By William Mackay: It’s too bad that former three division world champion Erik Morales (51-6, 35 KO’s) can age in reverse because he’s going to need to be at least seven years younger than he is now to have any kind of chance at beating Marcos Maidana (29-2, 27 KO’s) on April 16th in their fight at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Morales, 34, has accepted this fight like a person making a huge gamble that they can beat the odds and come out on top. To be sure, if Morales were to win this fight, he would likely find himself getting a title shot almost immediately. Unfortunately, this is real life and Morales chances of beating a slugger like Maidana is incredibly slim.
For Morales to win, he literally have to get a lot younger in a big hurry before next month, and even then, he would still likely have a lot of problems because Maidana is so much stronger than Morales ever was to begin with. We’re talking about a fighter whose best weight was featherweight and now he’s put on some size, a lot of fat, and is fighting at light welterweight against arguably the hardest puncher in the division in the 27-year-old Maidana.
It doesn’t look good for Morales. His fans still think he can win, but if you look at the way that Morales is struggling to beat the 2nd tier opposition he’s been facing since he started his comeback in 2010, it tells you all you need to know about Morales’ chances of beating Maidana.
The fact of the matter is Morales is going life and death with the B and C level fighters he’s been facing and he’s now expected to beat one of the best fighters in the division. I’d say it’s pretty much impossible. Morales will take his beating and be left with a big decision about whether to carry on with his career or hang up the gloves. I’d suggest he hang them up unless he can maybe get lucky and nab a fight against Marco Antonio Barrera or Juan Manuel Marquez before stepping away from the sport.
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