Manny to face tough Mexican

It doesn’t look like either Kevin Kelley or Carlos Hernandez will be three-time world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent after all.

Top Rank promoter Bob Arum yesterday was quoted by a boxing website as confirming that Pacquiao will face Mexican veteran Hector Velasquez on Sept. 10 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Home Box Office (HBO) will telecast the fight but not on pay-per-view. It will be available to the network’s cable subscribers.

On the same card, Erik Morales will take on 1996 Olympian Zahir Raheem who once knocked out two-time world titlist Luisito Espinosa.

If Pacquiao and Morales win, they will likely slug it out in a pay-per-view rematch on HBO in December.

Arum described Velasquez as "a tough customer."

But the prognosis is Pacquiao and Morales will win convincingly to heighten the interest for their return fight. Last March, Morales beat Pacquiao on a unanimous 12-round decision in Las Vegas but the two-point margin on the three judges’ scorecards was far from convincing.

Pacquiao overcame a lot of adversity, on and off the ring, in finishing the fight on his feet and was only a point behind entering the 10th round. He vowed to defeat Morales in their next meeting.

There was previous talk that Pacquiao would fight Kelley in the September tune-up then Hernandez in December before taking on either Morales or Marco Antonio Barrera in a March pay-per-view bout on HBO.

Although the Pacquiao-Morales fight last March drew over 350,000 pay-per-view buys, the rematch may not sell as much because December is traditionally a low month for sales due to disposable income being used for holiday shopping. A network expert said it may be smarter to postpone the potential pay-per-view blockbuster to March when fans will be more disposed to spend on one-time TV hookups.

Arum said both Raheem and Velasquez are "tougher than you think" when asked if he was putting up patsies to assure a Pacquiao-Morales rematch.

"Zahir has a tough style for anyone to fight and the guy Pacquiao’s fighting is also a tough customer," said Arum, quoted in boxingtalk. Raheem and Morales are both managed by Arum.

Velasquez, 30, is set to box Aldo Valtierra in Chicago tomorrow. A win will seal his appointment with Pacquiao, if Arum has his way.

Velasquez has a 41-10-2 record, with 30 KOs. He’s coming off four straight wins, three inside the distance. Velasquez captured the World Boxing Council Fecarbox featherweight crown via a fifth round stoppage of Concepcion Velasquez in Tijuana last August.

Velasquez turned pro in 1993 and lists among his victims former world champions Guty Espadas and Raul Perez. He has lost decisions to world titleholders Robbie Peden and Israel Vasquez.

Last June, Vasquez was held to a majority 10-round draw by Eiichi Sugama in Amagasaki, Japan–the only country he has fought in other than the US and Mexico.