By Tom Donelson

Zahir Raheem is one of those fighters with potential, but potential alone does not win titles. Emanuel Steward mentioned in the pre-fight discussion that Raheem has often fought at weights below his natural fighting weight. Raheem was one of those fighters whose careers resembled what could have been? Then he faced the great Erik Morales. Raheem's quick hands gave Erik Morales trouble in the early rounds and Raheem looked liked the bigger fighter in the ring.

Morales was the overwhelming favorite fighter but this was his first fight at lightweight. Beginning his career as a junior featherweight, Morales was going up in uncharted waters against a bigger opponent.

In the fifth round, a Raheem right hand nailed Morales and sent the Mexican reeling back to the ropes. Morales' feared right appeared to connect with no great effect on Raheem, but Raheem's quicker hands kept Morales off balance. This was the round that sealed Morales' doom as it became obvious that he was vulnerable to Raheem's speed and even his power.

Going in the sixth round, Morales knew that he had to bring the fight to the flashy American and his right hand finally hit it's target as he came on enough to win his first round. However, in the seventh and eighth rounds, Raheem maneuverability proved problematic for Morales, whose major opponents stood mostly in front of him. Whatever gains he made in the sixth, were wasted in seventh. Morales could never get untracked throughout the rest of the fight.

This night belonged to Zahir Raheem, who for many years languished in boxing purgatory. Never sure of where he belonged or what weight to fight, Raheem was a forgotten fighter. But on this night, he rediscovered the talent that always existed but seem to dwell underneath the surface. Moving and popping, he made Morales looked bad for the first ten rounds. Raheem came back to his corner after the tenth and his corner told him, “Move and pop for two rounds.”

In the eleventh round, Morales nailed Raheem with a hook in the middle of round and landed a power right that shook the American. Morales was denied a knockdown when Raheem's glove hit the ground after the Morales right landed at the end of the round. A little flicker of hope remained for Morales' fans.

Going into the final round, Morales needed a knockout to pull out this fight, but the fire power was not there. Morales, the lightweight, was throwing blanks as his final assault failed to stop his American opponent. Raheem fought the fight of his life as he put every skill that he owned on display. Raheem dominated the final round and put an exclamation point on the fight.

For Morales, this is not the end. What this fight proved was that he reached his limits as a fighter. He is not a true lightweight for the power that he held as a featherweight did not stay with him when he moved up to the lightweight division. As a featherweight and super featherweight, he was the bigger fighter and with the exception of Barrera, no one could beat him. Until he faced Raheem.

With 50 plus fights behind, Morales has seen enough wars and wars ten to have a negative effect on fighters. Morales has lost his quickness and what fighters like Morales have left is power. But power that was maximized at featherweight became minimized as a lightweight. For Morales, his future is back among featherweights and super featherweights. And he still has some business left in those divisions with Barrera and Pacquaio. Morales' dream of winning a title in a fourth weight class is over, but he still has a few more great fights left. But those fights will be at 126 and 130 pounds.

As for Raheem, he has new life as a fighter and new opportunities in the lightweight division. The next fight will show if Raheem will fulfill the promise that began as an Olympian some nine years ago.