Neither Morales or Barrera accomplished much of anything at 118 (Morales never fought at all at bantamweight). So any matchup involving MAB or Morales at 118 would have to take into account a pretty severe disadvantage due to weight-drain. It's hard for me to even imagine the Morales or Barrera that I've seen fight compete at 118. Morales was like a skeleton at 122 and probably the only reason MAB could ever fight that light was because he was 15 years old. So my prediction that Marquez wins is based on the premise that MAB and Morales show up too weight-drained to think, let alone fight.
Maybe you're right, then. I admit to not double-checking the weights. Let's re-vamp these fights at 122.
I agree that Barrera and Morales on paper should be favored in this one. But if I had to pick an upset, I can easily envision the scenario where Marquez shocks either version of Barrera -the fire-breathing dragon coming up, or the subdued boxer-puncher post-Junior Jones. Morales would be a much taller order, though given his shaky moments against Zaragoza and McCullough, not a stretch to suggest that this one becomes a violent, competitve 12-round war.
