Erik Morales had to know that question was going to be asked Tuesday at a news conference in Beverly Hills formally announcing his rematch with Manny Pacquiao: What happened against Zahir Raheem on Sept. 10 at Staples Center in Los Angeles?
Morales was expected to dominate Raheem as sort of a tune-up bout for Pacquiao, with whom he will again square off Jan. 21 at Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. Pacquiao, who lost a close decision to Morales last March 19 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas, did his job in the semi-main event, stopping Hector Velazquez in the sixth round.
But Morales, in the main event, couldn’t make heads nor tails of Raheem, who defeated Morales by scores of 118-110, 116-112 and 115-113. To say the pro-Morales crowd at Staples was stunned would be an understatement. Especially since most fans, and reporters, figured the rematch with Pacquiao would then be scrubbed. After all, it was to take place on the condition both fighters won that night.
Then again, this is boxing, and promoters can often do as they please. In the words of Morales’ promoter, Bob Arum, after the loss to Raheem, the rematch with Pacquiao would be even more appealing because the Filipino faithful would now be more confident in their man Pacquiao, creating an even bigger buzz than the enormously popular Pacquiao already creates.
Still, how does a fighter like Morales get nearly dominated by Raheem, a solid yet unspectacular fighter?ep
“If I had to pinpoint something that happened in that fight, I would have to say his style,” Morales said of Raheem. “I think that it was totally unexpected. I thought he was going to give me a fight. I never thought he was going to be that kind of a fighter. But no excuses. The guy was a tough fight.”
That seemed to be the theme. Morales did not want to make excuses for such a poor showing. But at one point, he appeared to do just that.
“All he (Raheem) did is just make me realize that I have to work harder to be ready for fights,” Morales said. “Obviously, I didn’t look too good, so now I have to really work hard. I just have to show up and do my work. In boxing, you know there are going to be bad nights.
“Once in a while you are going to go in with a guy who moves a lot, doesn’t really offer you anything. You have to be up there, really thinking what you want to do and I think that is just what happend that night. Just a lot of movement, a lot going on that I wasn’t expecting.”
The rematch with Pacquiao is a World Boxing Council super featherweight title elimination fight. Morales is ranked No. 1, Pacquiao is No. 2. The winner would be the mandatory challenger to champion Marco Antonio Barrera, who is familiar with both Morales and Pacquiao.
Barrera is 2-1 in fights with Morales, but Barrera was stopped in the 11th round by Pacquiao in November 2003.
Speaking of all that, Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, ticked off Morales with his comments while on the dais Tuesday. It’s well-known that Pacquiao was not too thrilled with not being able to use a certain brand of gloves considered puncher’s gloves in his first fight with Morales. Pacquiao also was apparently not entirely focused on Morales because of an ongoing legal battle with his promoter at the time, Murad Muhammad.
Roach added a new twist Tuesday.
“Last fight was a very good fight,” Roach said. “Erik was the better man that night. I think myself and Manny, we both made a mistake last time; we took Erik a little bit lightly. We thought that he lost to Barrera and Manny knocked Barrera out.
“We thought he was all done, just going for his last payday. We made a mistake. We took him lightly, so we won’t do it again.”
That did not go over well with Morales, who went on to admonish everyone on Pacquiao’s side of the dais.
“Let me tell you one thing, I never, never ever have been in a ring for money; never,” Morales said. “I don’t know how they could think in the first fight I was going for a payday. After I lost, we have been asking for bigger fights and bigger opponents, more risky opponents and more dangerous and difficult fights.
“I would like to tell the other camp to, win or lose, go into the ring and fight. Don’t say that, ‘In the first fight, this happened to me. I was confident and I took you lightly.’ Don’t say anything like that. Just go into the ring and fight. And if you lose, lose like a man.”
Later, during one-on-one interviews, Morales still was flabbergasted that Roach and Pacquiao could even be thinking like that. He pointed out that after all three of his losses, he has set up more tough fights.
After his first loss to Barrera, Morales fought and defeated Paulie Ayala. After his second loss to Barrera, Morales fought and defeated Pacquiao. After his third loss, to Raheem, it’s another fight with Pacquiao.
“That shows what I’m about,” Morales said. “I have been very respectful of everybody’s career and what they’ve done. When they bring up something like that against me, I don’t see it. Where do they see that? I think they should respect my carrer and what I have done in the ring.”
Morales, 29, is from Tijuana. He is 48-3 with 34 knockouts. He has won world titles in the super bantamweight, featherweight and super featherweight divisions. He promised Tuesday that 2006 was going to be a big year for him, and that there would be something special in store for Mexico.
He wouldn’t elaborate, but we can only hope that means a fourth fight with countryman Barrera, who is from Mexico City. But if Morales does get by Pacquiao again, we could see him in a rematch with Raheem before mixing it up with Barrera a fourth time.
“Everyone thought I was going to beat that guy, that it was going to be an easy fight and everyone kind of looks at me now and says, ‘How can you lose to that guy?’ ” Morales said. “So, obviously, that’s what I want to do. I want to get back the respect. I want to get back the credibility. I want people to think that I am who I was before.”
Pacquiao, of the Philippines, is 40-3-2 with 31 knockouts. He has won world titles in the flyweight and super bantamweight divisions.
HBO pay-per-view will televise the card for $44.95. Tickets go on sale today. Arum, who is co-promoting along with Gary Shaw, said the undercard would be announced in about a week.
Pacquiao has been installed as an early 7 to 5 favorite.
