16.04.05 – By The Brown Bomber: In a pre-fight interview before what appears to be a simple warm-up match against Alberto Ontiveros, Diego Morales says that his time has come. With a record of 34 and 2, with 25 ko’s, and the pedigree of being the younger brother to boxing phenom Erik Morales, former WBC Youth Bantamweight Champion Diego certainly looks the part. But is he prepared for the more experienced Veeraphol?
BB – How do you feel for tomorrow’s match fight, and what do you predict you’ll do to Alberto Ontiveros?
Diego Morales: – Thanks to my preparation and time training, I feel really good. I feel that I will be able to take him out in a 4th round KO.
BB: After a disappointing 6th round disqualification in 1999 against Adonis Rivas, I was happy to see you had a rematch in 2004 that led to a victory. Do you plan on challenging Fernando Velardez to a rematch in order to clear up your earlier loss to him in 2002?
Diego Morales: What was in the past is in the past. Right now I want to focus in on the future. What I want right now is a world-class title match. Veeraphol is my next challenge, and I want to fight him in June. It’s time and I’m ready.
BB: Why not move up into Featherweight, and challenge a real threat like Victor Polo?
Diego Morales: Who the hell is Victor Polo, and why would I want to go to featherweight? I’m a bantamweight!
BB: But your opponent tomorrow night Alberto Ontiveros has fought in both featherweight and bantamweight, and today you weighed in at 126 lbs.
Diego Morales: “No”, I’m staying in the bantamweight class and I want to fight Veeraphol for the WBC title! Because I’m concentrating on June’s match-up for the WBC title, tomorrow’s fight against Alberto Ontiveros is just a warm-up. I’m in the camp just as much as my brother Erik, and we actually train in the same camp until about 2 weeks before a match. “I am
ready”.
BB: Where did you get the nickname “Pelucho” (Stuffed Animal)?
Diego Morales: From my brother Erik, when we were growing up. I used to always ask for a stuffed animal on top of a dresser, and he would tease me, and the name stuck.
Post fight update
After 10 disappointing rounds, Diego left a lot to be criticized. The ugly win by Diego was marred by continual missed opportunities, and full forced power shots with little to no effect on Ontiveros. All this was culminated with a bicycling section by Diego that could put a punch stat computer into screen saver mode during the tenth.
Question: Is Diego Morales ready for a WBC title match against Veeraphol? With April 14th’s performance behind us, the answer is, “not by a long shot.”
-The Brown Bomber