written by Kelsey McCarson, photos by R. McCarson
Houston, TX – Fighters from tomorrow night’s HBO World Championship Boxing Erik Morales (52-7, 36 KOs) vs. Danny Garcia (22-0, 14 KOs) card took to the scales today in front of a raucous, pro-Morales crowd at the PlazAmericas Mall in Houston.
First up to the scales was the legendary Morales who was showered with cheers from his boisterous admirers. Chants of “Mexico, Mexico, Mexico” from the hundreds in attendance engulfed the food court area as he stepped up to the scale.
Morales weighed in two pounds over the 140 lb junior welterweight limit but seemed unfazed by what that meant to his status as WBC champion. He immediately began guzzling Gatorade, which means he was content to lose the strap on the scales rather than try and sweat off the excess weight.
Next up was challenger Danny “Swift” Garcia who, despite his heritage, was resoundingly booed by the crowd as they pelted him with shouts of discontent. Garcia seemed to enjoy it, though, as did his father/trainer, Angel Garcia. They made gestures to the crowd as did the small group of people surrounding them in green Team Garcia shirts.
Garcia weighed in at 139.5 which seemed to bolster his already healthy confidence. During the staredown, Garcia’s 24-year-old enthusiasm came out in full fervor, while Morales appeared the poised veteran, indicating that even he believed he was already in his opponent’s head.
The co-main event of the evening features junior middleweight James Kirkland (30-1, 27 KOs) in his first bout since his stirring TKO victory over Alfredo Angulo last November in what many believed to be the fight of the year.
Kirkland and his opponent, Carlos Molina (19-4-2, 6 KOs), made weight right under the junior middleweight limit of 154 by weighing in at 153.75 lb.
True to form, Kirkland and his trainer, the immensely serious Ann Wolfe, were all business as they strutted in for the weigh-in and promptly strutted right back out.
“We come to fight,” Wolfe said the day before at the media luncheon.
Finally, Golden Boy Promotions handed out a surprise addition to the bout sheet a couple days ago in that Jose Luis Castillo (63-11-1, 54 KOs) would appear as part of the untelevised portion of the undercard against Jose Miguel Cotto (32-3-2, 24 KOs), meaning fights fans in attendance will be treated to a little of boxing’s famed Mexico vs. Puerto Rico rivalry as an added bonus.
Castillo was 147.8 lb; Cotto 144.5 lb. Despite being listed as a welterweight, the fight is reportedly scheduled for 10 rounds at a contracted catch-weight of 145 lb, meaning Castillo was more than two pounds over.
The Boxing Tribune will provide live coverage of the event with tweets, photos and ringside reports so be sure to check back with us all weekend long.
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