Columnist Dean Juipe: Morales doesn’t figure to change style for title unification bout with Hernandez

Dean Juipe

Thursday, July 22, 2004 | 9:03 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

Bruce Trampler doesn't believe Erik Morales has learned his lesson. But the question is: Does it matter?

Morales, the World Boxing Council champion at 130 pounds, will fight his International Boxing Federation counterpart, Carlos Hernandez, July 31 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. The fight is expected to follow an easy to decipher scenario, with Morales head-hunting and the shorter Hernandez working the body.

It will be similar if not identical to how Morales fought Jesus Chavez in February at the same site, with Morales dishing out a lot of punishment but settling for a decision win even though Chavez injured a shoulder in the third round.

"I think Erik's at a disadvantage," said Trampler, who has had close ties to each of the mentioned fighters' careers as Top Rank's matchmaker. "He thinks he can outfight anybody and doesn't care.

"I say, if you have a height and reach advantage (which Morales will), then use it. But Erik's very disdainful toward his opponents."

Trampler feels Morales' refusal to willingly take a step backward and, perhaps, box at times rather than slug, is working against him as he competes at 130 pounds after spending the bulk of his career at 122 and 126.

Trampler thinks that unwillingness to adapt is a mistake on the headstrong Morales' part.

"To me, the fact that Erik had to go 12 rounds with a one-armed fighter (Chavez) should have come as a wake-up call to him," Trampler said Wednesday. "When he couldn't dispose of Chavez it should have raised some questions even in his own mind about conditioning and focus.

"But Erik is his own man. He does what he wants to do."

Morales, 46-1 with 34 knockouts, has been training in Mexico and will not arrive in Las Vegas until next week.

Hernandez, 40-3-1 with 24 KOs, has been training at Big Bear, Calif.

"It's no secret how this fight is going to go," Trampler said. "It's going to be brutal. What I'll be looking to see is what happens when Erik is punching down and dropping his hands and Carlos is firing overhand rights to his head over those dropped hands.

"Erik could lose the fight as much as Carlos could win it. If he fights to Carlos' style, then he's a fool."

"It's a step up for Melinda but we think she'll be OK," said her trainer, James Pena. "The woman she's fighting is a southpaw and it's a dangerous fight because I'd describe her as an aggressive version of Winky Wright, but we can definitely win.

"Melinda's been boxing with men and bigger women for a long time. I look at this fight as just a good test."

"It's his home court for a reason," Gatti's handler, Carl Moretti of Main Events, told the Associated Press. "If we were not drawing, we wouldn't be here. Atlantic City is a fight town and Gatti is clearly the biggest draw since (Mike) Tyson.

"The big fights are so often in Las Vegas. When Atlantic City gets these fights, the sports fans want to go."

At the Palms in Las Vegas, Gatti has been bet up to a minus 240 favorite after opening at a minus 185. Dorin is a plus 190 after opening at a plus 165.

"I've had some great wins in Atlantic City," Gatti said. "I'm going to fight for the rest of my career there."

A noted brawler, Gatti is 37-6.

Dorin, who fought to a vicious draw with Paul Spadafora last year, is 22-0-1.

Assuming he wins, Gatti said he would entertain an offer to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. later this year.