Representatives for Erik Morales have a confirmed the future Mexican Hall of Famer will Marcos Maidana on April 9.
The opportunity to fight Maidana came after months of negotiations with Juan Manuel Marquez fell through. Marquez is currently attempting to revise his promotional contract with Golden Boy.
Marcos Maidana is viewed as one of the top contenders in the division, having just lost a close battle to WBA titlist Amir Khan. Erik Morales has not been held in the same esteem, having fought low-end opposition in his three 2010 fights. However, the WBC has inserted Morales as the #1 contender to Bradley’s newly won title. Morales won the WBC’s 140 pound “Silver” title by scoring a decision win over Francisco Lorenzo in December. The winner of Morales-Maidana will likely be installed by the WBC as Bradley’s mandatory opponent, which may stall his plans to unify the titles against Amir Khan later this year.
The April 9 Golden Boy card will be held at the MGM Grand.
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Erik Morales is a tough, throwback fighter. No one could ever question his heart in the ring. But this is a fight where he’s going to get steamrolled.
The last glimpse of a formidable Morales was in 2005, when he became the last man to defeat Manny Pacquiao. Pacquaio came back to knock out Morales twice in return bouts, and in the last fight Morales decided to get counted out rather than take more punishment.
Morales is an “old” 34 years old due to the many wars he’d had in the ring. On purely skill, he’s light years ahead of the crude Maidana. But at this stage he doesn’t have anything to keep Maidana off him.
Maybe Morales sees something we don’t, but my hope is that he doesn’t take a prolonged beating in there.
Beats, Boxing and Mayhem 