Mexican fighter Erik Morales has decided to dump his father Jose ‘’Olivaritos’’ Morales in favor of veteran cornerman Jose Luis Lopez, who will call the shots when Morales engages Manny Pacquiao in a rematch on Jan. 21, 2006 in Las Vegas.

The decision was made recently and it is being rumored that the decision to hire Lopez was a result of Morales’ lackadaisical showing against Zahir Raheem last September in Los Angeles. In that fight, Raheem outworked the heavily-favored Morales to hammer out a clear-cut decision.

Morales is already training in the city of Queretaro with a battery of sparring partners joining him inside the camp as the three-division champion from Tijuana vows to repeat over the Filipino lefty and make up for the stunning loss to Raheem.

Like Morales, who edged Pacquiao on points at the MGM Grand, Pacquiao is also revving up for the return bout.

Pacquiao, who turns 27 on Dec. 17, left Manila last Dec. 3 and is already in the first phase of training at the Wild Card Boxing Club in Hollywood.

This will be the first time that Pacquiao is spending the holidays away from his loved ones.

Pacquiao was impressive in his last outing – a sixth-round knockout victory over Hector Velazquez of Mexico – on the same night Morales was upset by Raheem at the Staples Center.

Dubbed "The Battle," the Morales-Pacquiao rematch will be held at the 19,000-seat Thomas and Mack Center and will be shown on HBO Pay-PerView at $40.

—Nick GIONGCO