Photo: Chris Farina/Top Rank

With 36 hours to go before colliding with Carlos "Famoso" Hernandez, three-time world champion Erik Morales of Tijuana revealed to Fightnews.com who have given him his three toughest fights. Morales, 46-1 with 34 KOs and unwinding following the Thursday press conference at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, selected

#1 - DANIEL ZARAGOZA, KO 11, EL PASO, TX., 9-6-97
"In my first world title fight, I took on a champion who had far more ring experience than myself. He was a great champion, fought hard, hit hard and I was thrilled to defeat him and win the WBC title."

#2 - WAYNE MCCULLOUGH, W 12, DETROIT, 10-22-99
"It was a physically demanding fight. McCullough took a lot of hard punches and gave it right back. He was very tough that night and I really felt it. I've always thought of this as one of my greatest wins."

#3 - MARCO ANTONIO BARRERA, W 12 (S), LAS VEGAS, 2-19-00
"This was our first fight and I had serious problems making the weight limit of 122 pounds. I was exhausted going in but never let Barrera know it. It was one of my proudest moments in the ring, defeating him considering the circumstances. It was a tough fight because of the weight and afterwards I went straight to the featherweight division."