Manfredy admitted to feeling 'spacey', possibly something to do with the punches of Corrales
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Two of boxing's biggest stars in the lighter weight divisions won as expected at El Paso, Texas on 2 September, but while the way ahead for Mexico's Erik Morales holds the promise of big purses and thrilling fights, the future for Diego "Chico" Corrales is clouded by an out-of-the ring issue.
Morales, who captured the World Boxing Council's "interim" featherweight title by overpowering a game but faded Kevin Kelley in seven rounds, is now due to challenge fellow-countryman Guty Espadas for the championship in January.
Then, if the plans of his promoter, Bob Arum, come to fruition, Morales will face his Mexican rival Marco Antonio Barrera in a rematch, to be followed by the biggest fight of his career, against Prince Naseem Hamed.
For Corrales, though, all plans may have to be put on hold pending the outcome of a court case that could, if he is convicted, lead to a prison term.
As of the time of writing, Corrales is tentatively set to meet Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a super featherweight (or junior lightweight, if you prefer) title unification fight on the same show as Morales-Espadas, which will be in Las Vegas or the Staples Center, Los Angeles on either 13 or 20 of January.
But Corrales, who looked devastating at El Paso in a three-round blowout of Angel Manfredy to retain his International Boxing Federation title, faces a charge of physically assaulting his pregnant wife, from whom he is now estranged.
Corrales, 23, was on $100,000 bail in El Paso and now has to appear in court in his hometown of Sacramento, California, on 12 September, where a trial date is likely to be set.
Those connected with Corrales were anxious about the outcome of what all agreed is a serious matter, even though the fighter asks us not to believe all we have read or heard.
For Morales, though, there are no murky clouds on the horizon. Promoter Arum, sees greatness ahead for the dark-haired young man with the hawkish features who scored his 38th consecutive win (30 inside the distance) by battering the 33-year-old Kelley, the ex-champ from New York whose southpaw savvy was never going to be enough against a younger, bigger and stronger opponent.
Morales, boxing the day after his 24th birthday, dominated the fight and floored Kelley twice before the older man was rescued by referee Laurence Cole, of Dallas, after two minutes, 30 seconds of the seventh.
It was Morales's second win as a featherweight after giving up the super bantamweight title due to weight struggles.
Kelley, a substitute for Guty Espadas (hairline fracture of the collarbone), was in shape after sparring with Augie Sanchez in Las Vegas and landed enough punches to make the fight interesting. But Morales was doing the heavier hitting and won every round on the scorecards of judges Jerry Roth of Las Vegas and Robert Gonzalez of Arizona (mine too), while Italian judge Paolo Scorso gave Kelley the sixth round.
Morales always looked too much for a fighter who clearly is at the tail-end of his career. But the tougher fights at 126lbs (9st) lie ahead, not least against Hamed.
Whether or not Morales has what it takes to defeat Hamed - always assuming the fight can be made - depends on whose opinion you ask.
Arum said: "When they fight, the attraction is not Hamed - the attraction is Erik Morales. He's more popular than Hamed, he's a better fighter than Hamed and you will see, when he fights Hamed - which we hope will be next year, it will not be a difficult fight for Erik; Erik will win easy."
But Kelley has a different view of a Hamed-Morales fight, and, having traded knockdowns with the Prince before going out in the fourth round in December 1997, he has first-hand experience to back up his opinion. He told me: "Hamed is the bigger puncher. Morales is not that hard a puncher. I went down just to get out of the way of his punches. I think Hamed knocks him out in five rounds."
My own view, from ringside, is that Kelley probably has it right.
He landed enough left-handers from his southpaw stance to suggest that Morales would definitely get nailed by Hamed, with distinctly deleterious effects.
Morales is not terribly hard to hit, even though he was attempting to move his head more and not standing quite as straight up as in the past - the result of technical input from Las Vegas-based trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr., who spent three weeks in the Mexican's camp.
Mayweather told me he was working on Morales's defence and trying to get him to shorten his punches. But his instructions have to be relayed through an interpreter and he told me he needs more time with the fighter to bring about major changes. Also, he is concerned that his advice might be undermined by conflicting opinions from within the Mexican's camp.
"I think he looked better than he looked in his previous fights," Mayweather told me, "and I think he'll continue to get better. I was only with him for a short time but I've told Bob Arum that with a free hand I can make the kid one of the greats. He moved his head, bobbed under punches, popped his jab, fought smart. He outboxed Kelley. He's a very hard puncher for his weight but he still throws them too long. Shorter punches are better, and usually harder, because the other guy has time to steel himself when a punch is long."
Morales, who weighed right on the 9st limit (as did Kelley), was steady and methodical, as is his manner. He was made to miss quite wildly at times but he kept the pressure on the slicker boxer.
