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HBO Championship Boxing Morales vs. Rahim Pacquiao vs. Velasquez
September 10, 2005 Staples Center - 6:45pm PT Los Angeles, California
Super Featherweight Bout Erik “El Terrible” Morales (48-2, 34 KOs) vs. Zahir Rahim (26-1, 18 KOs)
Super Featherweight Bout Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao (39-3-2, 30 KOs) vs. Hector Velazquez (41-10-2, 30 KOs)
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Erik Morales Returns To Staples Center On Saturday September 10
LOS ANGELES – Three-time world champion Erik “El Terrible” Morales of Tijuana, Mexico will take on former USA Olympian Zahir Rahim of Philadelphia in the main event of card promoted by Top Rank to be staged at Staples Center on Saturday, September 10 and to be telecast by HBO.
Morales (48-2, 34 KO’s) who is only the second Mexican boxer in history to win three titles in three different weight divisions is scheduled for a 12 round bout against Rahim (26-1, 18 KO’s) who represented the US in the 1996 Olympic Games.
In the semi-windup of the night, two-time world champion Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao (39-3-2, 30 KO’s) of the Philippines will face world ranked Hector Velazquez (41-10-2, 30 KO’s) of Tijuana, Mexico in a 12 round super featherweight bout.
“Erik Morales has become one of boxing’s true superstars both in the ring and in the box office and we are looking forward to another great show in Los Angeles, especially with the presences of Manny Pacquiao, one of the most exciting boxers in the world,” said Bob Arum of Top Rank Inc.
On February 27, 2004 in Las Vegas, Morales won the World Boxing Council (WBC) super featherweight title to become only the second Mexican to win three titles in three different weight classes with an impressive 12 round victory over Jesus Chavez. The only other Mexican boxer with that feat is the legendary Julio Cesar Chavez.
Morales has also being the WBC Super Bantamweight and Featherweight Champion and is 18-2 in world title fights and has defeated such world champions as Manny Pacquiao, Carlos Hernandez, Jesus Chavez, Paulie Ayala, Guty Espadas twice, Marco Antonio Barrera, Wayne McCullough, Junior Jones, Jose Luis Bueno, Daniel Zaragoza, and Hector Acero-Sanchez during his long and illustrious career.
On his most recent effort on March 19 of this year in Las Vegas, Morales defeated Manny Pacquiao in what many considered his finest performance as a professional boxer as he dominated one of boxing’s most feared punchers with skill and power. This will be the fourth time Morales will fight at Staples Center where the great Mexican Champion is 3-0 with victories over Mike Juarez (2000), Injin Chin (2001) and Guty Espadas (2003).
Rahim’s only professional loss was a controversial decision to another former USA Olympian Rocky Juarez on July, 2004 in Houston, Texas. The sleek boxer has an impressive win over two-time world champion Luisito Espinosa.
Pacquiao is a former WBC flyweight and IBF Junior Bantamweight champion and is one of the most popular Filipino boxers today. His spectacular knockout victory over Mexican Marco Antonio Barrera in San Antonio
in 2003 propelled him into the
world stage. Marquez, whom he dropped three times in the first round before getting the controversial draw from the judges.
Pacquiao showed a lot of heart against Morales in their fight on March 19, having to fight with a bad cut in his eye for most of the fight against a great champion. Velazquez, who is ranked #12 by the WBC, is hard hitting right-hander who has won five fights in a row and is 9-1-1 in his last 11 fights with his only loss coming to Rocky Juarez in a fight many at ringside felt was won by the roughed Mexican. Velazquez has a victory over former world champion Guty Espadas and has faced the likes of Kevin Kelly, Robbie Peden, Israel Vazquez and Raul “Jibaro” Perez.
On his most recent bout on July 15 of this year Velazquez stopped Trinidad Mendoza in the fifth round. Velazquez is 3-0 in 2005 with wins over Guadalupe Hernandez and Marcos Licona this year.
Tickets for the event are available at ticketmaster.com. For the latest news on Top Rank events, visit: www.toprank.com.
- Press Release issued by Top Rank with a little editing from us (color, highlights, etc...)
Card subject to change
(7/29/05)
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