Mexican warrior Erik Morales will end a two-and-a-half-year retirement on March 27, when he returns to the ring in Monterrey, Mexico. Morales will face Jose Alfaro.
A ring return for Morales has been in talks for over a year now. The last time he fought was against David Diaz in August 2007, a close loss in a bid to win a recognized title in a fourth weight class, which no Mexican fighter has ever done. Morales held titles at 122, 126 and 130. He will return at 135 pounds, the same weight at which he fought Diaz.
Morales (48-6, 34 KO) has not won a fight since March 19, 2005, when he was at present time the last person to defeat Manny Pacquiao. Since then he's lost four in a row -- two to Pacquiao, the fight with Diaz, and the upset that started the slide to Zahir Raheem.
Morales is now 33, which is often pushing it for smaller fighters to begin with, let alone a fighter who has been through the wars that "El Terrible" has seen. You can look at Alfaro's record (23-5, 20 KO) and note that he's never beaten anyone. The question is, is this old, shot and semi-retired version of Morales "anyone" besides a name?
I've said it every time this has come up in the last year or so: There is really nothing good that comes out of Morales returning. He's too old, too worn out, fighting too far above his optimum weight, and now you can add ring rust. He reported buzzing in his head when he was hit by Diaz. Bob Arum severed ties, refusing to have anything to do with Morales fighting again.
It's just incredibly ill-advised all around, but you know, what can you do? Erik Morales is a fighter. That's what he does. And at 33, it's probably hard to tell him that he can't do that anymore. So he's going to give it a shot. Since it's official, all anyone can really do is wish him the best, and I do wish him the best. As a Morales fan, I hope he surprises the hell out of me and goes on a great final run.