World Boxing Council lightweight champion David Diaz was most welcoming and deferential to Chicago visitor Erik Morales, allowing the celebrated ex-champion to get in the last word from the dais at their news conference Tuesday.
But Diaz vowed all that would change Aug. 4, when he defends his title against Morales at Allstate Arena. For starters, he said, he would insist on entering the ring last as a champion should.
“It’s going to be an honor to fight you,” Diaz told his challenger.
But he quickly added he would not be awed by Morales’ having won titles in three different weight divisions or the fact that he’s seeking to become the first Mexican fighter to win crowns in four. Hence, the fight’s billing as “The War for Four!”
“I’m not here to give up my belt,” Diaz said. “He’s coming here for it, but he’s not going home with it.”
Chicagoan Diaz turned 31 on June 7 and has trained for nearly a year to defend the title belt he won when he knocked out Jose Armando Santa Cruz last August.
Referring to the billing, Diaz told reporters at Lalo’s restaurant, 500 N. LaSalle St., “It’s going to be a war, but it’s not going to be for four.”
Morales said he was happy to fight in Chicago because he knows he has many Mexican-American fans here.
“I want this to be a fight for the fans to remember,” he said through a translator.
Later, he told reporters he did not intend for Aug. 4 to be his last hurrah.
“It all depends on how I look and the outcome of the fight,” he said.
If he wins the title, he said he would likely take some time off but would fight at least once more. If he loses, he said, “You’ve probably seen the last of me.”
For his part, Diaz conceded he was bothered a bit by Morales’ getting more attention. Promoter Bob Arum, for instance, called Morales “one of my favorite fighters.”
“It’s the old ‘no respect’ thing,” Diaz said.
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Diaz’s uneven ascent to the top took 10 years, in contrast to Morales winning his first title at 21 after only four years as a pro.
Diaz did acknowledge two signs of respect, however. First, the Morales fight will be “my biggest payday, although it’s nothing I can retire on,” he noted. Second, his name is on banners promoting the event.
“Usually at press conferences, I see other guys’ names up there because I’m on the undercard,” he said.
Morales is a veteran campaigner, surviving a long series of ring wars against such top competitors as Marco Antonio Barrera and Manny Pacquiao, whom he fought three times each, winning once and losing twice against both. Yet he is three months younger than Diaz.
“I have been in a lot of wars,” Morales acknowledged.
He said he had trouble making weight in recent 130-pound bouts and believes he will be less drained and stronger in the upcoming 135-pound lightweight main event.
Asked what he knows about Diaz, he said he had seen a couple of his fights.
Offering a left-handed compliment, Morales said, “He has a lot of amateur experience. Sometimes he looks like an amateur out there.”
Diaz said he sees the bout starting with Morales “coming out with his guns drawn, trying to end it early. But he will hit a wall, and you can’t move a wall.”
Arum said he has been reluctant to bring a boxing card to Chicago since 1981, when his doubleheader featuring heavyweights Mike Weaver vs. James Tillis and middleweights Marvin Hagler vs. Mustafa Hamsho played to a half-empty house at the Rosemont Horizon. He will try to change his luck this time at the same location, transformed from the Horizon to Allstate Arena.
Tickets priced from $30 to $300 go on sale Wednesday at Ticketmaster locations. The event will be televised on HBO Pay-Per-View (8 p.m. Aug. 4, $44.95).
Just jabs
Chicago heavyweight Andrew Golota stopped Jeremy Bates in the second round Saturday night in Katowice, Poland. The fight was Golota’s first since his knockout loss to Lamon Brewster on May 21, 2005, at the United Center. … At 8:30 p.m. Saturday, HBO will replay Miguel Cotto’s 11th-round knockout of Zab Judah in a crowd-pleasing brawl marred by Cotto dropping Judah twice with low blows, the second resulting in a one-point deduction.
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