By James Slater – Mexican legend Erik Morales, still in pursuit of a fourth world title that would see him make history, is scheduled, according to Fightnews.com, to be back in the ring on December 18th in Tijuana. Fighting again at light-welterweight, against an as yet unannounced opponent, the 34-year-old could be just one win away from an all-Mexican super-fight with world lightweight king Juan Manuel Marquez.
Reportedly, Morales’ next fight, his 57th in a career that has seen him thus far reach stats of 50-6(35), will be shown on Showtime along with the Jean Pascal-Bernard Hopkins light-heavyweight title clash from Canada that same day..
Not knowing just who Morales – already a world champion at super-bantamweight, featherweight and super-featherweight – will be fighting a week before Christmas day, makes it tough when deciding whether or not he will make it through to that possible match-up with “Dinamita.” Last time out, against the brave Scot Willie Limond (who, Boxing News magazine reports, had severe problems breathing after the 5th-round of their September 11th fight due to the altitude in Mexico, and this is why Limond abandoned his boxing approach and went for broke in the 6th-round), Morales looked rusty early, but strong in the middle rounds; getting a 6th-round KO win.
That performance even brought forth memories of Morales’ fabulous heyday for some fans, and at the very least the win showed Erik has something left in the tank. But enough to trouble Marquez?
Marquez, who must get past the tough and determined Michael Katsidis on November 27th or else all chances of a clash with Morales will disappear, is older than “El Terrible,” even though he is by far the fresher fighter at age 37. Also, if Morales wants that fourth title, he will have to get down to 135-pounds. Can he do this at this stage in his career, without weakening himself?
Make no mistake, if Marquez and Morales both win their next fight (again, we can make no prediction on Morales’ bout until we know who he will be squaring off with), all of Mexico will become enthralled by the idea of the two men meeting up in a “better late than never,” “Battle of Mexico” mega-fight. And who knows, with the heart and sheer desire Morales has and always will have, he might just test the fresher, arguably classier Marquez in a great fight.
It seems we can mark it down as a future event for 2011 – Marquez Vs. Morales. Unless either Australia’s Katsidis wins in November, or the unknown factor that is the dreaded TBA upsets Morales the following month, that is.