In boxing, rematches are tallied with big roman numerals (Holyfield-Tyson II, Ali-Frazier III, et. al.). But in the case of Barrera-Morales II, it would be more accurate to simply refer to the bout as Barrera-Morales Lite. Just like a watered down drink, this rematch had the look and smell of the real deal but only half the punch. Like the original, the fight featured dramatic shifts in momentum, a controversial "was-it-a-knockdown?" moment, and one of those special Las Vegas decisions that demands a return engagement. Unlike the Y2K Fight of the Year, however, the bout was plagued with long stretches of inactivity, much-deserved booing from the crowd, and an overwhelming sense of caution that betrayed the unusually vicious pre-fight banter. Barrera-Morales Lite may not have been an all-time classic fight, but it had its moments... All expectations were that Barrera and Morales would go to war seconds after the opening bell sounded. After all, they had done so in their first meeting and two years of trash talking only seemed to stoke the hatred between these Mexican rivals. Once in the ring, however, all the machismo evaporated and the two featherweight powerhouses began a tactical boxing match. Maybe each man had planned on surprising the other by boxing around the brawl, and now both were shocked that the other wasn't attacking. Or maybe they stood an arm's length apart and suddenly remembered the pain and agony of their earlier war. Or maybe they were saving their energy for the later rounds. No matter what the reason, the bout started slow. In the first round, Barrera began circling away from the taller Morales, and the WBC titlist was hesitant to follow too closely. When the fighters did get in range, they would exchange jabs upstairs or down before moving some more. Barrera landed a decent right hand by leaping in early the round and Morales clubbed Barrera's noggin with power once later in the round. But that was about it in an unexpected feel-out round between two fighters who know each other quite well. Because Morales was the one coming forward, he banked the uneventful round in his column. Barrera continued to move around the ring in the second round. At first it looked like he might be trying to bait Morales into walking into a punch as the Mexico City native clipped a jabbing Morales with a left uppercut and bloodied his nose. But it would be the only memorable punch of the round, as both fighters seemed to decide that the first round provided too much early contact. Barrera circled at will, keeping away from Morales' long right hands and winning a nothing round with the uppercut. The pace only barely picked up in the slow third round. Morales seemed prepared to use his height and jab to fend off a charging Barrera, but was caught off guard when Barrera opened the bout in near-retreat mode. As Barrera floated around the ring in the third, Morales was forced to fire first. Often in this round, he ended up being the one who lunged because Barrera was moving away so quickly. While not entirely fan-pleasing, Barrera's strategy might have worked if he countered the off-balance Morales in these attacks. For whatever reason, Barrera either couldn't or wouldn't. He looked like a fighter struggling to warm up in the third. When he finally launched left uppercut, it sailed upwards with so little snap that Morales openly laughed at Barrera after the punch missed him. If the third round was boring, the fourth was pure torture. Barrera continued to run away from Morales, who looked like he needed a breather from the track meet. Barrera managed to clip Morales with a light right hand, the only real punch thrown in the first half of this round. Morales tried to take away Barrera's legs by jabbing to the body, and Barrera answered back with some belly shots of his own. The two traded downstairs jabs for most of the rest of the round. Morales had to be ruled the winner of this awful contest if for no other reason than he was coming forward and Barrera was retreating at every turn. Morales punctuated the round with a nice left hook to Barrera's face. It wasn't a particularly crunching blow, but it was enough to silence a crowd of 14,000 that had justifiably begun to boo. The action picked up in the fifth round as both men landed big right hands in the first half of the round. Compared to the highlight-reel fifth round of Barrera-Morales I, this was a severe letdown. Barrera's footwork began to slow slightly and Morales began to catch up with him more in the second half of the fifth. The taller Morales continued to diligently jab to the body, and pounded Barrera again with a big right hand after trapping him in a neutral corner. While Barrera calmly moved around the ring without throwing, he was on his way to giving away another round to Morales. Then, with ten seconds remaining in the round, the timekeeper sounded the clapper as he always does. Morales heard the clap and for some reason thought it was the bell. He dropped his hands and began turning to return to his corner. Barrera realized that the round was still going and jumped on his opponent. Morales barely had time to cover up as Barrera suddenly burst with energy and landed two blistering uppercuts and a left hook. Morales came out of his shell throwing, and for the final 10 seconds, the two fighters let it all hang out. The exchange woke up the crowd, and in many ways the fighters themselves. Morales earned the round on BoxingChronicle's card, but Barrera no doubt stole it on several of the official judges' sheets. Barrera came out quickly in the sixth round, suddenly flowing with energy. Barrera still moved side to side, but held his ground more firmly as Morales stepped in to attack. Barrera timed Morales' jab to the stomach perfectly, punishing Morales with a clean left uppercut to the chin each of the five times he attempted it. With Barrera more stationary, Morales was able to add in a few long right hands. The blows rocked Barrera's head to the side, but he was not wobbled. The round was shaping up to be the fight's most exciting, and most even, until Barrera slammed Morales with two big right hands. The punches came at the end of a clinch, and Barrera chopped into a bent-over Morales with each one. He followed a moment later with another sharp uppercut and a few body shots while Morales leaned on the ropes. Barrera had finally done his part to make this a fight, and the now-cheering fans were grateful. Barrera came out throwing in the seventh, and quickly remembered how easy Morales was to hit. After only a few shots, the protruding cheekbones and eyebrows of Morales began to swell. One particularly beautiful Barrera right hand landed in the center of Morales' forehead