Eric Arturo Morel (born October 10, 1975 in
San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the juri ...
) is a
Puerto Rica
Puerto, a Spanish word meaning ''seaport'', may refer to:
Places
*El Puerto de Santa María, Andalusia, Spain
*Puerto, a seaport town in Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines
*Puerto Colombia, Colombia
*Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela
*Puerto Galera, Orient ...
n professional
boxer. He is a former
World Boxing Association
The World Boxing Association (WBA), formerly known as the National Boxing Association (NBA), is the oldest and one of four major organizations which sanction professional boxing bouts, alongside the World Boxing Council (WBC), International Boxi ...
(WBA)
flyweight
Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing
Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb).
Professional boxing
The flyweight division was the last of b ...
(112
lb) champion.
Amateur career
Morel had an outstanding amateur career, and was the
National Golden Gloves Light Flyweight Champion in 1994. He also was a member of the 1996 US Olympic Team as a Flyweight. His result was:
Lost to
Maikro Romero
Maikro Romero (born December 9, 1972) is a Cuban boxer, who won the gold medal in the Men's Flyweight (– 51 kg) category at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
Later he changed weight class to Light Flyweight (– 48 kg) a ...
(Cuba) 12-24
Professional career
Flyweight
"Little Hands Of Steel" turned professional in 1996 and won his first 33 bouts, including the
WBA World
Flyweight
Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports.
Boxing
Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb).
Professional boxing
The flyweight division was the last of b ...
title with a decision win over Sornpichai Kratingdaenggym in 2000 and the IBA World
Super Flyweight title in 1998 against
Jose Victor Burgos. He defended the belt five times with wins over
Gilberto Keb Baas,
Denkaosan Kaovichit
Denkaosan Kaovichit a.k.a. Denkaosan Redbull Gym. a.k.a. Denkaosan Singwangcha ( Thai: เด่นเก้าแสน เก้าวิชิต, เด่นเก้าแสนกระทิงยิม, เด่นเก้าแส ...
, and
Isidro García before losing it to
Lorenzo Parra
Lorenzo Justiniano Parra Garcia (born August 19, 1978) is a Venezuelan professional boxer who held the WBA flyweight title from 2003 to 2007. He has also challenged for the WBA Super bantamweight title in 2008 and the WBA bantamweight title in 2 ...
by decision in 2003.
Super Flyweight
He then moved up in weight and took on WBA
Super Flyweight title holder
Martin Castillo in 2005, but lost a decision. Morel was scheduled to fight
Z Gorres for the interim WBO bantamweight title on November 14, 2009, but after the latter's last fight, he (Gorres) suffered a major injury that delayed his boxing career, so the fight was called off. He then returned to the ring against
Gerry Penalosa
Gerry is both a surname and a masculine or feminine given name. As a given name, it is often a short form (hypocorism) of Gerard, Gerald or Geraldine. Notable people with the name include:
Surname
* Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814), fifth US vice pre ...
February 13, 2010; That ended in a win for Eric Morel, lifting the interim
WBO bantamweight
Bantamweight is a weight class in combat sports. For boxing, the range is above and up to . In kickboxing, a bantamweight fighter generally weighs between . In MMA, bantamweight is .
The name for the class is derived from bantam chickens. B ...
world championship. He then defeated Juan Jose Beltran December 11, 2010 as a 2-0 record since his return. His next and latest match was against Luis Maldonado April 1, 2011; That now has his record at 3-0 since his return from injury.
Professional boxing record
, -
, style="text-align:center;" colspan="8", 45 Wins (23 knockouts), 4 loss(s), 0 Draw, 0 No Contest
, - style="text-align:center; background:#e3e3e3;"
, style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Res.
, style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Record
, style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Opponent
, style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Type
, style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Rd., Time
, style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Date
, style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Location
, style="border-style:none none solid solid; ", Notes
, - align=center
, Loss
, 46-4
, align=left,
Leo Santa Cruz
Leo or Léo may refer to:
Acronyms
* Law enforcement officer
* Law enforcement organisation
* ''Louisville Eccentric Observer'', a free weekly newspaper in Louisville, Kentucky
* Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity
Arts a ...
