One weakness dogs Morales — overconfidence

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Feb. 26, 2004 | 10:03 a.m.

Brave and strong, Erik Morales is 10 years into a professional career that will almost certainly lead him to the Hall of Fame. A slugger with tremendous skills, he could also achieve a legendary status and come to be known as one of Mexico's all-time greatest fighters.

But it turns out he also has a weakness of sorts.

Maybe it isn't a "big head" per se, but Morales suffers from a malady that could be called acute self-assuredness.

"He feels so superior to any other fighter that he really could hurt himself by being so overconfident," said matchmaker Bruce Trampler of Top Rank, which promotes Morales and his Saturday opponent at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, World Boxing Council junior lightweight champion Jesus Chavez.

"He's impervious to the risks involved," Trampler said of Morales. "He's almost disdainful of the guys he fights.

"He doesn't hold anybody that he's going to fight in high regard."

Morales may feel as if he has earned that right, building a record of 45-1 with 34 knockouts and having already won world championships at 122 and 126 pounds. A close decision loss to Marco Antonio Barrera in their 2002 rematch is the only blemish on his sturdy record.

Among the notable fighters Morales has beaten are Daniel Zaragoza, Junior Jones, Wayne McCullough, Barrera (by split decision in their first fight), Kevin Kelley, Paulie Ayala and Guty Espadas, twice.

In his most recent fight, an Oct. 4 rematch with Espadas in Los Angeles, Morales exhibited the overconfidence that caught Trampler's eye.

"First off, he barely warmed up for the fight," said Trampler, who was in Morales' dressing room before and after the bout. "I told him later that I was a little worried.

"But he said 'Ah, Espadas, he's nothing.' "

Morales won that fight against a former world champion by third-round knockout, just as he won the first fight against Espadas (albeit by decision).

Bettors think he will win his next fight as well, as Morales is a minus 320 favorite in the sports book at the MGM.

Chavez, a Texas resident who is 40-2 with 28 KOs, is a plus 260.

"I think some Texas money will be coming in on Chavez yet," Trampler said. "But I think we all know he's the 'visiting' team, with Erik having fought in Las Vegas so often."

Morales, 27, will be fighting for the 12th time in Las Vegas as he goes for a championship in a third weight class and tries to position himself for a third fight with Barrera.

Chavez, 31, is fighting here for only the second time and will be making his first defense of the WBC championship he gained in August in Austin, when he won a decision against Thailand's Sirimongkol Singmanassak.

"It's time to take care of business," Chavez said upon arriving in Las Vegas earlier this week. "I feel real comfortable. I had a good camp.

"I feel good and strong and I'm going to defend my title with all my heart. I plan to surprise a whole lot of people."

Chavez, who owns victories against Louie Espinoza, John Brown, Wilfredo Negron, Troy Dorsey and Carlos Gerena (in a rematch), lost to Gerena early in his career and to Floyd Mayweather Jr. three years ago.

But he gave a reasonably good performance in the loss to Mayweather and he may have improved to where he can withstand Morales' pressure and extensive firepower.

"If Erik underestimates Chavez or gets in a pattern of trying to show off, it could cost him," Trampler said. "Jesus is a real proud, brave guy who's all about winning and retaining his championship.

"Anyone who thinks he's just going to 'mail it in' for this fight is very much wrong."

But Chavez will be giving up 3 inches in height and 7 inches in reach for a fight that will bring him $600,000 and is expected to draw a crowd of around 7,000.

Morales, who is receiving $1 million for the fight, also has to deal with the uncertainty of moving up in weight. This will be only his second bout at 130 pounds.

"He could find that you don't always bring your power with you when you move up in weight," Trampler said. "That's happened to a lot of guys in the past, as we all know."

But Morales is unconcerned. In fact, his confidence is such that he belittled Chavez for training for such a long time for this fight, saying, "I guess it's a big deal to him."

Morales said he didn't open camp until mid-January, implying that five or six weeks of training was more than enough.

Overconfident? We'll see.