By Matteo Alderson (Photo by Paul Gallegos)

The train might have slowed down, but it’s going to keep on rolling.

In late June, BoxingScene photographer Paul Gallegos and I went down to Tijuana to do an interview with Erik Morales for KO Magazine. We met up with him at a Mexican Restaurant called Los Arcos.  Erik was jovial, hospitable, and eager to share his opinions on a wide range of topics, which included comments about everything from his desire to fight Floyd Mayweather to his place in Mexican boxing history. 

On that June afternoon Erik looked rather heavy and I inquired about his eating habits when he’s not training and he informed me that he always tries to monitor his diet and watch his weight, which is the recommended course of action for a fighter who’s 5’8 and fights at 130-pounds. 

But Erik’s statements in regard to his diet seemed to be in direct contrast to his behavior that day.  Erik was eating Mexican food and drinking beer during the course of the entire interview.  At the time, he didn’t have a fight scheduled so I thought he was just taking some time off to try to rest and re-energize. 

Then in July when Top Rank had the press conference in Beverly Hills to announce the Double Trouble card, Erik still looked heavy and his fight with Zahir was less than two months away.  As a result, Erik’s preparation for the fight was focused on making weight and not on preparing to fight Zahir Raheem.  Erik’s weight issue wasn’t a secret and that’s why the fight was scheduled for 135 pounds when it had originally been planned to be contracted at the Junior-Lightweight limit of 130 pounds. 

Erik’s weight had ballooned up and he knew he would have trouble getting down to 130 by fight time.  So Erik trained hard to get his weight down and had a flat performance against the former Olympian.  Erik underestimated Raheem, but even a well-prepared Morales would have problems with Zahir’s combination of style and speed. 

Think about it. How many African American fighters has Erik faced with a fast paced boxing style like Raheem? Maybe you can point to his victory over Junior Jones, but Jones always had stamina problems and wasn’t on the top of his game when they met in the fall of 98.

Also, in his last two fights Morales engaged in super fights against Barrera and Pacquiao so I’m sure it was hard trying to get up for a fight that was seen as a mere tune up.  At the end of the day it’s not going to matter because Top Rank and Manny’s new promoter Gary Shaw have decided to overlook Erik’s dismal performance and continue the original course of action which is the pay per view rematch between Erik and Pacquiao that’s scheduled for January 21. 

At first I thought it was kind of an odd approach, but there are actually numerous other examples of fighters moving on after an unexpected loss to an awkward opponent. 

In 1955, in his second comeback fight after a two year retirement, Sugar Ray Robinson dropped a decision to Ralph Jones, but the Sugar Man didn’t dwell on the loss and never fought a rematch against Jones and ended up winning the Middleweight Championship three more times before finally retiring in 1965. 

Another example of a top flight fighter moving on after an unexpected loss, occurred in the seventies when WBC Junior-Lightweight Champ Alexis Arguello lost a 10 round decision to Dominican Vilomar Fernandez at Madison Square Garden. The Nicaraguan great just moved on after the loss and successfully defended the 130-pound title six more times before moving up and winning the Lightweight Championship.

 
After looking at the success that Arguello and Robinson had after their surprise defeats, it’s  possible that Morales will train more diligently next time out and dominate Pacquiao in the rematch and then go on to fight Barrera in a fourth super-fight.  That’s the plan than Top Rank has for their Mexican superstar and they don’t want to stop the train because one of the tracks had a problem, they just want it to keep on rolling. 

NOTES:

The KO Interview with Morales comes hits news stands on October 18.  It was written, translated, and photographed by BoxingScene staff members Brent Matteo Alderson and Paul Gallegos.  The interview is going to create a buzz in the boxing industry as Erik made a lot of remarks about a lot of people which include De La Hoya, Barrera, Marquez, Mayweather, and Prince Naseem.

Antonio Margarito is going to fight Manuel Gomez on the under card of Klitchko-Rahman in November.  Shane Mosley, Floyd Mayweather, and Zab Judah reportedly rejected legitimate offers to face Maragarito.
  
Knowing the type of shape that Erik was in I bet $30 dollars at +1100 that Zahir Raheem would win a decision. I made $330 dollars after it was all over.