LOS ANGELES — Considering what’s at stake, it’s almost surprising Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao are going to fight such formidable foes tonight in co-feature bouts at Staples Center. Morales, of Tijuana, will take on Zahir Raheem in a 12-round lightweight fight. Pacquiao, of the Philippines, will square off with Hector Velazquez in a 12-round super featherweight bout.
If Morales and Pacquiao win, they will engage each other in another big-money fight, either in December or January. Morales defeated Pacquiao last March via decision in a good fight in Las Vegas.
Raheem and Velazquez could make this rematch difficult to attain. Raheem, a 1996 U.S. Olympian out of Philadelphia, is 26-1 with 16 knockouts. Velazquez, of Tijuana, is 42-10-2 with 31 knockouts and has a very solid opponent’s list.
“There is a lot of concern,” said Morales’ promoter, Bob Arum, of Top Rank Inc. “I mean, Zahir Raheem is a world-class fighter, an ex-Olympian. He has a style that is not very good for Erik.
“And Velazquez is a real tough Mexican fighter, a real banger. So, these are tough, tough fights.”
Why then, Arum was asked, did he make them knowing how much money there is to lose if either Morales or Pacquiao is defeated?
“On the other hand, HBO is paying us considerable money to do these fights,” Arum said. “And they’re entitled to real fights, not just (expletive).”
HBO will televise both fights live beginning at 6:45 p.m. Preliminaries begin at 4:05 p.m. Brian Viloria of Waipahu, Hawaii will challenge Eric Ortiz of Mexico City for his World Boxing Council light flyweight title on the undercard.
Morales (48-2, 34 KOs) is fighting for the first time at lightweight. He has won world titles in the super bantamweight, featherweight and super featherweight divisions. He said he knows Raheem is no pushover, but that he is bent to put on a dazzling show.
“I’m coming in at 135 and I want people to see what I can do at this weight,” Morales said. “I don’t want to lose my speed and quickness. I think I have more strength at this weight.”
Raheem is not stupid. He knows a victory over Morales would do wonders for his career.
“This,” Raheem said, “is the opportunity I have been waiting for my entire life.”
Pacquiao, who is trained by Freddi Roach, said he is definitely not taking Velazquez lightly. He knows that Velazquez has been in with the likes of current champions Robbie Peden and Israel Vazquez as well as former champion Kevin Kelley.
Velazquez was stopped in the ninth round by Peden, but went the distance in losing efforts against Vazquez and Kelley. Also, Velazquez owns a victory over former champion Guty Espadas.
Pacquiao (39-3-2, 31 KOs) was asked recently if it was difficult not to lose focus on Velazquez and look ahead to another fight with Morales.
“It is easy to stay focused because I have a hard opponent, a tough opponent,” Pacquiao said.
Roach has made sure Pacquiao has not underestimated Velazquez.
“We respect him and we know he goes every round with everybody,” Roach said. “Everybody has the rematch with Morales on their minds, but we know there is no rematch without a win over Velazquez.”
Roach said he has been working with Pacquiao on becoming a more complete fighter and not just relying on his powerful left cross. Pacquiao, a southpaw, said he will be using his jab more tonight.
“We have been working more on my right (jab), so we are going to use that this fight,” said Pacquiao, who also has been instructed to throw more body punches.
— Robert Morales can be reached at (626) 962-8811, Ext. 2213, or by e-mail at [email protected].