,
, 5
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Loss
, 46-3
, align=left,
Abner Mares
,
, 12
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 46-2
, align=left, Jose Silveira
,
, 4 (10)
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 45-2
, align=left, Daniel Quevedo
,
, 4 (10)
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 44-2
, align=left, Luis Maldonado
,
, 4 (10)
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 43-2
, align=left, Juan Jose Beltran
,
, 8
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 42-2
, align=left,
Gerry Penalosa
Gerry is both a surname and a masculine or feminine given name. As a given name, it is often a short form (hypocorism) of Gerard, Gerald or Geraldine. Notable people with the name include:
Surname
* Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814), fifth US vice pre ...
,
, 12
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 41-2
, align=left, Roberto Bonilla
,
, 10
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 40-2
, align=left, Ricardo Vargas
,
, 1 (10)
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 39-2
, align=left, Heriberto Ruiz
,
, 12
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 38-2
, align=left, Jose Garcia Bernal
,
, 3 (10)
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 37-2
, align=left, Carlos Valcarcel
,
, 6 (10)
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 36-2
, align=left, Felipe Almanza
,
, 8
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Loss
, 35-2
, align=left,
Martin Castillo
,
, 12
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 35-1
, align=left, Juan Alfonso Keb Baas
,
, 12
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 34-1
, align=left,
Jesus Rojas
,
, 12
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Loss
, 33-1
, align=left,
Lorenzo Parra
Lorenzo Justiniano Parra Garcia (born August 19, 1978) is a Venezuelan professional boxer who held the WBA flyweight title from 2003 to 2007. He has also challenged for the WBA Super bantamweight title in 2008 and the WBA bantamweight title in 2 ...
,
, 12
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 33-0
, align=left,
Isidro García
,
, 12
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 32-0
, align=left,
Denkaosan Kaovichit
Denkaosan Kaovichit a.k.a. Denkaosan Redbull Gym. a.k.a. Denkaosan Singwangcha ( Thai: เด่นเก้าแสน เก้าวิชิต, เด่นเก้าแสนกระทิงยิม, เด่นเก้าแส ...
,
, 11 (12)
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 31-0
, align=left, Alex Baba
,
, 10
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 30-0
, align=left, Jose de Jesus Lopez
,
, 8 (12)
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 29-0
, align=left,
Gilberto Keb Baas
,
, 12
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 28-0
, align=left, Alberto Ontiveros
,
, 12
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 27-0
, align=left, Sornpichai Kratingdaenggym
,
, 12
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 26-0
, align=left, Alberto Ontiveros
,
, 12
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 25-0
, align=left,
Tomás Rivera
,
, 8
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 24-0
, align=left, Oscar Arciniega
,
, 8
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 23-0
, align=left, Miguel Ángel Granados
,
, 12
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 22-0
, align=left, Francisco Espitia
,
, 1 (12)
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 21-0
, align=left, Lorenzo Trejo
,
, 4 (8)
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
, Win
, 20-0
, align=left, Jose Rafael Sosa
,
, 8
,
, align=left,
, align=left,
, - align=center
Outside the ring
Shortly after the loss to Castillo, Morel was convicted of sexual assault of a drunken 15-year-old girl and was sent to prison.
In July 2007, Morel was granted an early release within 30 days of August 1, 2007 to allow him to serve the remainder of his sentence on extended supervision.
See also
*
List of WBA world champions
*
List of Puerto Ricans
*
List of Puerto Rican boxing world champions
In Puerto Rico, boxing is considered a major sport, having produced more amateur and professional world champions than any other sport in its history. Puerto Rico ranks 5th worldwide between countries with most boxing world champions in history (o ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morel, Eric
1975 births
Sportspeople from San Juan, Puerto Rico
Flyweight boxers
Living people
World Boxing Association champions
World flyweight boxing champions
Boxers at the 1995 Pan American Games
Pan American Games competitors for the United States
Boxers at the 1996 Summer Olympics
Olympic boxers of the United States
Puerto Rican male boxers