Erik Morales and Manny Pacquiao will fight in the same ring on Saturday, September 10th.

Before one can start wagering the outcome of the fight with family, friends, or neighbors, understand both fighters will not fight the rematch of their epic bout they fought in March in Las Vegas. At least not now. Instead, both fighters will step inside the ring with different opponents.

Erik Morales will face former Olympian Zahir Raheem in the 12 round main event at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles. In the co-feature, Manny Pacquiao will take on Hector Velasquez in another 12 round fight.

The bout will headline a Top Rank card and will be televised on HBO's World Championship Boxing.

Morales and Raheem, along with their representatives and promoter Bob Arum, met with the press on Wednesday afternoon at the Beverly Hills Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA.

Always willing to do his best to promote his show, Bob Arum stated his excitement for promoting another show in Southern California. STAPLES Center, the site of the card, has become an ideal venue for promoters to showcase fights in the last two years.

Ironically, the last fight card at STAPLES was a Top Rank show that featured Julio Cesar Chavez facing Ivan Robinson in May. That card brought over 17,000 to the venue that houses the Lakers, Clippers, and the Kings.

Arum stated that the fight card in September will be bigger and draw more fans to STAPLES.

"We are very excited to come back to Los Angeles," said Arum, who also praised HBO and STAPLES Center. "This card on the 10th will be even better than the "Adios Los Angeles" card featuring Chavez. We know what the people in Los Angeles want. They will see a great show, as well as people watching HBO or the international feed."

Putting the economic aspect of the card aside, the principles spoke of fighting on the card and praised the talents of one another.

Morales, who carries and uses a laptop computer when traveling, made note of how talented Raheem is.

"I'm ready to fight on September 10th," said Morales, who will turn 29 nine days before the fight. "Raheem is a fast fighter with lots of experience. He has had a strong amateur background."

Morales' manager and advisor, Fernando Beltran, agreed with that assessment.

"We respect a fighter like Raheem. We saw his fight against Rocky Juarez and saw the injustices that occurred against him. He's a tremendous fighter."

Raheem, who won his last bout in Puerto Rico, is not worried about publicizing the bout. He is leaving that job to Morales.

"I'm not here to riff and raff or talk smack. He sells tickets. He is an icon. This is going to be my opportunity to come out on top. I'm in shape and I will come to fight."

Don House, who is quickly becoming one of the top trainers in boxing, hopes to steer Raheem to victory as he has had with undefeated Steven Luevano.

"Morales is an icon to me. We're training hard for this fight. We are really working hard and preparing to shock the world."

There is talk of a bout in December should he get by Raheem. The bout could be against Pacquiao or against another top fighter. Still, Morales feels content with how his career has gone. He is, of course, one of the bright stars in boxing.

To Arum, Morales means much more.

"If you had to dream about a fighter to promote, you would dream about Morales," concluded Arum.