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Erik Morales prepared for what could been his last crusade as he faced David Diaz for Diaz version of
the lightweight title. Most pundits and boxing observer viewed Diaz the weakest of the lightweight title
holders but Diaz has always fought at the lightweight and super lightweight division and Morales was
moving up only for the second time to the lightweight division. The last time he fought at this weight,
Zahir Raheem easily outpointed him. Diaz was a different fighter than Raheem, a fighter who depended
upon brawn as oppose to boxing skills. Diaz strategy was simple; beat Morales to a pulp and force the
old warrior to fight every minute. Take no prisoners and no quarters.
For Morales, the stake was high as it was for Bob Arum, his promoter. Arum has always featured
Hispanic fighters as integral to his stable and Morales was his crown jewel along with the young Julio
Cesar Chavez, Jr. For Morales to continue his career, he needed to beat Diaz. Lose and his career as
a championship contender was over.
Arum featured on this card, both Morales and Chavez. One represented past glory and the other future.
And Arum picked the right town to produce this card. Chicago is one of the most racially diverse cities
and has one of the largest Hispanic communities. With over million Mexican-Americans and over a half-
million Puerto Ricans, there was a natural base for Arum to sell a card that featured much local Chicago
talent as well as predominately Mexican fight card.
For years, there has been a revival of Chicago boxing led by 8 Count productions, the brain child of
Dominic Pesoli. Pesoli has built a solid promotional company that regularly produces solid cards and
now has some solid prospects; some featured on the undercard. For the past several years, Pesoli
worked closely with both Golden Boy Productions and Top Rank to bring nationally top cards to the
Chicago and taking advantages of the Chicago location in the middle of the country and rabid boxing
fans.
Two Middleweight prospects, Michael Walker and Donavan George showed their own wares. George
personally told Arum that he was going to put on a show and knock his opponent out in style. He did
just that as he nailed Shay Mobley, another local Chicago fighter in just three rounds. George came out
smoking and ended the show in a spectacular knock out. Not be outdone, Walker nailed Dante Clark
with a perfect left hook that sent the Cincinnati native down for the count. Both fighters are still
undefeated and in the case of George, he has not escaped the notice of Bob Arum. This could only
mean more exposures for George and for Chicago boxing.
The All-State Arena featured 10,000 fans, many of whom carried Mexican flags as they celebrated their
own cultures. When Ulises Solis came into the ring to fight Rodel Mayol for the IBF light flyweight title,
the crowd noise was deafening. Both fighters brought in their respective country banners, Mayol the
Philippines flag and Solis, the Mexican flag. Solis outboxed Mayol in the early rounds, but in the sixth
round Mayol garnered momentum as he nailed Solis with solid shots and even shaking the Mexican
fighter. Mayol continued to dominate in the seventh round and when the eight round began, Solis held
the slight edge on the score card but Mayol had the momentum. Mayol pursued Solis and after nailing
him with a series of combinations, Mayol went for the kill. As the Philippine fighter moved forward, Solis
saw a quick opening between Mayol guard and threw the perfect right that nailed Mayol right on the
chin. Mayol went down and after nearly 10 seconds of stumbling on the ground, Mayol made one last
effort to beat the count. He failed. And Solis defended his IBF title.
Julio Chavez is the son of a legend, a Mexican legend. His father was the famous Julio Cesar Chavez
and the Chavez legend is the mark that all young Mexican fighters are now judged. Chavez featured a
devastating left hook that sapped the strength out of his opponent and eventually weakened him for the
final assault. His son looks like a carbon copy of his father but there are differences as well. Chavez,
Jr. is bigger than his father and at 6 feet; he is tall for a welterweight and super welterweight. The
young Mexican fighter often gives up his height as he concentrates on body shots just like his dad.
Fighting against Louis Brown, he repeatedly ripped left hooks to Brown’s body in their fight. These
hooks set up his other arsenal which included a sharp looking up cuts and short but accurate right
hands. Brown occasionally countered with right hands over the left hooks but eventually the hooks
digging to the right side of Brown body sapped Brown’s strength.