Kelley said afterwards he believed he was the harder hitter of the two. During the fight he tapped his chin to indicate he could take whatever Morales threw. But Morales knew otherwise. The predominantly Hispanic crowd of 6,000 at the Don Haskins Center (4,160 paid admissions) in this border city roared whenever Morales landed.
By the fourth round Kelley's much-battered right eye was beginning to swell from on top, although it never closed. He switched to the orthodox style and back to southpaw, used the ring cleverly, but Morales was relentless. Kelley could outbox his opponent for parts of each round but couldn't keep Morales at bay.
In the fifth Kelley was rocked by a right and forced to the ropes, and he dropped down for an eight count after taking a right to the body. He fought back to survive the round and fought with spirit in the sixth, when both landed some solid hits - but Morales seemed to be doing most of the damage.
And it was all over in the seventh, with Kelley down again, stretched out on his stomach, more overwhelmed than hurt. Although he again picked himself up, Morales was right on him as soon as the eight count had been completed, and Kelley was under fire against the ropes in his own corner, and not punching back, when the referee intervened.
Kelley made a mild protest and argued afterwards that he had been making Morales miss and was looking to counter with the left. He said that Morales was getting careless and that he was being patient, waiting to land a perfect, knockout left-hander. But this seemed no more than wishful thinking.
Afterwards, Kelley said: "I'm not disappointed. I gave my best. My back leg [the left leg] gave out a little bit on me. My whole quad [quadriceps] kept locking up on me. When I was in the middle of the ring, boxing, I was untouchable. But he's got a young body working for him and my leg turned 33 on me. But no excuses, something was wrong with me and he took advantage of it."
In the other title fight, the 25-year-old Angel Manfredy also said he had no excuses after his third-round demolition by Diego Corrales - then proceeded to make them anyway.
Manfredy said he had trouble making the weight and that he did not feel right entering the ring. He said he felt "spacey". After he got hit he must have felt as if he had been knocked into another space altogether.
The undefeated Corrales, at 6ft a freakishly tall fighter for the 130lbs (9st 4lbs) division, towered over the 5ft 6ins Manfredy and outclassed him with power and speed as well as height and reach. He dropped Manfredy in the first round, stalked him unhurriedly in the second (and got caught by some crisp, though not severe, blows) before ending matters with two knockdowns in the third.
Manfredy, a big underdog, was given a slim chance by some because of the feeling that Corrales's out-of-the ring troubles could have a distracting influence. But this was not the case. Corrales was cool and composed, with his height-and-power combination, drawing ringside comparisons with greats Thomas Hearns and Alexis Arguello as he scored his 33rd consecutive win (27 KOs).
Although Manfredy boxed nicely in the beginning, my strong impression was that his dismissal from the proceedings was merely a matter of time.
But the first knockdown came with stunning swiftness. Manfredy stayed in close to rip two left hooks to the body and was dropped flat on his back by a quick left-hook counter from the champion.
Even though Manfredy got up, and rallied well enough to win the second round on one judge's card, the fight was essentially over; it was abundantly clear that the challenger was just not strong enough to take Corrales's blasts.
Manfredy attacked at the start of the third, landed a couple of good shots, then wobbled back as Corrales returned fire with a right hand and another of those deadly left hooks.
The Chicago-area challenger tried to move but his legs were not working properly and Corrales was now walking right through him, hitting so hard and so fast with both hands that the effect must have had Manfredy's senses as jumbled as the bewildering assortment of tattoos that cover his body. A left hook had Manfredy's glove touching down for the first eight count in the third, then a right hand smacked the challenger down on the seat of his trunks against the ropes.
Again Manfredy got up, face reddened, but he was being pounded all over the ring when Texas referee Jerry McKenzie intervened - belatedly in the opinion of many ringsiders - after two minutes, 38 seconds of round three.
Genaro Hernandez, the former champ in this division and who was doing commentary for the international telecast, told me in the hotel lobby the next day: "That left hook [in the opening round] hit him on the temple and controlled all his nervous system, and then it was just a matter of time.
"I expected a little bit more from Manfredy, but I didn't think it would take too long for Corrales to do what he did. The reason why is my brother [Rudy, an ex-boxer turned trainer] has two fighters, one is an amateur, one has one pro fight, and they were helping Manfredy up at Big Bear [the California training camp], and people were calling my brother telling my brother that his fighters were beating up on Manfredy. I didn't think that was true, but obviously Manfredy wasn't the same fighter that we know. The way he looked yesterday, I think it's time for him to call it a career."
Manfredy has now been stopped by both Corrales and Floyd Mayweather Jr. (the latter in two rounds, though some felt the stoppage was premature), but would not offer an opinion on their projected fight. "Both are blessed champions, and it's a blessed fight," the born-again Christian said.
It is a compelling contest to be sure, but the fight that Corrales faces in the courtroom stretches its long shadow not only over the event but also over the fighter's promising career.
