Thursday, Sept. 15, 2005 | 8:22 a.m.
Jeff Haney covers boxing for the Las Vegas Sun. Reach him at (702) 259-4041 or [email protected].
Their three memorable fights were marked as much by personal animosity as by furious action in the ring.
Yet Marco Antonio Barrera said he took no special delight in fierce rival Erik Morales' surprising loss Saturday night in Los Angeles.
Morales, a 10-1 betting favorite, dropped a 12-round unanimous decision to Zahir Raheem, a 1996 Olympian from Philadelphia, at Staples Center.
"I think that he just had a bad night," Barrera said after a brief training session this week at the MGM Grand, where he will fight Robbie Peden in a super featherweight unification bout Saturday night (HBO Pay-Per-View, $44.95). "We're all open to having a bad night now and then."
Barrera and Morales met in 2000, 2002 and 2004, a compelling series of championship fights that has been etched into boxing history among the sport's greatest trilogies.
Barrera, of Mexico City, sustained a split-decision loss to Morales, of Tijuana, in their first fight, for the world super bantamweight title. In their subsequent fights, however, at featherweight and super featherweight, Barrera outpointed his countryman.
Each of the three bouts was fraught with subplots that spotlighted the fighters' dislike for each other and served to divide boxing's legions of Mexican and Mexican-American fans.
"In all of the fights we had, they were more than just fights," Barrera said. "We went to war every time."
Morales has compiled a sparkling record of 48-3 with 34 knockouts as a pro, but has drawn criticism for tending to fight to the level of his opponent -- putting on world-class performances in megafights yet looking lackluster against lesser foes.
Morales failed Saturday to rise to the lofty level he and Barrera reached as they were forging their intense rivalry, Barrera said.
"For this last fight Morales had, he forgot a little bit about having that pride," Barrera said. "He forgot about giving it a little bit more, that little bit extra that you have to go."
Jesus Chavez, who fights IBF lightweight champion Leavander Johnson on Saturday's undercard, said Morales' loss should dissuade fighters from taking any opponent lightly.
"It's unfortunate for Erik ... he didn't prepare himself correctly for his match against (Raheem)," Chavez said. "He underestimated Zahir Raheem. It's a result of his preparation."
Raheem's trainer Don House, meanwhile, crafted a strategy that placed his fighter's jab in heavy rotation and emphasized conditioning rather than sparring in camp.
"I don't believe in a lot of sparring for a fighter who has 20 or more professional fights," House said. "For this fight Zahir sparred maybe 25 to 30 rounds and I'm not sure if it was that many."
The winner of Saturday's IBF lightweight title fight between Chavez and Johnson could potentially challenge Barrera if he gets past Peden. But if either man wants to face Morales, it would probably have to be at 130 pounds: Morales said he would immediately return to super featherweight after Saturday's fight with Raheem, which took place in the lightweight division.
Morales is scheduled to face Manny Pacquiao on January 21, according to Top Rank, in a rematch of their March fight won by Morales.
For his part, Barrera vowed to bring that "little bit extra" into the ring Saturday against Peden.
"All of my fights are big fights," he said. "I take each one of them very seriously."
Notable
Former junior middleweight champion Kassim Ouma (22-2-1) will return to the ring October 13 for the first time since losing his IBF belt to Roman Karmazin at the Orleans in July. Ouma will fight Alfredo Cuevas (25-7-1) at the Borgata in Atlantic City on a card presented by Golden Boy Promotions East in association with Peltz Boxing. ...
HBO Sports will replay two big fights this weekend as a prelude to Saturday's pay-per-view show -- the third bout between Barrera and Morales from last November, a majority decision for Barrera; and Shane Mosley's split-decision victory against Oscar De La Hoya from June 2000. Mosley fights Jose Luis Cruz in a scheduled 10-rounder Saturday. The two-fight rebroadcast will air on HBO2 (Cox cable channel 201) at 11 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. Saturday.
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