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Friday, August 19, 2005
Quickness of Erik’s opponent is main concern
If there is one thing Erik Morales is wary of about Zahir Raheem, it’s the quickness factor.
Morales, the Mexican ring legend set to fight Raheem in a blockbuster card, recently told saddoboxing.com that he expects his Philadelphian foe “to be real quick in the ring on Sept. 10, so I’m preparing to deal with it.”
“If I can, I will take him out. If not, I’m prepared to go 12 rounds,” said Morales, 28, who is now on his third week of training at the Centro Ceremonial Otomi, which sits high up in the Otomi mountains, north of Mexico City.
Major fights
Morales, who first underwent training in the facility in 1995 while preparing for Enrique Jupiter, now makes it a point to train in the high-altitude site for every major fight he takes.
The Morales-Raheem showdown will take place at LA’s Staples Center, co-headlining Top Rank Boxing’s “Double Trouble” card along with the Manny Pacquiao-Hector Velazquez duel. The colossal affair, many boxing writers say, is another pay-per-view spectacle.
Raheem has a record of 26-1, losing only in a controversial fight against Rocky Juarez in Houston, Texas over a year ago. He is rated No.6 in the World Boxing Council pecking order, seventh in the World Boxing Organization and 10th in the World Boxing Association.
One loss
“Raheem has fast moves in the ring and he only has one professional loss, that’s why I’m working so hard,” said Morales, who is speculated to take on Pacquio after the fight. “We are looking to spar maybe 150 rounds because I need to get into the right kind of condition. We’re working on the mitts every day, which is good for quickness.
“The bottom line is that I have to be prepared to go 12 rounds,” said Morales, who has said that he plans to stay at the Otomi through Sept. 7 before flying to Los Angeles in his private jet. (GCM)
(August 19, 2005 issue)
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