Thick real quick: when was the last time you watched Erik Morales in a bad fight? Think. When was the last time you saw Morales in a fight that didn't feature several intense toe-to-toe exchanges? Think real hard. When was the last time you saw Morales in a fight in which he didn't give everything out there in the ring?

OK, time's up. The answer is never. Morales has never held anything back in a fight and his fans love him for it. He may, in fact, be more popular in Mexico than his hated rival Marco Antonio Barrera, who Morales thinks is a fake. There's nothing fake about Morales. What you see is what you get. So despite possessing a rangy 5-foot-8 frame that includes a 72-inch reach as well as the brains and ability to box most fighters ears off, he's all warrior once he steps in the ring. Morales always comes to fight. Guaranteed.

And that's why over the past five years since he's won his first world title, (making 10 defenses of the WBC 122-pound and featherweight titles), Morales ‹ who takes on The Ring's junior featherweight champion Paulie Ayala this Saturday on HBO Pay-Per-View ‹ has become a viable draw in boxing.

"He has the quality to sell both tickets and pay-per-view buys," Tony Walker of HBO Pay-Per-View said of Morales at a Tuesday press conference in Los Angeles.

That's why this Saturday's fight will take place at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. It's also why Miller Lite decided to sponsor it. The seating in the Mandalay Bay's Events Center has been set for 8,000, and according to Bob Arum, promoter of Morales and Saturday's fight, around 6,000 tickets have been sold so far. The remaining 2,000 should go quick as seats are priced between $50 and $300.

The Mandalay Bay was the site for the classic first fight between Morales and Barrera (The Ring's Fight of the Year for 2000) as well as Ayala's title-winning effort versus Johnny Tapia (The Ring's fight of the Year for 1999), so Arum is not out of line when makes some bold predictions on Saturday's showdown.

"I guarantee that this fight between Erik Morales and Paulie Ayala will either be the fight of the year or one of the top contenders for fight of the year," Arum said at the press conference, which took place at the Rumba Room atop Universal Studio's City Walk. "These guys come to fight and there will be punches galore."

Morales had pretty much the same thing to say.

"Once again I am ready to satisfy the public," he gaunt-looking warrior said. "November 16th will be a great, great fight. I had a great camp, so I know that I am ready to throw non-stop punches for 12 rounds if need be.

"This is a fight where I intend to prove that I am the real featherweight champ against a very difficult fighter."

By the way, the vacant WBC feather title is up for grabs in this fight. Not that it matters. Like his countryman Barrera, Morales is on his way to rising above alphabet titles and being recognized as a pay-per-view star.

His last fight with Barrera drew more than 300,000 pay-per-view buys. His fight with In-Jin Chi, which was the co-featured bout to the Roy Jones-Julio Gonzalez light heavyweight title fight (as well as the best bout on the card) helped to nearly sell out L.A.'s 20,000-seat Staples Center and attract more than 200,000 pay-per-view buys.

But if you think those are the only pay-per-view cards Morales has been a part of, think again.

In May and June of 1999, Morales headlined two small pay-per-view shows against Juan "Rancho" Ramirez and Reynante Jamili, and both contenders put up brave fights before they were eventually broken down by the relentless attack of "El Terrible". Both bouts were good action fights.

And before headlining his own shows, Morales was putting on good scraps as part of bigger pay-per-view events, starting with the first Julio Cesar Chavez-Oscar De La Hoya fight in '96. Morales, then the number-one contender for the WBC title, took on number-two contender and former titlist Hector Acero-Sanchez. Morales, only 20 at the time, soundly out-pointed the more-experienced boxer in defense of his NABF title.

"That fight was not an elimination bout," Morales' Mexican promoter Fernando Beltran said proudly. "He didn't have to fight that guy and risk his ranking, but that's the kind of fighter Erik is."

Four months later, Morales was on the Chavez-Joey Gamache pay-per-view card in Anaheim, California where he starched Pedro Torres in two rounds.

Fast forward to February of '99, Morales blitzed Angel Chacon in two rounds, knocking the Puerto Rican contender out of the ring. This is the same Angel Chacon who recently beat contender John Michael Johnson on ESPN.

The De La Hoya and Chavez pay-per-view shows were, of course, very successful. But Morales did do too bad by himself.

Those two shows he headlined in '99, which went for the suggested price of $29.95, appealed to only hard-core boxing junkies and loyal Mexican fans, but both still pulled in just under 100,000 pay-per-view buys according to Top Rank's vice president Todd duBoef.

Pay-per-view was not the way Top Rank wanted to go so soon after Morales won the 122-pound title. It was a direction born out of necessity, explained duBoef.

"Erik never had the support of the networks, back then, even though he did sensational ratings when he was on," duBoef said. "HBO had him on when he won his first world title against [Daniel] Zaragoza, and they brought him back for Junior Jones. But they didn't want him in '99.

"I think they were in the [Naseem] Hamed business back then."

Even if that was true then, the cable network sure isn't any more. But HBO's sports executives do have their eyes on the talent-laden featherweight division, realizing the endless matchups that can be made with fighters like Morales, Ayala, Barrera, Tapia, Manny Pacquiao, Manuel Medina, Juan Manuel Marquez, Derrick Gainer and Bones Adams, who will fight former WBC titlist Guty Espadas Jr. in the co-feature of Saturday's show.

Morales will guarantee that his fight with Ayala will be barnburner, but he will not guarantee a third fight with Barrera or any showdowns with any of the other 126-pound stars. It's not because he doesn't think he can beat each and every one of them (he's pretty confident of that), it's because he's not sure if he wants to stay at 126 pounds.

The lanky, hawk-faced champion said he struggled for years to make the junior featherweight division's 122-pound limit (remember, he was the WBC's number-one contender for one and a half years before he got his title shot, and then he made nine defenses of his belt). The stress he put his body under for so long may have shortened his stay at 126, where he probably should have been fighting at back in '98 and '99.

Morales assured his fans (and those who may be betting on him ‹ Las Vegas odds makers have made him a 7-2 favorite to beat Ayala) that he did not struggle or weaken himself to get down to 126 pounds for this fight, but added that he will strongly consider moving up to 130 pounds after Saturday's fight.

Targets at junior lightweight include former title challenger Jesus Chavez (who may fight for the WBA title in February) and the former holder of that alphabet belt Joel Casamayor.

But Morales won't discuss fighting anyone other than Ayala. He's been around long enough to know that he's got a tall order ahead of him despite the short stature of his opponent.

Beltran points out that Morales has defeated five other southpaws, including former champs Zaragoza and Kevin Kelley as well as good contender in Chacon, all of whom were stopped. However, it should be pointed out that Ayala's fighting style is very different from the styles of those men. It should also be pointed out that the styles of both Morales and Ayala are similar in that both men are aggressive and neither ever backs down (hence the name of the show "Never Surrender", as if that needed to be said).

That's why win, lose or draw, Erik Morales will give the fans in attendance and those who purchase the pay-per-view broadcast a good show. Guaranteed.