“He tells me this is your time. To make the most of my opportunities” that is the advice that then Jr. Middleweight champion of the world-Oscar De La Hoya once bestowed upon a young fighter named Danny Perez in 2002. Almost 8 years have passed since Perez helped The Golden Boy prepare for what would be the finest hour of his professional career- an 11-round TKO destruction over arch-rival Fernando Vargas.

As for Perez, well, he’s had modest success in picking up a couple of trinkets in the form of regional titles here and there- but it’s fair to say that he did not take Oscar’s golden advice, he didn’t make the most of his opportunities.

The two will again cross paths tonight when Danny ‘Dynamite’ Perez (34-6-17 KOs) takes on Golden Boy Promotions exciting young prospect Erislandy Lara (10-0-6 KOs) in a 10-round Jr. The Perez-Lara encounter has the potential to provide the fireworks that fight fans look for.

It’s one fight that the 37-year-old De La Hoya has been eagerly anticipating. “Danny Perez will be Erislandy Lara’s toughest test to date and a fight I’m really looking forward to” De La Hoya said. Oscar thinks so highly of the 26-year-old Cuban southpaw, that he is giving him the main event slot on Showtime’s widely popular series ShoBox: The New Generation-which is a program that is designed to showcase up-and coming fighters.

At 33, Danny Perez is neither up-and coming nor is he a prospect- his best days have clearly come and gone. He knows why Golden Boy and Showtime have come calling!

From 2005-2008, Danny had withdrawn from professional prizefighting, last year he told “I just had to step back, and let my body recover.” During his time off from the sweet science, he took up residency at the Lava Fitness Club as a boxing instructor. Shortly thereafter, Perez found the itch to fight again, and returned to the sport that he had participated in since he was 12-years-old.

After a hard fought victory over journeyman Daniel Stan-islavjecic in July of 2008, at the 4th & B in Downtown San Diego, Danny was asked to play gatekeeper to Golden Boy prospect Julio “Baby face” Garcia in a match that would take place on the undercard for Marquez-Casamayor.

At just 21-years-old Garcia had compiled an impressive record of (41-3-35 KOs) needles to say, many of his wins came as a result of careful match-making by sticking him in the ring with tomato cans. Danny Perez was no tomato can, he outhustled, and outworked his younger opponent by landing 190 more punches en-route to an easy unanimous decision win. The loss proved to be so demoralizing for Garcia, that he has not laced-up the gloves since.

After the Garcia fight, Perez would go on to win once more before dropping a lopsided decision to Chicago’s Carlos Molina last June. Perez has yet to fight since.

In a stark contrast, Erislandy Lara fought seven-times last year, with four of those victories coming by way of knockout. With a total of only 42 rounds boxed in his professional career you wouldn’t think that the Guantanamo native possesses the aptitude to compete at such a high level, but that number is deceiving.

Lara came to this country with the experience of having more than 300 amateur fights under his belt. Whatever pedigree Lara might be lacking, you can rest assured that renowned Houston trainer Ronnie Shields is working on tightening-up any chinks that Lara may have in his armor.

If Danny Perez is to have any chance in crashing Lara’s coming out party tonight, he will have to revert to the Dynamite of old, and fight a smart and sustained fight. I must admit that it’s hard to envision that scenario playing out, as Lara is the one who has looked Dynamite as of late.

EL Gran Chisme

“Terrible” Morales victorious in ring return

When Mexican Legend Erik “El Terrible” Morales first announced that he would be returning to the ring after a two-and-a half year retirement, the initial reaction was that he was making a “Terrible” mistake. With scores of 117-111, and 116-112 twice, Morales proved his critics wrong by cruising to a victory over Nicaraguan Jose Alfaro Morales Last Saturday night, in Monterrey Nuevo Leon, Mexico. With the win, Morales improved his record to (49-6-34 KOs) but more importantly he was able to keep his dream of becoming the first Mexican fighter to win four different titles in four different weight classes alive.