BEVERLY HILLS, CA.- Tijuana’s Erik Morales (48-2, 34KO’s), and Zahir Raheem (26-1, 16KO’s) of Tulsa, Oklahoma, met Wednesday at The Beverly Hills Hotel to announce their scheduled fight, which will take place September 10 at STAPLES Center in Downtown Los Angeles.
Morales is coming off arguably the biggest victory of his career, when he won a unanimous decision over Manny Pacquiao in March.
Olympic Bronze Medallist Zahir Raheem, is coming off a sixth round stoppage over Jose Quintana, of Puerto Rico in Febuary. Prior to that victory, Raheem suffered a setback when he loss a unanimous decision to 2000 Olympian Ricardo “Rocky” Juarez in August of 2004. But clearly, a victory over a fighter of Morales’ stature would elevate Raheem to Star-Status, something he has been lacking since capturing the Bronze Medal at the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta.
The co-main event will feature Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao (39-3-2, 31KO’s) taking on Hector Velasquez (42-10-2, 31KO’s), also of Tijuana. With a victory over Velasquez – and assuming Morales gets past Raheem – Pacquiao will get a second chance at Erik Morales, possibly in December.
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Also to be featured on the card will be 2000 US Olympian, Brian Viloria (17-0, 11KO’s), as he challenges Eric Ortiz (24-4-1, 16KO’s), for the WBC Light Flyweight title.
