Erik Morales vs. Zahir Raheem

Erik Morales vs. Zahir Raheem, billed as Double Trouble, was a professional boxing match contested on September 10, 2005.

Double Trouble

Date	September 10, 2005
Venue	Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Title(s) on the line	vacant WBC International lightweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer Erik Morales Zahir Raheem Nickname "El Terrible" ("The Terrible") "King Raheem" Hometown Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. Pre-fight record 48–2 (34 KO) 26–1 (16 KO) Age 29 years 28 years, 10 months Height 5 ft 8 in (173 cm) 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) Weight 134+1⁄2 lb (61 kg) 133 lb (60 kg) Style Orthodox Orthodox Recognition WBC/WBA No. 1 Ranked Super Featherweight The Ring No. 2 Ranked Super Featherweight The Ring No. 4 ranked pound-for-pound fighter 3-division world champion WBC No. 6 Ranked Super Featherweight WBA No. 10 Ranked Super Featherweight
Result
Raheem defeats Morales by unanimous decision

Background

After their exciting bout in March 2005, Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao were co-featured on a card at the Staples Center, Los Angeles, California, what what was regarded as tune-up bouts before an inevitable rematch. Pacquiao was to face Héctor Velázquez at super featherweight while Erik Morales would make his debut at lightweight against Zahir Raheem.

The fights

Pacquiao vs. Velázquez

Double Trouble: Manny Pacquiao vs. Héctor Velázquez

Title(s) on the line	vacant WBC International super featherweight title
Tale of the tape
Boxer Manny Pacquiao Héctor Velázquez Nickname "Pac-Man" "Charro Negro" ("Black Charro") Hometown General Santos, Soccsksargen, Philippines Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico Purse $750,000 Pre-fight record 39–3–2 (32 KO) 48–3 (34 KO) Age 26 years, 8 months 30 years, 6 months Height 5 ft 6+1⁄2 in (169 cm) 5 ft 7 in (170 cm) Weight 130 lb (59 kg) 130 lb (59 kg) Style Southpaw Orthodox Recognition WBC/The Ring No. 3 Ranked Super Featherweight IBF No. 4 Ranked Super Featherweight The Ring No. 5 ranked pound-for-pound fighter 3-division world champion WBC No. 12 Ranked Featherweight
Result
Pacquiao wins via 6th-round TKO

Velázquez gave Pacquiao a hard time in the first two rounds of their bout before getting caught by Pacquiao's superior speed and power getting stopped in the sixth round.

Aftermath

Velázquez later on fought Pacquiao's brother, Bobby, and won via disqualification.

Morales vs. Raheem

In the main event, former 3-division champion Erik Morales faced 1996 Olympian Zahir Raheem

Morales was a heavy favourite and the matchup was viewed as warmup for his already scheduled rematch against Manny Pacquiao. However, Raheem would frustrate Morales with constant lateral movement. Raheem rocked Morales in the 5th round and built a lead on the scorecards, but Morales rallied in the 11th round and staggered him with a right hand as Raheem's glove touched the canvas, but it was not scored a knockdown by referee Jon Schorle.

The final scores were 118–110, 116–112 and 115–112 in favor of Raheem giving him an unanimous decision victory.

HBO's unofficial scorer, Harold Lederman, scored the bout 118–110 for Raheem, the same score as his daughter Julie Lederman one of the three official judges.

According to CompuBox Raheem landed 111 out of 282 punches (39%) against Morales landing only 62 out of 353 (18%).

Aftermath

Speaking after the bout Raheem said "I beat a legend tonight, I made all the sacrifices coming into this fight, I believed in myself and I fought a smart fight. All I needed was a chance to prove myself. None of the elite fighters ever gave me a shot, before Morales stepped up. Now the sky's the limit."

When asked if fighting at lightweight was perhaps too heavy for him, Morales replied: "I did feel a little out of whack but I have to look at the tape before I decide to go back down [to 130 pounds]."

Undercard

Confirmed bouts:

Broadcasting

Country	Broadcaster
United States	HBO