By William Mackay: It was inspiring to watch a seemingly over-the-hill Erik Morales (51-7, 35 KO’s) stand and fight Marcos Maidana (30-2, 27 KO’s) in 12 rounds of toe-to-toe action without running around the ring looking to not get hit. To be sure, Morales lost the fight by a 12 round majority decision, but he gave a much better performance in losing than Amir Khan did in beating Maidana last December in my book. This wasn’t nearly a prime version of Morales and it’s scary to think what he could have done had he been seven years younger and fighting at his best. But he didn’t need to run around the ring like Khan and stink up the joint.

Morales stayed in front of Maidana all night long and took the fight to him much of the time, forcing Maidana to work harder than he wanted to. If Khan had fought like that perhaps he would have been able to wear Maidana down like Morales did. Of course, I think Maidana would have quickly knocked Khan out if he had even tried to go toe-to-toe early with Maidana the way that Morales did, but that’s besides the point.

That just makes me respect Morales even more. He’s got a great chin and had no fear of taking Maidana’s best shots in order to land his punches. I thought Morales looked a lot better than Khan in how he fought Maidana. That’s how you fight Maidana. You stand in there with him and make him work harder than he’s capable of. Once he tires, you win rounds by out-working him. You don’t run and hold all night long just to try and survive the way that Khan did. Morales is a great warrior the way he never shied away from exchanges with Maidana, even when he was getting the worst of it. I’d like to see the rematch if it happens.