ONE MORE IN THE CHAMBER: FIVE OLD CHAMPIONS WHO PROVED YOU JUST NEVER KNOW

by William Dettloff

The most commonly held view going into the rubber match between Manny Pacquiao and Erik Morales, which will air on November 18 on HBO PPV, is that Morales is damaged goods. It's not just that Pacquiao stopped him in their second fight, last January - the only stoppage loss of Morales' career - because there's no shame in getting stopped by a whirlwind like Pacquiao.

It's also that Morales has one win in his last four fights and it doesn't even matter to most that the lone win came at Pacquiao's expense in their first meeting. Indeed, that is little comfort to Morales' supporters, who, like many in the business, suspect that all the hard fights and hard camps have worn down "El Terrible. " That although he's a mere 30 years old, he's an old 30 and ready to be put out to pasture.

That belief may or may not be accurate but even if you subscribe to it, know that all hope is not lost. Throughout history, great prizefighters - and clearly Morales qualifies - who are near the end have frequently pulled off one last great performance against the odds. Just when we think they are ready to fall over the edge, they summon the old reflexes and the old punch and squeeze one more great act out of their tired limbs.

There was no reason to think that Bob Fitzsimmons, for example, had anything left, when, at 40 years old, he signed to fight young George Gardner for the light heavyweight world title. It had been 12 years since Fitzsimmons had won the middleweight crown by beating Jack Dempsey (Nonpareil) in 1891 and six since he'd won the heavyweight title with his famous solar plexus knockout of Jim Corbett. Two knockout losses to heavyweight champion Jim Jeffries had effectively finished him as a top-flight fighter, or so it was thought. But "Ruby Robert" had one more big win left in him.

Spotting Gardner 16 years, Fitzsimmons fought smartly, conserving his energy whenever necessary. Punching in spurts, he still managed to outfight Gardner over the 20-round distance, knocking him down four times and winning his third world title. He lost the belt in his first defense and never won another big fight even though he fought on another 10 years.

Roberto Duran never won the light heavyweight title, but he did claim the middleweight belt in his last great moment at the top of the game. By the start of 1984, most thought his career was in free fall. Though he'd given middleweight king Marvin Hagler a tougher-than expected fight the year before, he'd been nearly decapitated by Thomas Hearns in his next bout, took off a full year, then was decisioned by Robbie Sims, Hagler's brother and a mostly pedestrian 160-pounder.

Duran put together a modest winning streak against journeymen when he got a shot at WBC middleweight king Iran Barkley. Duran was 37 years old, 20 pounds over his best fighting weight and a clear underdog. Nevertheless, he put on a superb display in The Ring magazine's Fight of the Year and took the title with a thrilling split decision win. "It was his heart," Barkley said afterward. "It just wouldn't go." It was the last great performance of Duran's career. Losses to Sugar Ray Leonard and Pat Lawlor followed and Duran never won another big fight, though he fought for 12 more years.

Though he was a 2-1 favorite, many people thought Muhammad Ali would again be out-hustled and outfought by upstart Leon Spinks in their rematch in New Orleans in 1978. Ali was dreadful while losing the title in their first match, looking every bit his 36 years as Spinks, a novice with only seven pro fights, out-punched him at every turn. Many wanted Ali to retire afterward and much of the money that came in for him was bet with the heart rather than the head.

Ali knew he had one more great win left in him if he got in shape, so he did just that. And in front of 70,000 fans at the Superdome, he turned back the clock far enough to whip an under-prepared and frustrated Spinks outright and claim the heavyweight title for the third time. "To out-move, out-maneuver, out-stamina a young man of 25, just seven months after he beat me and they all said I was finished, too old, this is satisfying," Ali said. It was his last night of magic. Ali's subsequent showings against Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick were nightmares.

By 1958, Sugar Ray Robinson was 36 years old, had won and lost the middleweight title four times and in his last fight had been dethroned by the human buzz saw, Carmen Basilio. He'd been a pro 18 years already, been in with Jake LaMotta five times, Gene Fullmer twice, not to mention Joey Maxim, Bobo Olson, and all the other great welterweights and middleweights of the last couple decades. You couldn't blame him for being tired, for knowing he was near the end even if he didn't want to believe it.

You couldn't blame either the fans who thought Basilio, a hardened but spry 30 years old himself, would outfight and out-gut the old dancing genius like he'd done the first time. He had the right style to do it, the fortitude, and he hated Robinson's guts. That was good fuel. But it didn't come together. Robinson had just enough of the old stuff left to swell up Basilio's left eye like a turnip and it gave him the edge he needed to outbox Basilio over the distance and win the middleweight title for the fifth time. He lost the title to Paul Pender afterward and never won another title bout.

The 1992 version of Larry Holmes was light years removed from the one who had ruled the heavyweights throughout the '80s. Six years had passed since Michael Spinks had dethroned him. Mike Tyson destroyed him in '88. There was every reason to believe Ray Mercer, the crude but undefeated puncher who had just decimated Tommy Morrison, would walk right through him on his way to a title shot. But Holmes, at 42 years old, had one great night left in him.

Call it a poor man's Rope-a-Dope. Throughout their 12-round fight in Atlantic City, Holmes lay on the ropes and in corners and allowed Mercer to flail away at him. Still all arms and elbows, Holmes blocked most of what Mercer had to offer and repeatedly stung him with straight right-hand counters. At the end of 12 rounds he walked away with a clear decision win, and performed well enough against champion Evander Holyfield in his next fight. But he never fought again as well as he had against Mercer. It was his last very good win in a fight he had no business winning.

Whether Morales is as far past his best as some of these fighters were remains to be seen. Even if he is, he still may have one left in the chamber for Pacquiao. You just never know.