Bob Arum, who promoted Saturday’s card at Staples Center, said going in that he was concerned about the difficult opponents Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao were going to face. If both were to win, they would meet in a rematch of their fight last March 19 won by Morales via decision. If one or both were to lose, there would likely be no rematch and a lot of money would be lost by all parties. Arum had reason to worry. Pacquiao, of the Philippines, struggled the first two rounds against a tough fighter in Hector Velazquez, but Pacquiao (40-3-2, 31 KOs) eventually stopped Velazquez (42-11-2) with a barrage of punches at the end of the sixth round of their super featherweight fight.
Morales, however, was defeated by Zahir Raheem via a unanimous 12-round decision before 10,584, and that rematch bubble appeared to have burst.
Raheem won by scores of 118-110, 116-112 and 115-113. It was Morales’ first fight at lightweight.
But wait. Not only is the rematch between Morales and Pacquiao still going to happen, Arum afterward acted like he was not concerned in the least that it had just lost some of its shine.
“Not only do I think that it did not lose some of its luster, now the Filipino fans are going to be betting a lot more money on Pacquiao because they are going to be more confident,” Arum said.
That said, the second fight between Morales and Pacquiao will be Jan. 21 at a Las Vegas site to be determined.
Morales (48-3), who has won world titles in three weight classes, will move back down to super featherweight for Pacquiao.
“Raheem is a difficult fighter,” said Morales, who appeared sluggish much of the fight. “Raheem never really wanted to fight. He threw punches and moved away and I had a difficult time catching up to him.
“I thought I did enough to win.”
Raheem (27-1), who at times looked like a right-handed version of Pernell Whitaker, certainly felt like he won it.
“I beat a legend tonight,” Raheem, of Philadelphia, said. “I’ve always believed in myself. I have just always needed an opportunity like this.”
Brian Viloria, in the only major title fight of the evening, scored a spectacular first-round knockout of Eric Ortiz to win the World Boxing Council light flyweight championship.
