By Francisco Hernandez: Apparently Golden Boy Promotions finally decided to pay Juan Manuel Marquez, and the fight with legend Erik Morales appears to be a done deal for April 9, 2011 in Las Vegas for the 135 pound championship. Can Morales pull one last great fight out? The last time Morales fought like Morales was in his first encounter with Manny Pacquiao in which Terrible Morales gave the Filipino Typhoon Pacquiao a boxing lesson and rearranged Pacquiao’s face in the process. Since that fight Morales has not been Morales.

The problem with Morales is that he was not able to make the transition to the higher weight classes, probably because of forcing himself to make weight for so many years affected his body detrimentally, also because he won’t use Performance Enhancing Drugs to help him bring his power and speed into the higher weights. Juan Manuel Marquez on the other hand has always taken care of his health and his move up to lightweight was made carefully with proper nutrition and training, allowing his body to adjust to the higher weight, without losing speed and power. Juan Manuel Marquez may even be able to fight in the junior welterweight division without losing his power. The Welterweight division is too much for Marquez as was witnessed when he fought Floyd Mayweather. Marquez looked too small and didn’t have sufficient power to counteract Mayweather’s speed, in the lightweight division though Marquez can knockout anyone.

Erik Morales loves boxing, which is his life, it is hard for Morales to abandon the ring, but Morales’s hunger may not be sufficient to overcome nature which has made him pay the price for forcing himself to fight at a lower weight than was assigned to him by Mother Nature. Morales in his prime should have been fighting at junior welterweight, instead he was forcing himself to make super featherweight. The problem for Erik Morales is that on April 9, 2011 in Las Vegas he will not be facing an ordinary opponent; he will be facing a master of boxing technique, who gets into the best possible physical condition for his fights. Marquez is one of the best physically conditioned boxers. Morales has the hungry look in his eye, but the evidence indicates his body will not respond to that hungry desire, his desire will not be enough to stop the merciless destruction he will face in a ruthless Juan Manuel Marquez.