The first round began with Barrera throwing combinations, leading with his trademark left hook to the body. Morales's lanky, tall frame providing a perfect target against which to test Marco's attack. Barrera is fierce, while Morales stands his ground, throwing back punishing combos, using his killer right hand to punctuate them. After the referee cautions Morales on a seemingly low blow towards the end of the round, Barrera refuses to touch gloves to Morales's apology. Round two begins at a slightly slower pace, but soon picks it up. The combos start flowing from Barrera, while Morales deems it wise to counter Marco's violent onslaught by being even more violent himself. A particularly impressive combo from Barrera starts with the jab, followed by the right hand cross, and then the left hand uppercut that pushes upwards and backwards Morales's head. Barrera won rounds one and two clearly, since Morales is still struggling to match his opponent's level of intensity. Great counterpunching by Barrera in round three; when Morales plunges in, he gets caught with Barrera's left hook to the body, which stops him temporarily in his tracks. However, when "El Terrible" reacts, he comes back even fiercer, throwing three punch combinations to the head, taking a step to the side, and doing it again. All the while Barrera keeps his defense up and then goes on the attack himself. In round four, Morales lands a huge right hand on Barrera, and then falls victim to his own over-enthusiasm, as he loses balance while trying to land heavy shots, and hits the floor on a slip. Barrera quickly recovers. There's a sense that Barrera's experience is carrying him through, while Morales is still trying to adapt to being on such a big stage with such a highly skilled enemy in the ring. As they trade ripping shots after three minutes, round four goes to Morales. And then, there was round five.
