http://www.maxboxing.com/Kim/Kim042406.asp

Last September, Zahir Raheem would upset Erik Morales by outboxing him over 12 rounds in front of a highly partisan 'El Terrible' contingent at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Morales would still go on to fight in a highly lucrative return bout with Manny Pacquiao despite the loss.

As for Raheem?


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He would be shelved by Top Rank for one reason or another in the subsequent months following his career defining victory. He finally gets back into the thick of things when he faces Acelino Freitas for the vacant WBO lightweight crown this Saturday night from the Foxwoods Resort and Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut.

Once again, it seems as though Raheem will be going into enemy territory against a crowd favorite.

"I don't even look at it like that anymore, to be honest with you," Raheem told MaxBoxing with a laugh. "I just go in there, y'know what I mean? It doesn't matter to me."

But this face-off against the hard-hitting Brazilian is a must-win situation in this regard: Win, and be a player in what could be a wide-open and lucrative lightweight division. Lose, and well, it'll be like the Morales win never took place.

"This is all or nothing," agreed his manager, Cameron Dunkin, "and Zahir knows that and he really looks great and he's ready to go. He can't slip up one time because he's a guy who's tried to fight his way into play and he's never had a helping hand. He's got to earn it. So again, he's going in as an underdog at the Foxwoods, not a great place for him to go. His back’s to the wall, again, just like it was with Morales out in L.A. and he'll get it done."

He'll also be doing so with a layoff of almost eight months. Instead of capitalizing on his victory over the Mexican star, he's languished on the sideline.

"I couldn't understand it because I thought for sure that Barrera and Golden Boy would call, or that someone would want to fight him after beating Morales," said a frustrated Dunkin. "I thought that something would happen and nothing has happened. I guess the shame of it is - and this is what everyone's going to see in this fight - that this kid is a tremendous fighter and it's such a shame that a guy with this much talent and real ability can't get on TV. It's a shame."

It's even more puzzling because Top Rank, which handles Raheem, has more shows (and more television dates) than any other promotional entity in the industry, yet still couldn't find a slot for him. One of the problems it seems is that Top Rank, outside of one Floyd Mayweather, concentrates most of its business towards the Latin market. Raheem has joked that he should change his name to Gonzalez or Castillo to get the attention of his promoter, and he admits there is some lingering resentment over his treatment post-Morales.

"Of course," he says, "I would be lying if I said there wasn't. But I perform well over adversity; it happened, things were out of my control. There's nothing I could do about it, but I try to stay positive and focus on the positive things in my corner. I can point out a lot of things that just aren't right or don't go right but it's not going to do me any good to
dwell on it. I've got to make the best of it - that's what I'm going to do."

He believes he'll defeat 'Popo' no matter when and where they fight.

"Absolutely, all I have to do is perform. I believe I am one of the finest boxers in the business," he says unequivocally."All I have to do is perform. I don't see this guy beating me, at all. I always think positive about everything because I thank God I'm actually getting opportunities. Before, I couldn't even get these kinds of fights. I had to settle for guys whose record was 50-50. Now, I'm getting these marquee names, getting title shots. So y'know I'm happy, it's been a long time coming for me."

Raheem says rust will be no factor.

"I'm 136 right now. I stayed in shape, I didn't overtrain but I stayed active because after beating Morales I know it's not about winning world titles and becoming world champion, it's about staying on top, not just getting on top. I'm still fighting for that position. So once I get this world title, I'm looking to leave a legacy for decades. That's my goal in boxing. Not just becoming world champion and just be here. Nah, I want to leave a legacy."

In his bout with Morales, there were times when it seemed that the slick boxing native of Philly was skating around the ring as if he were Brian Boitano. More than once, he had problems with his footing, and as Mars Blackmon once uttered, 'It's gotta be the shoes', right?

"I really don't know, man," said a still-puzzled Raheem, a 1996 bronze medalist for the United States. "But that's why I stayed away from the writing that was on the canvas and I really couldn't tell you; I don't know. But I was definitely slippin'." And because of that, like football teams that bring several different sized cleats to adjust to the length of grass on the gridiron, Raheem will take the same precautions and try and conduct his own version of a walk-through. "I think maybe now I'm going to have at least 2, 3 pairs of shoes and I'm gonna put'em on and see if I can go to the arena the day before the fight and see if I can just move around in there.

"That should make sure, I mean that was uncomfortable."

Raheem- Freitas is the classic match-up of boxer versus puncher and Raheem is eager for Freitas to be the aggressor.

"I want him to come on in, y'know what I mean?" he said, laughing at the thought. "I want him to because, hey, I can tell you one thing, Morales wasn't too eager to come in here and a lot of guys aren't going to. A lot of guys when they get in there, they think, 'Oh, he's a slick boxer' but once they get in there and feel it, 'Oh, this guy can punch' they're not going to be too eager to get in there. You'll see.

"He's not going to be too eager to just rush in and bully me. He's not going to be able to do that."

But in the past few years under the tutelage of Oscar Suarez, Freitas hasn't been quite the ferocious offensive machine he was in the past. Where once he just walked in and blew people away, he now spends just as much time on his toes bouncing away on the outside.

"Even if he tries to be herky-jerky and jump around, he still won’t be able to outsmart me," claims Raheem. "He's not as smart as I am in the ring. His ring generalship, he's been a puncher for 30 years, he's trying to change now and turn around and box? But it's not just about boxing. The Corrales fight showed he's not an accurate puncher, he's not a sharp-shooter, he just throws them quick and he loses a lot of power.

"He's trying to change and I'm pretty sure Oscar Suarez, who trained Prince Naseem Hamed, is trying to teach him how to be a boxer. But he was born a puncher. He's trying to change his style, now, but it's going to be totally different when you're in the ring with a guy like me, who's as smart as I am."

If he should put another big-game notch in his belt (and capture the WBO's), it'll be impossible to ignore Raheem any longer.

"Absolutely, absolutely," agreed Raheem, with a laugh, "and that's what I'm looking to do. I'm going to keep on in this. If I can get another marquee name after that, I'm going to keep going. It's just like this: I'm going to keep surprising, keep shocking the world."