Morales declares motivation back, skills better than ever

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Erik Morales is the last man to defeat current pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao. That was in 2005.

But the 34-year-old former world champion doesn’t think he needs to turn back the clock that far to beat Marcos Maidana in their WBA interim junior welterweight title fight tonight at the MGM Grand Garden.

“I think my technique is better, and if I can beat Maidana, I can recoup some of what I had and take away some of what he has done,” Morales said through an interpreter.

A victory would make Morales the first Mexican fighter to win world titles in four weight classes.

Morales (51-6, 35 knockouts) retired in 2007 after a listless loss to David Diaz and admitted he had lost his appetite for fighting. He apparently compensated with a greater appetite for food and drink, as Morales said he weighed nearly 200 pounds at one point during retirement.

He is 3-0 in a comeback that began 13 months ago and claims to have regained his motivation to train and fight. He hasn’t looked too impressive, though, in beating Jose Alfaro, Willie Limond and Francisco Lorenzo.

Morales said the tuneups were part of his plan to return to the big stage. Originally, he wanted to fight Juan Manuel Marquez tonight. But Marquez declined the fight for financial and contractual reasons.

Instead, Morales meets a hard-punching but straight-ahead fighter in Maidana. He said Maidana’s style plays right into his hands.

“Remember, I was the one who selected Maidana,” said Morales, whose purse will be $250,000 plus an undisclosed percentage of the sales from the HBO Pay Per View telecast (Maidana is being paid $500,000). “Everyone talks about what a big puncher he is and his strength. Nobody talks about my speed. I’m faster than him, and nobody’s talking about my punching power.”

Morales said his victory over Pacquiao in March 2005 has no bearing on this fight because he weighed 130 pounds then and will be fighting at 140 tonight.

“I’m at a different stage of my life now,” Morales said. “I don’t have to worry about making weight like I did back then. I’m very comfortable at 140.

“When I look back on our fights, I really should have beaten Pacquiao several times. Pacquiao has maintained a high level of fighting, but he’s been promoted well. He’s been put in with good opponents for his style.”

Morales’ trilogies with Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera took a serious toll on him. Pacquiao stopped Morales twice after losing their first meeting, and Barrera did the same.

That, along with his comeback performances, might explain why Morales is a 7-1 underdog to the 27-year-old Maidana at the MGM sports book.

There’s also the concern that all the ring time Morales has accrued puts him at greater risk of injury.

Morales said he has beaten the odds before and will do so again.

“People have counted me out in the past,” he said. “But I always come to fight. I’ve improved a lot in my technique, and I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t think I could win.

“In this short life, I’m doing what I want to do. Could I get hurt? Sure, it can happen. It can happen soon. Or it may never happen. I can lose, but I’m doing it on a big stage against one of boxing’s big names.

“You have to understand that when a fighter has had a long career, sometimes they get mentally burnt out. That’s what happened to me. … But I took some time to reflect, and I remembered all the sacrifices I made to be a world champion, and I set a goal to reach that level again.”

■ NOTES — Robert Guerrero and Michael Katsidis each weighed in at 134 pounds Friday for their WBA and WBO interim lightweight title fight. Guerrero is a minus-250 betting favorite at the MGM sports book, with Katsidis at plus-210. … The first bell for the live card is at 4 p.m., with the portion on HBO PPV at 6.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.