Morales Is a Hit as Featherweight

It didn’t take long for Erik Morales to make his presence felt in the featherweight division--less than a round.

That’s all it took for Morales, making his featherweight debut, to knock Mike Juarez down. It was the first of three knockdowns for Morales en route to a third-round technical knockout victory.

Morales’ triumph highlighted the undercard of the Oscar De La Hoya--Shane Mosley welterweight title fight at Staples Center on Saturday night.

Morales, of Tijuana, dropped Juarez with a body shot in the first round, a right-left combination to the head near the end of the second round, and landed a hook at 1:12 of the third round that prompted referee Dr. James Jen-Kim to stop the bout.

“I was happy with my performance,� said Morales, whose record improved to 37-0 with 29 knockouts. “I had an opponent who was willing to fight and that made me look good.�

Morales landed 45% of his punches, 74 of 165, compared to the 18%, 20 of 110, landed by Juarez.

“The biggest difference for me was my stamina,� added Morales, the longtime World Boxing Council super bantamweight champion. “This weight is good for me. At 122 pounds, I wasn’t able to move and do the things that I wanted to do because I was too weak.

“I did feel stronger with my punches and just plain stronger at this [heavier] weight.�

Juarez, of Omaha, saw his record drop to 22-9-1.

Also on the undercard, Diego Corrales, of Sacramento, retained his International Boxing Assn. junior lightweight title with a 10th-round TKO of Justin Juuko of Musaka, Uganda.

The much-taller Corrales, who enjoyed a five-inch height advantage over Juuko, spent most of the early rounds peppering Juuko’s head with hooks, and knocked Juuko down the first time with 15 seconds left in the fourth round.

But Juuko (34-4-1) came on strong in the ninth round, though it appeared he became tired and set himself up for the stoppage in the 10th by referee Marty Denkin.

Corrales led on two of the judges’ scorecards, 88-82, but judge Gary Merritt had the fight even, 85-85, after nine rounds.

“I threw a million punches,� said Corrales, of Sacramento, who improved to 32-0 with 26 knockouts. “It took everything I had. [Juuko was] very tough, my God.

“[But] he didn’t have me in trouble in the ninth.�

Said Juuko: “I got cut in the left eye in the second round and I couldn’t see anything the rest of the fight. He’s a very good fighter, but I thought I gave him a good fight.

“The times I went down I was not hurt,� Juuko added. “I went down to recuperate.�

Corrales is considering a fight later this year with Floyd Mayweather.

In the first bout of the evening, Shannan Taylor, the WBC’s No. 2-rated welterweight, made his U.S. debut in dominating fashion.

Taylor, of New South Wales, Australia, slugged out a 10-round unanimous decision over Charles Whitaker, of Georgetown, Caymon Islands.

Taylor, bothered by a bloody nose suffered in the second round, dropped Whitaker with an overhand right midway through the fourth round.

Taylor’s record improved to 27-0-1 while Whitaker’s dropped to 17-9.

And in the novelty department . . .

Eric “Butterbean� Esch recorded a second-round knockout of Kerry Biles. Biles (2-2), of Kansas City, actually showed boxing skill early in the first round, but then ran out of gas and into a Butterbean right hook to the ear coming out of a clench.

The fight was stopped by referee Raul Caiz at 2:52 of the second round, improving Esch’s record to 58-1-2.

Plus, in a bout that elicited more laughs than cheers, Mia Rosales St. John of Calabasas beat Linda Robinson of Woodway, Texas, by unanimous decision in a four-round women’s featherweight fight. Rosales St. John remained unbeaten in improving to 18-0 while Robinson suffered her first defeat in four fights, dropping to 3-1.