If the boxing world was fair, Zahir Raheem would lounge in a hotel suite tonight in Las Vegas, relaxing in preparation for a showdown Saturday night against Erik Morales or Manny Pacquiao.
Raheem instead will sit in a Bristol, Conn., studio, where he will serve as a guest color commentator for ESPN2’s first “Friday Night Fights” broadcast of the year.
There, he’ll dissect the Pacquiao-Morales rematch, the pay-per-view event Raheem seemingly sabotaged on Sept. 10 when he completely dominated Morales (48-3, 34 KOs) in what was supposed to be a tune-up for a second fight against Pacquiao (40-3-2, 32 KOs). Raheem was too slick, too quick and too smart for Morales at Staples Center that night, and won on all three scorecards (118-110, 116-112 and 115-113).
Raheem’s reward will be to sit ringside Saturday while the more marketable Morales and Pacquiao, a wildly popular Filipino fighter, make millions for a 12-round World Boxing Council super featherweight elimination match at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas (9 p.m.; HBO Pay-Per-View).
“On the financial side, it’s disappointing,” said Raheem (27-1, 16 KOs), a 1996 Olympian from Philadelphia. “As far as that goes, beating Morales did nothing for my career.”
Raheem made a career-high $225,000 for facing Morales, but figured finally defeating an established star would help him land a seven-figure purse. Before beating the Mexican icon, Raheem hadn’t made more than $80,000 for a single fight in his nine-year career. A lot of boxing observers believed Raheem beat fellow former Olympian Rocky Juarez in that bout, his lone loss, and coupled with his Morales domination, it could make securing a bout against another high-profile fighter difficult.
Morales maintains that he wants to meet Raheem again, that he wasn’t in shape for his first fight at 135 pounds and wants to atone for the embarrassing setback. If the former three-division champion can top Pacquiao again, a Morales-Raheem rematch is intriguing. If Morales loses, he’ll owe Pacquiao an immediate rubber match and Raheem will have to look elsewhere.
The World Boxing Organization has contacted Raheem’s handlers about the third-ranked Las Vegas resident fighting for its unclaimed lightweight title, perhaps against former champ Acelino Freitas (37-1, 32 KOs).
“I don’t know if Freitas would want to take that risk if he can get a fight with Ricky Hatton,” said Raheem, who has hired Floyd Mayweather Sr. as his new trainer. “But I’m hoping he does. Anything’s possible right now. I just want them to show me the money. That’s what it’s about for me at this point. I’ve been in this game for a while and I’ve earned my spot.”
Though Morales didn’t earn his spot in the Pacquiao rematch, Raheem doubts Morales will have much more trouble with the strong southpaw than he did during their first fantastic fight. The iron-chinned Morales won that bout by unanimous decision (115-113 on all three cards). Pacquiao and his trainer, Freddie Roach, said they’ve learned from reviewing videotape of the Raheem-Morales match, but Raheem doesn’t think Pacquiao can replicate his superb performance.
“I don’t see any way that happens,” Raheem said. “The only way Pacquiao pulls that off is if he can think like me. And he can’t do that. That’s what happens when guys rely on their punch their whole careers. If anything, I think Morales will beat him worse than the first time.”
Despite Morales’ demoralizing loss to Raheem, the organizers of the Pacquiao-Morales rematch don’t believe it’ll adversely affect pay-per-view sales this time around. Their first fight drew 340,000 domestic purchases, a very respectable figure since neither fighter is from the United States.
“The first fight was so great that I think the fans know they’re going to get the same fight right back again,” said Wayne’s Gary Shaw, Pacquiao’s promoter. “Obviously, we hope with a different result.”
Reach Keith Idec at (973) 569-7073 or [email protected].
