The press credential looks a little plain 10 years later. Just a simple, laminated rectangle that says, “Zaragoza vs. Morales - WBC super bantamweight title, Sept. 6, 1997, El Paso County Coliseum. But, to anyone who has paid any attention at all to the sweet science” over the past decade, that press pass is a piece of boxing history.
    
That was the night that champion Daniel Zaragoza - a seasoned veteran who won the hearts of boxing fans with his longevity and toughness passed the torch to challenger Erik Morales, signaling the end of one great Mexican career, and the beginning of another.
    
A Morales shot to Zaragoza's solar plexus, a perfect right hand punch to the gut - dropped the defending titlist to his knees after a grueling, give-and-take brawl. And, as Zaragoza looked up at Morales, he gave him a subtle nod – as if to say, “Good job, kid. You won. Now go and kick ass as I have.”
   
Morales has certainly done that, winning world titles in three weight divisions, beating the best fighters of his generation, and becoming one of the greatest Mexican fighters of all time. Now, though, 10 years and a hall-of-fame career later - the man they call “"El Terrible" has switched roles.
   
Today, he is the seasoned veteran. He is Zaragoza. And it is his opponent, WBC lightweight champion David Diaz, is the young, strong champion essentially playing the part of Morales himself, circa 1997.
   

Past will meet prologue Saturday when Morales and Diaz tangle at the Allstate Arena in Chicago.
   
Like Zaragoza 10 years ago, it will be Morales who will be the sentimental draw the crowd favorite - in his bid to become the first Mexican boxer to win world titles in four different weight divisions. But, also like Zaragoza, it will be Morales who has had waged the most war, and shows the most wear.
   
The conventional wisdom is that Diaz though rough around the edges may be too strong, too big, and too young for Morales.
     
After all, it was just nine months ago that Morales was destroyed by Manny Pacquiao. But some wonder if that was a case of one guy 'Pac-Man'”just being that good, rather than another Terrible” being that bad.
     
Tijuana's Morales, 48-5 (34 knockouts), certainly doesn't look much different than in 1997. The hair’s a little longer. The frame is a little bigger. And when he spoke to the crowd Tuesday at the Chicago Hilton, he didn't slur his words. He didn’t move slowly.
     
He was the same Erik Morales. And his faculties were very much intact.
    
"It's great to be in Chicago,"” said Morales, who has never fought in the Windy City. There is a great Mexican boxing fan base here. And I'm very happy to have the opportunity to win my fourth world title in my fourth weight class. I trained very hard for this bout, in the mountains of Mexico. And I have done everything possible to have a good fight on Saturday.”
    
For most of his career, Morales has been quiet and respectful of his opponents before fights. But he could also be nasty. His war of words with rival Marco Antonio Barrera escalated into fisticuffs in 2002, when he allegedly called Barrera a maricon.”
    
So Wednesday, it was perhaps a wiser Morales who seemed eager to address a particular issue before it turned into something bigger.
    
I was watching television last night, and there something that was being said that was maybe misconstrued, and I wanted to try and clarify that now,”he said. They had asked me what I thought of Diaz as a fighter, and I said that he looked like an amateur. I never said anything derogatory about him. I was talking about his style of fighting - not him as a person. Just his style of fighting. I respect him as a person. And as a champion.”
    
Indeed, when Morales a man who has beaten Zaragoza (KO 11), Barrera (W 12), Junior Jones (KO 4), Paulie Ayala (W 12), Jesus Chavez (W 12), Carlos Hernandez (W 12) and Pacquiao (W 12) – sees Diaz, he probably doesn't think much.
     
Not because Diaz, 32-1-1 (17 knockouts), isn’t a solid pro. His title-winning effort over tough Jose Armando Santa Cruz (KO 10) was a vivid display of his guts.
     

But while it highlighted his strengths courage, determination, aggression it exposed his weaknesses. And his weakness is that he is one-dimensional.
   
Diaz doesn't possess the skills of a Barrera, or the punching power of a Pacquiao. He’s a brawler who absorbs a few blows to the chops in an effort to land one or two. Nothing wrong with that. It's fighters like Diaz that make boxing go ‘round.
   
Only, if this were 2000, there'd be little question as to who the favorite would be.
   
But it's not 2000. It's 2007. And Diaz is a lightweight – a strong lightweight. The last time Morales, a natural 122-pounder, fought a 135-pounder, he looked horrible in losing a one-sided decision to the ordinary Zahir Raheem.
      
Unlike Raheem, Diaz is an aggressive puncher. And he may not be as willing to let a fading legend like Morales last the distance.
       
He's one of these guys who just keeps coming, who just keeps throwing punches,” Top Rank promoter Bob Arum said of Diaz Wednesday. “David's style is not elegant. But it’s determined. He’s always in there. He’s a brave, brave fighter. And, (eventually), like in his last fight with Santa Cruz when he won the championship, he will break the opponent, and do just enough to take him out.
     
He don't dance like Floyd Mayweather. But he entertains a lot more than fighters of Mayweather's ilk.”
      
Diaz, a Chicago native who qualified for the Olympic team and beat the likes of Zab Judah as an amateur, is glad to be fighting in front of his family and friends.
      
He is Chi-Town through and through. Wearing a Cubs jersey Wednesday, Diaz seemed ready to fight.
      “
Time is over for talking,”he said. “Everybody knows I’m not a guy who talks a lot. I’m just here to say that Aug. 4 is going to be a great fight. Erik has said that he is going to go home as champion. That's not possible. Because, what I got inside and what I got for him, he's going to see it Aug. 4.”
      
There is a saying that every great fighter has one more great fight left in him. Maybe this is that fight for Morales. Maybe he will do to Diaz what Roberto Duran did to Davey Moore in 1983. Or what George Foreman did to Michael Moorer in 1994. Or even what Bernard Hopkins did to Winky Wright two weeks ago.
       
But the experts think this fight will take on a more familiar look – like Joe Louis falling through the ropes against Rocky Marciano. Or Wilfred Benitez being knocked cold by Matthew Hilton.
       
Whatever happens, no one will forget what Erik Morales has meant to boxing in the over the last decade. He was the epitome of a fighter, which he first proved against Zaragoza. He was the toast of a country.
       
Which makes a particular, laminated rectangle so, so special.
 
JUNIOR WANTS GOMEZ
    
Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who fights Indianapolis’ Louis Brown on the undercard of Saturday’s Diaz-Morales headliner, made no secret Wednesday who he wants to fight next.
    “
Gomez, Gomez,” Chavez chanted, referring to Alfonso Gomez, who knocked out Arturo Gatti July 14 in Atlantic City.
    
And while Chavez Jr.-Gatti would have been more interesting on paper, a fight with Gomez, the former “Contender” star, will probably be a better fight. Chavez Jr. has shown promise over the past year in improving to 32-0 (25 KOs). And Gomez, 17-3 (8 KOs), looked tough in dismantling Gatti.
     
First, though, Chavez Jr. has a decent assignment in Brown, 15-2 (10 KO’s). 

M

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