A whole new kind of fight

For those concerned that Saturday's featherweight fight at Mandalay Bay will mimic one held two weeks ago at the MGM, Paulie Ayala says not to worry.

He promises his fight with Erik Morales will be nothing like the one between Marco Antonio Barrera and Johnny Tapia.

"For starters, Barrera was fighting someone who was past his prime," Ayala said Wednesday, referring to a 36-year-old Tapia who lost a rather lackluster decision to Barrera by 8, 8 and 4 points on the judges' cards.

"The last time Tapia was really good was 1999," Ayala continued. "Plus, my style and his style are different. I'm always in a good fight, and so is Erik.

"But more importantly, Barrera and Tapia fought different than Erik and I will fight. I'm not in there to be picked at, like Tapia let Barrera do.

"I'm in there to fight."

Ayala knows he has to fight if he expects to win, as Morales is arguably the No. 2 man in a featherweight division that has Barrera on the throne.

"Erik is right about at the top of the line," Ayala said. "But you don't get paid to test the waters, so he's the one I went after."

Ayala, 32, is receiving a career-best $1 million for this fight, which is scheduled for 12 rounds and will have the vacant World Boxing Council 126-pound title at stake. He's 34-1 with 12 knockouts.

Morales, 26, is 41-1 with 31 KOs and will receive $525,000 the night of the fight and another $500,000 after his ancillary rights are factored in.

This is a pay-per-view fight with an asking price of $40.

The Mandalay Bay Events Center has been reconfigured to seat 8,500 and a crowd of at least 7,000 is expected.

Morales is a minus-340 betting favorite and Ayala is a plus-260 underdog.

But Ayala says Morales' "ring age" is greater than the calendar indicates, and that's another reason this fight won't resemble Barrera vs. Tapia.

"In the ring, he's older than I am," Ayala claims. "Erik absorbs a lot of punches directly and doesn't have all that much defense. He tries to take advantage of his reach and his height, but he's still been getting hit a lot.

"And his two fights with Barrera took their toll."

Morales split those fights with Barrera, losing the latter by decision June 22.

Ayala has been off even longer, not having been in the ring since a second win over Bones Adams back on Feb. 23. He's also moving up a division, from 122 pounds to 126, although the second of his two fights with Tapia was at a contract weight of 124.

Morales said the weight factor is his greatest asset in this bout.

"It's a big advantage for me," he said through an interpreter. "He'll be about 130 the night of the fight, but I'll be at 138 by then.

"I'll feel mean. And when he starts hitting me and I don't feel anything, that's another advantage for me."

Morales, a pro since 1993, has a number of excellent victories, including wins over Daniel Zaragoza, Junior Jones, Wayne McCullough, Kevin Kelley, Guty Espadas and a close one over Barrera in 2000 that preceded their rematch.

He has been a fixture in the featherweight division for two years but says he's willing to move to 130 if the right opportunity comes along. "I might stay at 126 for a couple more fights," he said, knowing that promoter Bob Arum plans to match the winner of the Morales vs. Ayala fight with one between Adams and Espadas that will precede it on the pay-per-view telecast.

Ayala, who debuted in 1992, lost his first title try (to Joichiro Tatsuyoshi, Aug. 23, 1998, in Japan) but has gone on to win a world championship at 118 pounds and win a lesser title at 122. Now, at 126, he feels he's where he belongs.

"It's easier on my body," he said. "I'm comfortable and confident that I can be competitive and maintain a championship level.

"I feel I've adapted to this division."

That's a sentiment he'll have to prove in the ring and to skeptics, some of whom recall a similarly confident Tapia in the days prior to his fight with Barrera only two weeks ago.

archive