When defending champion Jesus Chavez caught challenger Erik Morales with a crushing right to the chin that buckled Morales into the ropes in the first round, it presaged that Chavez’s right hand could be a big factor in their super-featherweight title fight.
It turned out to be just that Saturday night, but in a way that will haunt underdog Chavez for many months to come.
After Morales rallied fiercely in the second round to drop him twice, Chavez recovered and tried to counter Morales’ right with one of his own. It was the last right he was able to throw with conviction for the remaining 10 rounds.
“I pulled something in my right shoulder,” Chavez said after losing a unanimous decision that cost him the World Boxing Council title he won last August. It also sent him to the hospital for X-rays. He will return to his Austin, Texas, hometown for an MRI that will determine whether he needs surgery. That leaves when he gets back to training, let alone boxing, uncertain.
“I’m really going to take care of it seriously,” Chavez said of the shoulder that he injured in a previous training camp. But, he insisted, “It didn’t bother me at all training for this fight.”
Chavez, a 3-1 underdog Saturday, made his case for a rematch by saying, “The people saw what I did with one hand. With two hands, I would have knocked out Erik Morales.”
At a post-fight news conference, Morales said he hurt both hands during the pivotal second round and was cautious about throwing too many punches thereafter.
For the 8,094 screaming fans in the MGM Grand Garden Arena, however, it was hard to imagine many more punches. Combined, true to the heritage of Mexican fighters they extol–and with arguably the greatest, Julio Cesar Chavez, seated ringside–the two combatants threw 1,830 punches, according to computer statisticians.
Despite being largely a one-handed boxer for 10 of the 12 rounds, Chavez connected on 233 of 873, compared with Morales’ 284 of 957.
Both fighters had loud hometown supporters in the crowd–Morales’ from Tijuana, Mexico; and Mexican-born Chavez from Austin and Chicago, where he grew up.
Among the Chicago contingent was Irma Reynosa, who felt bad that Chavez had to fight the biggest bout of his career at a one-armed disadvantage.
“I’m disappointed for him because he’s our neighborhood champ,” she said, but added, “We’re so proud of him.”
While Morales said he was willing to grant Chavez a rematch, promoter Bob Arum said he has dreams about another fight.
“I see the starry skies of Los Angeles, and a big outdoor fight this summer,” Arum said, describing a super-featherweight title unification bout between Morales, who now has the WBC belt, and Carlos Hernandez, the International Boxing Federation champion.
The likely outdoor venue is the Home Depot Center stadium in Carson, Calif. Hernandez joined Morales on the dais at his news conference, adding substance to Arum’s vision.
Erik Morales left the arena Saturday night with the prospect of a starry payday in L.A. Jesus Chavez left to contemplate his future after healing. But his manager, Louis Mesorana, predicted optimistically, “Off what he was able to do with just one hand, his stock has risen.”
Whatever happens with Morales, Hernandez and Chavez, there is already a growing list of credible bouts slated for this year after a lull. Part of that quiet cloaked the heavyweight division while kingpin Lennox Lewis decided whether to fight a rematch of last year’s tight and exciting defense against Vitali Klitschko.
Now that Lewis has announced his retirement, his vacated WBC title will be at stake when Klitschko and Corrie Sanders fight April 24 at the MGM arena.
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Other bouts made or in the making for the coming months include Shane Mosley vs. Winky Wright at super welterweight, Cory Spinks vs. Zab Judah at welterweight; rematches between Joel Casamayor and Diego Corrales at super featherweight and Roy Jones and Antonio Tarver at light heavyweight; and, if they get past opponents in June, Oscar De La Hoya vs. middleweight Bernard Hopkins at a compromise weight Sept. 18.