and pushed his head straight back. Throughout the incoming, Morales continued to fire jabs and rights to Barrera's body. Late in the round, after Barrera had slowed a bit, Morales launched a long right hand. Barrera saw the punch coming and lifted his gloves up to his face. But the right was headed south, and it landed loud on Barrera's left side. Barrera's knees quaked, he took half a step back and fell to the canvas. Referee Jay Nady felt as though Barrera was off balance and had slipped. No knockdown. It was a questionable call, at best. After getting up, Barrera was back to moving, but showed the effects of the bodywork and was unable to glide completely away from Morales. El Terrible finished the round strong, adding in a series of long punches to the recovering Barrera. Barrera needed to turn the fight around immediately. He didn't get off to a great start in round eight. Morales opened the round by pumping his jab into Barrera's mouth. The pace slowed again, with Barrera backing away and trying to catch Morales coming in. It was shaping up to be another uneventful round until Barrera unloaded on Morales with 15 seconds left on the clock. Morales was temporarily with his back to the ropes when all of a sudden Barrera opened up with a lightning fast double right hand followed by a left hook. The two rights landed loud on the center of Morales' face. The hook opened a small but deep cut over Morales' right eye, a nice match for the black mouse that had popped up underneath it. After the three-punch combo, Morales dove at Barrera and hugged his waist hard. Nady had to give hum a good tug to force the break, evidence that the punches hurt Morales. The sequence swung the round to Barrera. Erik Morales' corner spent so much time trying to stop the slow of blood from the cut that they didn't really get a chance to ice the swelling on the bottom half of his eye. When round nine began, the bleeding had stopped, but the swelling had spread around to the side of Morales' eye, which appeared to be nearly closed. With Morales visibly wounded, and overtly protecting the eye with a raised glove, Barrera fought with new passion. He quickly landed another left uppercut to Morales' chin and then a big right hand. After each punch, a stunned Morales again grabbed on for dear life. After Nady forced a break, Barrera finally looked like himself and openly attacked Morales. Blood soon poured from Morales' mouth as Barrera let both hands go in short, flush flurries. Morales fired back, landing several well-timed right hands. But he was the one moving backwards now, and the punches lacked the steam to slow a surging Barrera. If Morales' eye wasn't closed to open the round, it was slammed shut by the end. Unable to see the punches coming, Morales was getting hurt by Barrera's onslaught, which included two more big shots near the bell that again forced Morales to clinch hard. Going into round ten, Barrera seemed to have turned the tide. Although Morales likely retained a points lead, he was defenseless with his eye in such bad shape and seemed unable to last three more rounds. Barrera stormed out in the tenth to see what Morales had left and quickly ran right into Morales' right hand. Morales was throwing the right with more than a little desperation, and he caught a careless Barrera with the punch a number of times. Barrera's attack now stopped, and Morales returned to the body. Morales closed the round by focusing on Barrera's ribs. At one point, Morales stepped hard into a navel-high jab and the punch hurt Barrera. He gingerly retreated as Morales came on to finish the round strong, nailing Barrera with one final right to the body as the bell rang. Just as Barrera was ready to claim the fight from a wounded Morales, the tables were turned again and it was Barrera who was stopped in his tracks. The eleventh round was back to the slower pace of the early rounds, with each man looking to save a little something for the final stanza. Morales found Barrera with the right while Barrera's own right started some fresh swelling over Morales' good eye. It was a difficult-to-score round until the final seconds, when Barrera trapped Morales in a corner and nailed him with a short right hand. Again Morales grabbed Barrera's waist and hung on for dear life. Barrera needed to win the final round to salvage a draw on the Boxing Chronicle scorecard. His corner told him that he needed a knockout to win. He tried his best. Barrera came out in the final round and did more damage to Morales than he had in the previous eleven rounds combined. Barrera crushed Morales' cheek with a hook in the opening seconds, and Morales again tried to clinch. Barrera was free swinging now, and landed two more blows that wobbled Morales. Morales would try unsuccessfully to grab onto Barrera for much of this round, while Marco Antonio was coming at him with both hands flying. With breaks only to comply with Jay Nady's request for a break, Barrera hammered Morales from one side of the ring to the other. Morales was shaken by a several of Barrera's punches, but he would no go down. When the bell sounded to end the one-sided carnage, a battered Morales shot his hands in the air. Barrera turned and causally walked back to his corner, hands down. It appeared to be a sure-fire win for Erik Morales, even though the Boxing Chronicle scorecard read 114-114. Despite the fact that Morales looked like he had been in a car accident while Barrera was virtually unmarked, the Barrera-inflicted damage was confined to just several rounds. Barrera also won a couple of rounds that he was otherwise losing with bruising exchanges that hurt Morales. So when Michael Buffer announced scores of 116-112 and 115-113 twice, everyone assumed that Morales' early lead had held up. But boxing's kangaroo court handed down another bizarre verdict, giving Barrera the unanimous decision. Morales couldn't believe it. Tears running down his face, he stormed out of the ring in disgust. He would return moments later to prove his sportsmanship. The loss was his first defeat, blemishing his sterling record to a still-incredible 41-1/31. He now loses the WBC featherweight title (which Barrera refused to accept) and a likely showdown with Paulie Ayala. On the other hand, he probably gets a nice tune-up and then a big money third chapter with Barrera. And so, Barrera won the first fight but lost the decision and lost the second fight but earned the decision. Can you say "rubber match?" Barrera-Morales III seems like a foregone conclusion. After all, both fighters have something to prove. Not only to each other... but to the fans. .....Chris Bushnell (Please send comments to us at: BoxingChronicle@aol.com) SEE ALSO: BARRERA vs. MORALES I