Eric Morel

Eric Morel
Statistics
Real name	Eric Arturo Morel
Nickname(s)	Little Hands Of Steel
Weight(s)	Bantamweight
Height	5 ft 6.5 in (1.689 m)
Reach	70 in (177.8 cm)
Nationality	Puerto Rican
Born	(1975-01-10) January 10, 1975 San Juan, Puerto Rico
Stance	Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights	50
Wins	46
Wins by KO	23
Losses	4
Draws	0
No contests	0

Eric Arturo Morel (born October 10, 1975 in San Juan, Puerto Rico) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. He is a former World Boxing Association (WBA) flyweight (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 (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 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, and Isidro García before losing it to Lorenzo Parra 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 February 13, 2010; That ended in a win for Eric Morel, lifting the interim WBO bantamweight world championship. He then deafted Juan Jose Beltran December 11, 2010 as an 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

45 Wins (23 knockouts), 4 loss(s), 0 Draw, 0 No Contest
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	46-4	Leo Santa Cruz	RTD	5	2012-09-15	MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada	IBF Batamweight World title on the line.
Loss	46-3	Abner Mares	UD	12	2012-04-21	Don Haskins Convention Center, El Paso, Texas	WBC World Super Batamweight World title on the line.
Win	46-2	Jose Silveira	TKO	4 (10)	2011-12-03	Honda Center, Anaheim, California
Win	45-2	Daniel Quevedo	TKO	4 (10)	2011-08-13	Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada
Win	44-2	Luis Maldonado	TKO	4 (10)	2011-04-01	Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio, California
Win	43-2	Juan Jose Beltran	UD	8	2010-12-11	Emerald Queen Casino, Tacoma, Washington
Win	42-2	Gerry Penalosa	SD	12	2010-02-13	Las Vegas Hilton, Las Vegas, Nevada	Won interim WBO Bantamweight title.
Win	41-2	Roberto Bonilla	UD	10	2009-03-28	Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez, Bayamon, Puerto Rico
Win	40-2	Ricardo Vargas	TKO	1 (10)	2008-12-13	Coliseo Jose Miguel Agrelot, Hato Rey, Puerto Rico
Win	39-2	Heriberto Ruiz	UD	12	2008-08-30	Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez, Bayamon, Puerto Rico	Won vacant WBO Inter-Continental Bantamweight title.
Win	38-2	Jose Garcia Bernal	TKO	3 (10)	2008-05-23	Coliseo Antonio R. Barcelo, Toa Baja, Puerto Rico
Win	37-2	Carlos Valcarcel	KO	6 (10)	2008-04-05	Coliseo Roberto Clemente, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Win	36-2	Felipe Almanza	UD	8	2008-02-08	Miccosukee Indian Gaming Resort, Miami, Florida
Loss	35-2	Martin Castillo	UD	12	2005-03-19	MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada	WBA World Super Flyweight World title on the line.
Win	35-1	Juan Alfonso Keb Baas	UD	12	2005-01-29	Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez, Bayamon, Puerto Rico	Retained WBO NABO Super Flyweight title.
Win	34-1	Jesus Rojas	UD	12	2004-03-20	Coliseo Mario 'Quijote' Morales, Guaynabo, Puerto Rico	Won WBO NABO Super Flyweight title.
Loss	33-1	Lorenzo Parra	UD	12	2003-12-06	Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez, Bayamon, Puerto Rico	Lost WBA World Flyweight World title.
Win	33-0	Isidro García	UD	12	2003-06-28	Coliseo Ruben Rodriguez, Bayamon, Puerto Rico	Retained WBA World Flyweight World title.
Win	32-0	Denkaosan Kaovichit	TKO	11 (12)	2002-10-12	Arrowhead Pond, Anaheim, California	Retained WBA World Flyweight World title.
Win	31-0	Alex Baba	UD	10	2002-01-11	oliseo Héctor Solá Bezares, Caguas, Puerto Rico
Win	30-0	Jose de Jesus Lopez	RTD	8 (12)	2001-06-08	Ho-Chunk Casino, Baraboo, Wisconsin	Retained WBA World Flyweight World title.
Win	29-0	Gilberto Keb Baas	UD	12	2000-12-15	Alliant Energy Center, Madison, Wisconsin	Retained WBA World Flyweight World title.
Win	28-0	Alberto Ontiveros	UD	12	2000-10-07	MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada	Retained WBA World Flyweight World title.
Win	27-0	Sornpichai Kratingdaenggym	UD	12	2000-08-05	Alliant Energy Center, Madison, Wisconsin	Won WBA World Flyweight World title.
Win	26-0	Alberto Ontiveros	UD	12	2000-06-03	DeJope Bingo & Entertainment, Madison, Wisconsin	Retained IBA Super Flyweight title.
Win	25-0	Tomás Rivera	UD	8	2000-02-12	Bank of America Center, Boise, Idaho
Win	24-0	Oscar Arciniega	UD	8	1999-12-04	Equestrian Center, El Paso, Texas
Win	23-0	Miguel Ángel Granados	UD	12	1999-09-18	Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada	Retained IBA Super Flyweight title.
Win	22-0	Francisco Espitia	KO	1 (12)	1999-08-06	State Fairgrounds, Columbus, Ohio	Retained IBA Super Flyweight title.
Win	21-0	Lorenzo Trejo	KO	4 (8)	1999-06-12	Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio, California
Win	20-0	Jose Rafael Sosa	UD	8	1999-04-24	Tingley Coliseum, Albuquerque, New Mexico

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

References

External links

• Professional boxing record for Eric Morel from BoxRec