for the WBC Lightweight title and lost a close unanimous decision at the Allstate Arena. Judges Herminio, Cuevas Collazo and Robert Hecko both scored Round 1, 10–9 Morales, even though Morales knocked down Díaz in that round. Collazo then went on to score Round 2, 10–8 for Diaz, when not only did a knockdown not occur, but the two other judges saw it as a Morales round. The final scores read 114–113 (Collazo), 115–113 (Hecko) and 115–112 (Uratani), all in favor of Díaz. It was Morales' fifth loss in his last six bouts. During the post-fight press conference, Morales announced his retirement from boxing. Comeback In various interviews conducted in 2009, Morales began to state that he would fight again in late 2009 to early 2010, after he gave his body enough time to rest. Morales also stated that he would continue to fight as a lightweight. His first comeback fight was then set for México in early 2010, against ranked Nicaraguan welterweight contender José Alfaro. Light welterweight Morales vs. Maidana On April 9, 2011, the MGM Grand Garden Arena hosted HBO Pay Per View's "Action Heroes." The main event featured Erik Morales fighting against Marcos Rene Maidana. Many boxing pundits felt that an aging Morales, fighting a couple of divisions above his best weight, stood little chance against the hard hitting Maidana. However, Morales turned back the clock and gave his best performance since beating Pacquiao. The opening bell saw Maidana jump on the older Morales. Morales' eye was badly swollen in the first round by a series of hard shots, especially a devastating uppercut, and it looked like the rout was on. However, Morales held his own through the next few rounds before rallying in the 8th–10th rounds. Although Maidana was using combos to hurt "El Terrible," Morales started turning the tide mid-fight, throwing very heavy counter-punches and almost knocking Maidana down. However, just when the fight seemed within Morales' grasp, Maidana took over by throwing combos, giving him the final rounds of the fight. Morales put up a valiant effort, performed better than anyone thought possible, won the crowd over and gave the boxing public another "Fight of the Year" candidate. However, it just wasn't enough. In the end, Maidana's youth and Morales' age and mileage were just too much to overcome, and Maidana eked out a majority decision victory with scores of 114–114 and 116–112 twice.