Brown survived a knockdown in the fourth but trapped in the corner by a barrage of Chavez power
shots in the fifth caused the referee to stop the fight. Chavez was originally scheduled to fight Arturo
Gatti but the Gatti lost eliminated that fight but now Chavez next bout will be against former contender
fighter Alfonso Gomez, who sent Gatti into retirement. Gomez will represent a move up for Chavez and
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum is thinking that this bout happens in January or maybe in December. In
the meantime, Chavez will be matched with a tune up to keep him in the ring. Chavez represents the
future for Top Rank but Morales was part of its glorious past.
Erik Morales looked liked a fighter more relieved than irritated or mad that he lost to David Diaz. This
was a close fight that could have easily have gone either way. Just look at the official scoring. Two of
the three judges had the first round a 10-9 round even though Morales nailed Diaz with a right that sent
Diaz sprawling to the canvas. Diaz won the first two minutes and 30 seconds of the round but most
judges will give a fighter a 10-8 when he scores a knockdown. On this night, only one of three judges
scored it a 10-8. One judge gave Diaz a 10-8 round advantage in the second round despite a referee
scoring a Morales fall to the canvas as a slip. What if the one judge scored the second round a 10-9 as
oppose to a 10-8 or what if all three judges scored the first round a 10-8? The decision would have
been a draw and Diaz would still have kept his title. Regardless, Morales fail to defeat what most
observers consider the weakest of the lightweight champions and Morales knew that his career as a
championship contender over.
Morales have been one of Mexico great fighters and his career has Hall of Fame written all over. The
problem for Morales is that now, he can no longer comfortably fight at junior lightweight or featherweight
and he does not have the power or quickness to fight the best lightweights. Diaz simply outmuscled
Morales throughout the fight. Diaz did not use boxing tactics or skills; he simply kept pressuring
Morales throughout the fight and wore Morales down. Morales held the advantages over the early
rounds but Diaz natural strength took precedence in the latter rounds.
The last round showed the difference between the two fighters. Diaz, with his right eye swollen shut,
came out with grittiness and determination. He started to throw punches from all angles and never
stopped throughout the round. Diaz forced Morales to the rope repeatedly and his power punches
nailed Morales to the body or to the head. Morales had nothing much left as the round wore on. The
old warrior had nothing left to give and it was as if hundreds of rounds fighting tough wars against some
of the best fighters of his generation took their toll. Morales no longer had the strength to fight Diaz off
and Diaz simply moved through Morales as Morales’s punches no longer had the steam. There was a
time that Morales was considered one of boxing more feared puncher but now in the twelfth round,
those punches could no longer hold off the waves of punches coming in his direction. His ability to
escape was no longer and now he became a punching bag for the last three minutes of his fight.
After the fight, Morales accepted the reality as he told the media that they saw the last of Morales in the
ring. There are times in which every fighter faces this moment and Morales looked in the mirror and
saw a fighter that could no longer be a championship fighter. He lost five of his last six fighters and yes,
he lost a close fight to Diaz but he still lost. Morales can no longer compete with the best of the
lightweights and no longer has the desire to fight at lower weights where he made history. Despite the
occasional protest from his team, Morales’ face said it all. It was a face that said, “I left all in the ring
and there is nothing less to give.” Morales fought a tough fight against a good fighter but it was no
longer enough. Morales walked away.
For Bob Arum, he stated in a the post fight interviews that he is looking to return to the Midwest to look
for talent and augment his Hispanic stable. His next big star could be hard slugging Kelly Pavlik, who
challenges Jermaine Taylor for the true Middleweight championship. Arum is counting on Pavlik not just
upset Taylor but become a star in his own right and is part of this Top Rank strategy of augmentation.
If Pavlik pulls off the upset and Chavez fulfills his potential; Arum will be armed with two attractive PPV
stars. One a Midwest slugging Middleweight and the other a son of a legend. As for Morales, his days
have long passed but the memories of his great battles with Barrera and Pacquiao still stir boxing fans.
Morales were part of a generation of great Mexican featherweights who thrilled an entire generation of
boxing fans for the past decade. Morales place in boxing history is set as one of boxing’s and Mexico
great warriors.
Links to other recent pieces
http://boxinginlasvegas.com/donelson_on_johnson.htm
http://boxinginlasvegas.com/donelson_on_holyfield.htm