By Alex Hedges: On the 9th of April, the latest “insult fight” will take place, between the ridiculously faded legend, Erik Morales 51-6 (35 ko’s) and Marcos Maidana 29-2 (27 ko’s). These are the sort of fights that give boxing a black eye.

During his prime, Morales campaigned between super bantamweight and lightweight, but make no mistake, his best work was done south of 135lbs, and over half a decade ago, and Morales has recorded most of his defeats during recent years, pursuing an ill-advised and ultimately futile attempt to extend his career, long past it’s sell by date.

So on April 9th, Morales enters a ring with a man who might as well be decades younger than him, in Marcos Maidana, the final end to Morales storied career seems unavoidable. Maidana is a man, whom would not have lived with a prime Morales, they are leagues apart in terms of natural talent, however Morales is so incredibly shot that he cannot hope to outbox Maidana, meaning he can no longer even be considered an outsider to defeat such a limited and predictable opponent.

The fight is an insult to boxing, as all of these sort of mismatches are, expect Maidana to give Morales a terrible beating, probably forcing Morales to quit, and hopefully realize he should never go near a boxing ring again. It’s a shame that Maidana has decided to take this fight, rather than face an opponent with a slight possibility of being competitive, especially after Maidana gave a good showing against the young, up and coming Amir Khan in his last fight, it would have been much better to see Maidana face off against Juan Urango, Andriy Kotelnik or someone of that calibre than a used up old featherweight who offers nothing but name value.

After this fight, Maidana will have to step back up if he wants to earn another title shot, however by that time, either Amir Khan or Timothy Bradley will have unified the division, and will probably be looking for more marquee fights, against Manny Pacquiao or Floyd Mayweather.