ROSEMONT, Illinois – It will be the Battle of Midway when three-division world champion ERIK “El TERRIBLE” MORALES, making his Chicago debut and seeking his record fourth world title in as many weight divisions, rumbles with WBC lightweight champion and Chicago native DAVID DIAZ in the main event of “The War for 4!” Promoted by Top Rank Inc., in association with Dominic Pesoli’s 8 Count Promotions, “The War for 4!” world championship extravaganza will take place Saturday, August 4 from the Allstate Arena..
The event will also feature two additional world title fights and the Chicago debut of undefeated welterweight contender Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr., son of the legendary three-division world champion and Mexican icon Julio Cesar Chavez. In additional, a full under card featuring some of Chicago’s hottest prospects will be announced shortly.
Tickets for the fight, priced at $300, $200, $100, $50 and $30 are now on sale through Ticketmaster at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling 312-559-1212. The Allstate Arena is located 6920 N. Mannheim in Rosemont. Further information can also be obtained at their website, www.allstatearena.com
“Erik is out to grab some history,” said promoter Bob Arum, CEO and founder of Top Rank. “He is already one of the all-time greats. If he can win this title it would be a fitting conclusion to what has already been a Hall of Fame career, but it won’t be easy. Diaz is no walk in the park and Morales needs to be at the top of his game for this fight.”
Said Dominic Pesoli, President of 8 Count Productions, “I’m thrilled to work with Top Rank on this event. The Diaz/Morales fight is going to be an outstanding fight between
two great warriors. And we’re putting together a terrific undercard for this event which will be announced shortly.
We’re also very happy to return to the Allstate Arena. The crowd at the Fernando Vargas/Javier Castillejo fight two years ago was terrific and we’re expected a huge crowd for this event.”
Morales (48-5, 34 KOs) of Tijuana, Mexico will be seeking to become the first Mexican boxer in history to win four world championships in four different weight classes, a feat not even achieved by the legendary Chavez . Morales held WBC world titles at 122, 126 and 130 pounds.
Recognized as one of the best and most exciting fighters in the world, Morales is 18-2 in world championship fights and his pair of trilogy fights against Manny Pacquiao and Marco Antonio Barrera produced some of the best fights in boxing history. His three fights against Pacquiao exceeded one million pay-per-view buys, a record for that weight class.
“I will always fight for the people,” declared Morales. ‘I have given them all I can inside the ring and hope that they will believe in me one more time as i try to accomplish my biggest personal goal in boxing to become Mexico’s first four-time world champion.
At age 21, Morales became a world champion for the first time when he stopped Hall of Famer Daniel Zaragoza to win the WBC super bantamweight championship in El Paso, Texas in 1997. He successfully defended the belt seven times. In February of 2000, he unified the title, beating WBO champion Marco Antonio Barrera, which was awarded “Fight of the Year,” by The Ring magazine.
He added a second world title to his trophy case, winning a unanimous decision over Guty Espadas, in February 2002, for the WBC featherweight title. Morales joined the great Julio Cesar Chavez as a three-division world champion by defeating Jesus Chavez to win the WBC super featherweight championship in February 2004, a title he would unify in his next fight, in July 2004, when he won a unanimous decision over IBF champion Carlos Hernandez.
Morales became the only Mexican to beat Manny Pacquiao, giving the Filipino icon a true boxing lesson, in their March 2005 fight, in what many consider Morales’ best performance of his great career.
Diaz (32-1-1, 17 KOs), a 1996 U.S. Olympian, will be making the first defense of his title. He waited a long time to get his opportunity for a world title and when it came he was ready. Diaz stopped the then interim world champion Jose Armando Santa Cruz in the 10th round of a fight he was losing before knocking out Santa Cruz.
“Winning the world championship was very special, but facing a great champion like Morales is just as special. This will be a fight to remember”, said Diaz.