With only one week to go until his first defense of the light welterweight World Boxing Council (WBC) title versus Philadelphia, PA’s Danny “Swift” Garcia (22-0, 14KOs) on Saturday, March 24th, in Houston, Texas, Erik “Terrible” Morales (52-7, 26KOs) is fine tuning the final details in the Zona Norte gym that saw him grow in his native city. With his trainer and father, Jose “Olivaritos” Morales and assistant trainer Fernando Fernandez, Morales finds himself in the final phase of his training before flying out to Houston Sunday evening.
The bout between Morales and Garcia is scheduled for twelve rounds and will mark the third time Morales performs in Texas. In his first bout in the “Lone Star State”, Morales captured his first title, the WBC super bantamweight strap, by defeating Mexican veteran Daniel Zaragoza at the County Coliseum in El Paso back in ’97 while in his second fight in Texas, Morales knocked out Kevin Kelley in seven rounds at the Don Haskins Convention Center, also in El Paso, in 2000.
Morales-Garcia is the main event of the evening which is supported by a ten heat super welterweight tilt between James Kirkland and Carlos Molina. Both fights will be broadcast live by HBO’s “World Championship Boxing” series. Also featured on the fight card will be a classic Puerto Rico vs. Mexico face off when Jose Miguel Cotto faces former lightweight champion Jose Luis Castillo in the welterweight division.
In a special attraction, the younger brother of “El Terrible”, super flyweight Ivan “Niño Maravilla” Morales (16-0, 11KOs) is also preparing himself for his U.S. debut. No set opponent has been announced but more information is expected soon.
