Eric Morel

Eric Morel (born October 1, 1975) 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

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 Víctor 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 Martín 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 Peñalosa February 13, 2010; That ended in a win for Eric Morel, lifting the interim WBO bantamweight world championship. He then defeated Juan Jose Beltran December 11, 2010 as a 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.

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.