The first one was an epic battle of blood and guts between two 122-pound Mexican warriors.

The rematch was a tactical boxing match at 126 pounds which escalated into a brawl and saw hostilities ignited once again between two bitter rivals.

And on Saturday November 27th in Los Angeles, Erik "El Terrible" Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera will complete the trilogy at 130, in a fight that is not only expected to be a candidate for fight of the year, but the third installment of perhaps the greatest Mexican rivalry of all-time.

It is of little importance that Morales' win in their first fight in February 2000 was controversial, as is the fact that Barrera won the rematch in a fight that many thought Morales should have won. This is academic. Neither fighter has proven his dominance over the other, only that they are both willing to throw caution to the wind and engage in brutal warfare with typical Mexican bravado.

This rubber match between the Tijuana native Morales and his arch rival Barrera of Mexico City is about settling scores, pure and simple. But it's also about revenge, redemption, vindication, legacies, and history. Not since the days when Julio Cesar Chavez reigned has Mexico had a definitive national hero. The winner of this fight may well be the next one.

Morales, 47-1 (34), has only one loss on his resume: his June 2002 rematch with Barrera. Since then, he's beaten Paulie Ayala, and at junior lightweight, Guty Espadas Jr., Jesus Chavez, and Carlos Hernandez, taking the latter two's WBC and IBF titles, respectively. There has been speculation that "El Terrible" hasn't carried his power up with him to 130, but against Chavez, an injured right shoulder allowed him to concentrate more on defence and lessened the chance of him opening up and getting knocked out, whereas Hernandez has an iron jaw and has never been down. Morales' only other opponent at junior lightweight, Guty Espadas, was knocked out in the third round.

Barrera, 58-4 (41), recently came back from his devestating knockout loss to Manny Pacquiao to knock out and retire the washed up, smaller Paulie Ayala. It remains to be seen if the "Baby-Faced Assassin" is himself washed up, or if he just had an off night against Pacqiuao, as the Ayayla fight was not challenging enough to be a good indicator of this. This will be Barrera's first fight at 130, and against the most talented opponent he's ever faced.

With Morales, what you see is what you get. He'll box, he'll brawl, he'll overwhelm you with punches, but most importantly he keeps winning, and he does it in exciting, crowd-pleasing fashion, time and time again. With Barrera, what you get isn't always clear, but you can't question his heart. Since turning pro at the age of 13, the 30-year-old has 62 bouts under his belt, and has been in some gruelling wars.

On the other hand, the 27-year-old Morales seems to be getting better with each fight, and his consistency is surpassed only by his determination and work ethic. He will be looking to erase the only blemish on his record by knocking out the man who is responsible for it, and he may well do it. And he may well claim victory to that vacant Mexican throne as well.

Both fighters know what is on the line, and on Saturday night, they'll be bringing more drama to the ring than a Mexican soap opera. Whatever the outcome, one thing is for sure - both fighters will be leaving a piece of themselves in the ring, forever enshrined in boxing history. It will be bitter, bloody, and fierce. And it will be a night to remember.

Let the battle for Mexico begin.

Prediction: Morales W12 by unanimous decision