiao ambushed Barrera. Can Morales swarm Barrera the way Pacquiao did? If the boxing Barrera shows up, then Morales can and will win. If the Barrera that fought McKinney; and the one who faced Morales the first time shows up, Morales is in for a long night. Just as in Mosley's case with Winky Wright, a loss would signal the end. Barrera knows this. The question is, with this added weight, will his body know it? This weight is Morales' domain. It will be the deciding factor in a Morales decision win.   

Luke Dodemaide: In this highly anticipated rubber match, I'm looking for Erik Morales to finally shake off Barrera and possibly stop his Mexican counterpart. Morales' stock has risen immensely since the last chapter in this enthralling series while Barrera's have been on the slide. Barrera's time has past, Morales is one man gearing to lead boxing into the next generation.
Morales by late TKO.

Peter Chhim: Barrera SD Morales. A difficult fight to call because of Morale's current success and the questions surrounding Barrera's abilities after his loss to Pacquiao.  However, in their two previous meetings, Barrera has shown that he has the tools to handle Morales.  And although the second decision was close, I still believe Barrera pulled it out.  The passion that both fighters feel towards each other is palpable, and rest assured, neither will succumb to the other quietly.  In the end though, I feel Barrera knows enough about Morale's style, and how to effectively disrupt to carry him to a UD or SD win. It should be close, and if so, I'll lean towards the Baby Faced Assassin.

Elisa Harrison: To me, more important than who wins or who loses in the Marco Antonio Barrera-Erik Morales fight, is the question why is Barrera being allowed to fight at all?

Let's remember that he and/or his former team lied on his medicals, and it is now common knowledge that he has a plate in his head. Were Barrera Joe Low Blow from a local gym and with the medical information now available, Joe Low Blow wouldn't be licensed to fight. So, my question remains, why then is Barrera being allowed to fight?

Is he a tragedy waiting to happen? As a big fan of Barrera's I surely would hate to see anything happen to him. Boxing needs to develop a conscience, and perhaps it should start with us, its writers..
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