By Johnny Ortiz

This Saturday night at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, HBO PPV will feature three outstanding fights. One thing is for certain, you can make certian that Marco Antonio will not be caught off guard, as was Erik Morales in his fight against Zahir Raheem at the Staples Center in Los Angeles this past Saturday.

With the exception of the Pacquiao fight, a fight that he was ill prepared due to mitigating circumstances, Marco has always trained methodically for a fight regardless how notorious or not the opponent.

Marco, the reigning WBC Super Featherweight Champion, will be facing a very formidable foe in Robbie "Bomber" Peden, the IBF champion. Marco, a consummate pro, is a hard man to beat when the motivation and the hard work come together. The unification fight will be a good one, I know both of the young men well, they are both a credit to the game, Robbie may not be as well known as Marco, but let me tell you, he will enter the ring prepared to win or be carried out on his shield.

It took him a while to become champion, he will do his best to try and keep his title. Marco Antonio, a huge 7-1 betting favorite, will emerge victorious, Peden hasn’t been in with the horses Marco has faced, the only one he has faced who might very well be Barrera’s equal, featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez, stopped Robbie by way of a TKO in the 10th round on March 9, 2002. After eating Juan Manuel’s body shots throughout the fight, Robbie began vomiting between rounds. His corner stopped the fight. Robbie has won five straight since the loss, four by KO.

Robbie and Marco Antonio are no strangers to one another; they have sparred close to 60 rounds earlier in their careers. It was Robbie who in 2001 was the chief sparring partner for The Baby-Faced Assassin when he was preparing for his monumental bout against the undefeated, talk of the town, Naseem Hamad.

One thing Robbie has going for him is his exceptional trainer, Roger Bloodworth. Roger is one of the best in the business, he nurtured and brought along Jeff Lacy before and after he turned pro. There is an old saying in boxing, "you make them, and then they take them." I really do not know why Jeff left Roger, I haven’t talked to my old friend for quite a while now, but I do know that Roger loved that kid like he was his own. These types of things do not surprise me; I’ve seen it all too many times before.

Roger has trained Robbie for as long as I can remember. He will have his charge ready the night of the fight and for the fight of his life, but the fact remains, Marco Antonio Barrera is just too good of a fighter to lose a fight in which he is so heavily favored. There are a lot of big fights out there for Marco; he has said he wants to fight for a couple of more years and then hang them up. He has been a great champion and a great competitor, he, Erik and Juan Manuel are three of the best fighters to ever come out of Mexico, we have been privileged to have them all fighting at the same time.

One person predicting a Peden win is Robbie’s promoter Dan Goossen. At a recent press conference, Dan was quoted as saying: "I believe anyone who has smart money will put a ton of it on Robbie Peden because I believe not only is he going to win, I feel he is going to stop Marco Antonio Barrera. That’s the type of shape he’s in." Marco Antonio was quick to reply to Dan’s predication by saying: "Dan Goossen will not be stepping in the ring. The one stepping in the ring is Robbie Peden." One other thing that is certain, if the name Marco Antonio Berrera is penciled in on your fight program… you are in for a treat.

Another young man who has given us thrill upon thrill, "Sugar" Shane Mosley, is primed and ready to add to his already legendary resume when he meets 28-year old Jose Luis "Chelin" Cruz in a jr. middleweight bout that should have some fireworks. Jose Luis brings an outstanding record of 32 wins, 0 losses, 2D w/27 KO’s.
Looking over his record, I was hard pressed to see any prestigious opponents on his undefeated ledger. Jose Luis has vowed to put relentless pressure on Shane (40-4 w/35 KO’s), taking the fight to him from the opening bell, throwing punches in bunches and going to the body incessantly. There is only one problem; Jose Luis will be facing a three-time champion in three different weight classes, an elite fighter whose resume reads like a who’s who in boxing. Jose Luis must be very careful to not run into an ambush by the far more experienced Sugar Shane.

It’s one thing to knock out a bunch of no-name fighters, it’s another thing to go after someone who has taken the best firepower from champions such as: Oscar De La Hoya, Vernon Forrest and Winky Wright.

