Columnist Dean Juipe: Victory could help Diego Morales emerge from his brother’s shadow

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Nov. 18, 1999 | 10:44 a.m.

Dean Juipe's boxing notebook appears Thursday. His sports column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at juipe@vegas.com or 259-4084.

Like every 19-year-old, there are times Diego Morales could feel he's in the midst of an identity crisis.

Aside from being young and still finding his way, he runs the risk of having the casual boxing fan confuse him not only with his older brother, World Boxing Council super bantamweight champion Erik Morales, but with new International Boxing Federation junior lightweight champ Diego Corrales.

Given time, the distinctions may become clearer.

"I'll make a name for myself," Morales said Wednesday, with Top Rank's Richie Sandoval serving as interpreter. "I'll do it on my own, without a crutch. I'll become known as someone and not just Erik Morales' brother."

If he continues to win, the younger Morales will become increasingly better known and may, someday, approach the superstar status that his 23-year-old brother is just starting to enjoy.

Now 19-0 with 15 knockouts, Diego Morales will headline Saturday's fight card at the Hard Rock, as he takes on Adonis Rivas in a 12-round bout at 115 pounds. Four other fights are scheduled on a card promoted by Forum Boxing of Los Angeles.

Morales holds a minor title, the result of defeating veteran Ysaias Zamudio last July, and this will be his first fight outside of his native Mexico. As the Tijuana resident walked into The Joint, the room in the Hard Rock where Saturday's fights will be held, he may not have been taken aback but he did say it was nothing like the venues that typically have hosted his fights.

"It's 100 percent different," he said, adding that headlining in Las Vegas "is something really great for me. It gives me a real boost."

Top Rank, which has the Morales brothers under contract, is pushing each of them to what it hopes will be greater heights. Erik Morales, 35-0, is a likely future opponent for Prince Naseem Hamed and is expected to headline a Feb. 19 card in Las Vegas against well-known former champion Marco Antonio Barrera, while Diego Morales gradually moves toward greater public awareness.

Top Rank officials regard Diego as "a work in progress," although he's clearly a promising fighter with great potential.

"Right now I'm taking things in stride," he said. "I'm hoping to do a lot more in the future."

If his future is endlessly bright, it contrasts with his hardscrabble past. The gym where the Morales brothers not only learned to fight but still utilize apparently has its physical shortcomings.

"It's probably the oldest and rustiest gym in Tijuana," Morales said. "But it's where the best fighters come from."

His father, Jose, laughed and said the makeshift gym -- with a ceiling no more than head high -- has had its "tough times. It was hard to get equipment; we had to borrow. But it's a lot nicer now."

Unlike many brothers from all types of backgrounds, Diego and Erik never felt the need to fight each other. Erik began boxing at the age of 6 and Diego at 8, in large part because he saw his brother having fun and he realized boxing might help him escape his poor environment.

"At first I wasn't interested in boxing," Morales said. "But I was influenced by my brother and the man standing behind you (Jose). They're to blame."

A southpaw, Morales is tall (5-foot-6) for his 115 pounds but says he isn't growing and doesn't have any trouble making weight. He said he was flexible enough to fight at 112 "if a lucrative fight came along," but that he was committed to staying at 115 and already has an eye on a equally marketable opponent.

"Right now I see Eric Morel in my future," he said of the former U.S. Olympian who is 23-0.

But up first is the unknown Rivas, who is 13-1-1 with nine KOs. A native of Nicaragua, Rivas will be fighting in the U.S. for the third time but has never faced a notable opponent.

The sports book at the Hard Rock has not posted a line on the fight.

Morales, however, is a substantial favorite off his consecutive wins over Zamudio and another quality fighter, Victor Godoi. He stopped the latter in the 11th round in June and forced Zamudio into retiring on his stool following the eighth round of their July 31 outing.

Should the younger Morales acquire a major championship, he and Erik will join nine other sets of brothers who ascended to championship status. The previous nine: Abe and Monte Attell; Richardo and Rene Arrendondo; Leon and Michael Spinks; Donald and Bruce Curry; Khaosai and Khaokor Galaxy; Gaby and Orlando Canizales; Terry and Orlin Norris; Rafael and Gabe Ruelas; and Christophe and Fabrice Tiozzo.

