Columnist Dean Juipe: There’s value in siding with Morales

Dean Juipe

Friday, June 21, 2002 | 9:21 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

Revenge is a sufficiently motivating factor in settling any score and in the case of Marco Antonio Barrera vs. Erik Morales it not only can't be dismissed, it has to be accentuated.

Barrera lost a hotly disputed decision to Morales 28 months ago in Las Vegas and they're fighting again Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Each man will receive a minimum of $1 million and to the winner goes the additional acclaim of being recognized as Mexico's premier boxing champion, as well as the respect of being one of the greatest fighters in that proud country's history.

They will undoubtedly put on a great fight. And bettors, thus far, have been inclined to side with Barrera.

He opened at a minus 135 in the MGM sports book, was bet to a minus 180 and has settled back at a minus 155. Morales, after wavering between a plus 105 and a plus 160, is currently a plus-135 underdog for the 12-round fight at 126 pounds.

Barrera looks good, he's polished and he has the more impressive victory since he and Morales last fought, as he handed featherweight kingpin Naseem Hamed his first professional loss last year at the same site.

He's still only 28 years old and those closest to him say he has never been more fit or ready for a big fight.

Yet I'll go against the grain a bit and predict Morales will win.

The decisive factor in my mind isn't that Morales, at 25, is marginally younger or, arguably, a fraction stronger. It's that he has fought exactly 100 fewer rounds in his pro career.

Add up the number of times they've answered the bell and it's Barrera 338, Morales 238. And that extra mileage on Barrera might very well surface in what figures to be a grueling fight that almost certainly will wear into the final rounds, if not go the complete distance.

Barrera, 54-3 with 39 knockouts, turned pro at the age of 15 and won his first 42 bouts.

Morales, 41-0 with 31 KOs, turned pro at 16 and has had the good fortune of not only not losing but escaping with a victory in two or three close calls that went to the judges. His detractors say he's overdue for a loss and/or overdue to be stuck on the short end of a close decision.

To be sure, the judges for the rematch -- Chuck Giampa, Duane Ford and Mike Glienna -- are very much aware of the past circumstances and will be sufficiently tempted, subconsciously at least, to give Barrera the benefit of a close round here and there.

The fact that neither man is especially prone to cuts and that both can take a punch makes it that much tougher in picking a winner, but here's something else to consider: Junior Jones.

Jones beat Barrera not once but twice a few years ago, leading to the assumption not only that Jones had Barrera's number, but, it should be remembered, that Barrera looked to have been in decline at the time.

Conversely, Morales stopped Jones in the fourth round of a 1998 fight and also owns wins over champions such as Wayne McCullough, Kevin Kelley and Guty Espadas in the past three years.

Barrera, for all his talents, couldn't solve Jones and he may not be able to master Morales either.