Erik Morales in the Mountains of Mexico

WBC light welterweight champion Erik “Terrible” Morales (52-7, 36KOs) is heavily entrenched in the Otomi Mountains of south central Mexico on the second leg of his training camp for his upcoming 1st defense of his title when he faces undefeated Danny “Swift” Garcia (22-0, 14KOs) of Philadelphia, PA. The twelve round bout will be held at the Reliant Arena in Houston, Texas, on Saturday, March 24th, and televised live by HBO. The fight card that also features light middleweight James Kirkland versus Carlos Molina will be presented by Golden Boy Promotions.

After capturing the WBC 140 lbs. title last March, Morales of Tijuana, Mexico, found himself in camp this past December for a January return but had to postpone after emergency gall bladder surgery. Now completely healed, Morales is set to resume his career. The twenty-three year old Garcia will be taking a considerable step when he faces the four time champion in as many divisions. In his last bout, Garcia defeated via split decision former champion Kendall Holt to capture the vacant WBO Inter-Continental title. Garcia also owns wins over former lightweight champion Nate Campbell and tough Mike Amaoutis.

Morales won his first title in 1997 by stopping Daniel Zaragoza for the WBC 122. strap. He then went on to win titles at featherweight and super featherweight along with his current light welterweight crown on his way to becoming one of the most celebrated Mexican fighters in history.

Making his permanent training camp at the Otomi Ceremonial Center near Temoaya, Mexico, since ’96, Morales is joined by his father and trainer Jose “Olivaritos” Morales, assistant trainer Fernando Fernandez, personal assistant and driver “Choko” Murrillo and super flyweight Ivan “Niño Maravilla” Morales (16-0, 11KOs), Erik’s younger brother who will be making his stateside debut on the under card of March 24th. Early next week Morales will begin his sparring sessions, flying in several sparring partners from different points of Mexico.