Tickets for the Hard Rock card are $15 to $100 and a sellout is expected. The undercard includes: Juan Manuel Marquez, 29-2, vs. Remigilio Molina, 35-3-1, 10 rounds, featherweights; Samuel Lopez, 4-0, vs. Israel Hernandez, 2-1, six rounds, bantamweights; Martin Castillo, 11-0, vs. Joey Garcia, 7-2-1, six rounds, junior bantamweights; and Tonton Semakala, 6-0, vs. Oliverio Ramirez, 6-7, six rounds, welterweights. First bell is 7 p.m.

LEWIS-TYSON: New undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis reiterated Wednesday that he would like to fight Mike Tyson next year. Lewis made the comments at a press conference in New York for Saturday's card there that is highlighted by the Michael Grant vs. Andrew Golota heavyweight bout.

"He has the drawing power," Lewis said of Tyson. "He's a man who used to be great, (who is) trying to get his life in order. He's gone through some bad times but he's married now and has gotten away from people like Don King."

Shelly Finkel, who manages Tyson, said the fight with Lewis "would happen at the right time." That could be next summer or as late as a year from now.

As for the possibility of facing Grant, who is favored to defeat Golota but could have a tough time, Lewis said "he's big and he's up and coming" without making a commitment to fight him. Lewis will be ringside for that fight, which HBO will televise and package with a replay of Lewis' victory over Evander Holyfield last Saturday in Las Vegas.

Grant, the North American Boxing Federation champion, is 30-0, while the unpredictable Golota is 34-3.

QUICK HITS: Ishe Smith heads a team of six Las Vegas amateur boxers competing in this weekend's Golden Gloves regionals in Pasadena, Calif. Winners will advance to the U.S. nationals Jan. 10-15 in Colorado Springs. "I've matured," the 21-year-old Smith said, referring not only to his physique but to overcoming the disappointment of losing to Zab Judah in the 1996 Olympic Trials. Smith, ranked No. 6 at 147 pounds, quit the sport for two years after failing to make the 1996 Olympic team. "I was so upset," he said. "But I eventually realized I had to come back, and I've been back a year now. I can't complain." His chief competition in Pasadena is expected to come from Miguel Espinosa, who was once ranked No. 2. "I've seen him and he can't fight inside," Smith said. "I think I'll be too strong for him." ... The daughter of heavyweight and former Las Vegan James "Quick" Tillis is ranked among the top 25 girls high school basketball players in the country, according to USA Today. Iciss Tillis is a 6-foot-4 forwa rd at Cascia Hall High School in Tulsa and has already committed to Duke University next year. Her father is still fighting although an Oct. 16 loss in Issaquah, Wash., to Tim Puller dropped his record to 42-22-1.

Last Saturday's Lewis vs. Holyfield fight grossed a world record $16,860,300 in ticket sales to top the previous record of $14,277,200 established by the second Holyfield vs. Tyson fight in 1997. In Nevada alone, 21 fights have generated at least $5 million in gate receipts. ... Although Caesars Palace has announced a March 4 date for its Felix Trinidad vs. David Reid fight, it may yet change to a week or two later to avoid a conflict that weekend with a pair of NASCAR races that are in town. A Busch series race will be held March 4 and a Winston Cup series race March 5 at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and the latter is expected to draw a crowd of 100,000. Hotel rooms will be hard to come by. ... Las Vegas heavyweight Jimmy Thunder, 33-9, fights tonight in Coachella, Calif., against Eli Dixon, 22-5-1.

For anyone led to believe Orlin Norris was actually injured in his Oct. 23 fight with Tyson at the MGM, consider this recent update from Norris' trainer, Abel Sanchez. "Orlin's OK," he told a reporter. "He could fight again in December." Citing an injured right knee, Norris declined to come out for the second round and his fight with Tyson was declared a no-contest. As was obvious the night of the fight, Norris quit rather than continue in a fight he was certain to lose. ... Norris and his handlers are being sued in Las Vegas by English promoter Frank Warren, who claims he is entitled to one-third of the fighter's $800,000 purse. But in the brief filed by the defendants, they maintain Warren was entitled to one-third only if Norris was competing in a "championship" fight, which was not the case in the fight with Tyson. Look for the case to be dismissed if the defendants' claim is accurate. ... Norris' brother, former junior middleweight world champion Terry, is allegedly out of money and has been contacting promoters in an effort to secure a fight. ... No Boxing Notebook next week due to Thanksgiving.