By Gerardo Granados: What is that fire that burns inside a great champion that makes him keep fighting, to get up from the canvas, to train harder, to endure pain and injuries, to never quit no matter what. I guess that only the true champions can answer and describe what that fire that burns inside a great fighter is.

It can’t be easy to call the day off for a champion when he feels that the fire still burns in his chest, some times the old lion mislead himself to believe he is still able to battle against the best fighters available, but one thing is for sure, we can not criticize the old lion of being coward.

Erik Morales was a great boxer; he was a lion king when he was in his prime and he is the last one to defeat Congressman Manny Pacquiao. Way back in 1997 Morales was only twenty one years old when he became the WBC super bantamweight champion, defeated and also retired hall of fame member Daniel Zaragoza who was almost forty years old at the time, fighting his 22nd title fight against a much younger lion; as usual the old lion put up resistance and fought back but his body, his reflexes and his legs were not there for him, and Zaragoza end up loosing by KO 11 to the hungry young lion.

It has been reported that next April 9th, Erik Morales will fight against another “old lion” to dispute the WBC light welterweight Diamond Belt, and yes Juan Manuel Marquez maybe old and starting to decline but he keeps a lot of his boxing skills on a great level; he is even capable to defeat younger contenders as Katsidis or Diaz. If Morales have fought against Marquez ten years ago he would have won, but now Marquez has too much experience and his body hasn’t left him yet, besides Morales hasn’t looked good against average fighters as Limond, Alfaro and Lorenzo.
Erik is brave beyond any doubt and will try his best against Marquez, the fire that burns in his chest wont let him quit because he knows very well that this is his last opportunity to shine and to aspire for a last shot at Pacquiao. For Morales this will be his 21 title fight and for Marquez his 14th; the winner will set a record for a Mexican boxer, as the first one to become four division champion, not an easy feat at all.

Perhaps the story will repeat itself and the old lion will loose again but this time against another old one. Morales doesn’t have the mobility or speed that he used to have, his legs are a clear sign of his diminished skills, meanwhile Marquez has the mobility and stamina needed to fight for twelve rounds, he is a great counterpuncher and will take advantage of his semi stationary rival hurting his body with hooks and his left uppercut might be hard to block for Morales.

The odds doesn’t favor Morales but one thing can be guaranteed, this will be a great fight while it last, five or twelve rounds of war no running no hugging, a very tactical fight with two experienced and smart lions that will fight for the pride to prove who the best Mexican champion of all is.