One of the greatest Mexican boxers ever, Erik Morales (51-7, 35 KO), stepped into the ring to face Pablo Cesar Cano (22-0-1, 17 KO) on the undercard of the HBO PPV broadcast for Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Victor Ortiz. Morales was the heavy favorite but Cano has very solid height for a junior welterweight. Morales also entered the ring looking very much his age and well above his ideal weight.
Still, Morales was able to gut out a grinding fight, eventually opening a huge cut and winning by TKO. With the win, Morales became the WBC junior welterweight champion.
Cano used his physical advantages and youth to move and jab early in the first round before Morales was able to start getting inside and landing occasional power shots. Cano continued to look bigger, stronger and faster through the second round and things were looking bleak for the once great Morales.
Round three saw Morales start to open up with his punches and force Cano back while landing. The pressure looked to affect Cano through the fourth round with Morales landing a big shot that opened a cut near Cano's left eye. Cano seemed bothered by the blood and continually pawed at the eye.
Cano came on hard in round five, throwing more punches and landing a few hard power shots to force Morales to briefly back down before opening up with a hard flurry of his own. Morales fought well in round six and the fight was extremely close.
As the rounds continued, one fighter would seem to establish an advantage before his foe would come back in he next frame to land hard shots and even the fight back up.
In round ten, as Moales looked to finally be establishing his supremacy in the fight he landed a huge punch that burst Cano's already bloody and swollen face open even worse, forcing referee Kenny Bayless to let the doctor check the cut. The doctor allowed the fight to continue, but at the end of the round the corner of Cano said they needed to stop the fight, awarding Erik Morales the win and yet another championship.
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