Then again, Shane at 34, isn’t the same young fighter he once was, but not having ever seen Jose Luis fight, I still have to go with Shane’s vast experience, his ring knowledge, his hand and foot speed and the fact that he will be facing someone who might be relying solely on his power. From the day he appeared on the scene, "Sugar" Shane Mosley is the epitome of what every fighter should be, an abundance of class, humility, good manners and the kind of young man every parent would be proud of.

One cannot sugarcoat the fact that the day is coming for fighters like Shane, Oscar, Fernando and Bernard when youth must be served, I do not believe it is that time yet for any of them, but Saturday night will give us an indication of what Sugar Shane has left. He was and is one of the most beautiful fighters to have ever graced the four corners. I have very seldom picked against him…I will not start now.

IBF lightweight champion Levander Johnson will be putting his newly acquired crown on the line for the first time when he engages former jr. lightweight champion Jesus "El Matador" Chavez. Levander won the vacant IBF title when on June 17, 2005; he stopped Stefano Zoff in the seventh round. Chavez, 32, is moving up in weight for the title challenge; he is looking to win a fourth title in four different weight classes. Johnson, who is 35, has a good record of 34 wins, 4 losses, 2D w/ 26 KO’s.

He beat a good fighter in Zoff and has a draw with a fighter who appears to be a hot commodity at the time, Emannel Augustus. They fought to a standstill on June 7, 2002. I have only seen Johnson fight once, I thought he was an excellent fighter; his becoming champion proves that point. On the other hand, I have always been a big fan of Jesus Chavez, he will be facing a bigger guy, but I think Jesus has the ability to win the crown. I look for a hard fought fight, come to think of it; all of the Matador’s fights seem to be tough.

His last fight with our boy, Carlos "Famoso" Hernandez, was a fight fan’s fight. The outcome could have gone either way. Jesus won a split decision over twelve rounds. We are still waiting for the rematch. Jesus hopes to win the crown Saturday so he can entice Erik Morales to fight him again. They put up one hell of a fight on February 28, 2004 in Vegas. El Terrible won a unanimous decision on that night, Jesus wants to dance one more time.

On the strength of his motivation, I am picking El Matador to complete his goal of winning his fourth different title. Whatever the outcome, this is going to be one great fight, what makes it even more appealing is that neither one takes a backward step.

A huge boxing friend of mine by the name of Dietrich Hartmann sent me an email this past Monday, being a large fan of Morales; he was devastated by the loss. I emailed him back, this is what I had to say: "I feel exactly as you do concerning El Terrible’s loss. Erik, I heard had trouble making weight, that’s no excuse, but it does tell me that he was not in his usual primo shape. He looked sluggish, was not the least bit sharp. All you have to do is watch the terrific preparation he showed in the Pacquiao fight. He just did not look adequately prepared at all for the task at hand. We cannot take anything away from the masterful job Raheem turned in, he did what every great fighter must do…and that is to come into a fight in the best possible shape of his life.

I do think that Erik grossly underestimated Raheem. I have always believed Zahir Raheem was an outstanding fighter, in his only loss, I thought he beat Rocky Juarez. When they signed to fight, I really thought that Erik would be too big for Zahir, but as you saw, that was not the case at all.

Zahir Raheem is definitely someone to reckon with, Manny would do well to avoid him. He reminds me very much of Hedgemon Lewis in the way he fights. Like Lewis, Raheem is very intelligent in the ring, he does not lose his concentration and that will take him a long way. He has the style to beat anyone in his weight class; he is extremely patient, uses the ring and sticks to his game plan. Even if Erik had been right, he still would have had his hands full with this beautiful boxer. I have always preferred a great boxer to a great puncher, that’s why it’s called "Boxing"!

Some fighters just have the style to beat boxer-punchers…Raheem is one of them. I scored the fight 116-112, I thought Erik finally got it a little together in the last two rounds, but it was a little too late. Erik Morales is still a great, awesome fighter; I don’t think we will ever see him take anyone lightly again, if that were indeed the case. I will still pick him to beat Manny Pacquiao in January. Erik is bigger and knows what it takes to beat the exciting, hard-hitting little guy…Erik "El Terrible" Morales will be back."

UNTIL THE NEXT ROUND….PEACE AND GOD BLESS!

Johnny Ortiz is a member of the World Boxing Hall of Fame Board of Directors and is a former co-owner of the world famous, legendary Main St. Gym