By Dan Ambrose: Rather than face 34-year-old Erik Morales in a rematch, WBA light welterweight interim champion Marcos Maidana (30-2, 27 KO’s) is waiting for his big money rematch shot against WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan, provided that Khan wins his next fight on July 23 against possibly IBF light welterweight champion Zab Judah.

Morales was hoping to get a rematch with Maidana, but Maidana priced himself out of the fight by asking for too much money. Morales will now have to go in a different direction against another opponent possibly in August. It’s too bad for Morales, because Maidana was someone that Morales matched up well against. To be sure, Morales clearly lost his fight to Maidana last April in a 12 round decision loss, but he at least was competitive against him.

Morales would be in equal danger of getting beat if he’s put in with a quality light welterweight contender. But the difference here is that Morales wouldn’t get nearly as much credit for getting beaten again because few of the other top contenders in the division are as respected as Maidana. Morales getting beaten by perceived lesser fighters than Maidana would be a bad signal for Morales that perhaps it’s time for him to hang up the gloves and retire. I don’t really care to see Morales fight Maidana again and lose by another decision, and that’s what would likely happen because Morales doesn’t throw enough punches and would likely fade again late in the fight.

Khan will have to fight Maidana again soon or risk having his WBA title stripped from him by the WBA. Maidana is Khan’s mandatory challenger and it’s highly unlikely that Maidana can be bought off with step aside payments. He would likely refuse an offers for him to step aside for a year or two, and would likely force Khan either to vacate his WBA title or take the fight. I can see Khan vacating rather than fighting Maidana again, in particular if Khan beats IBF champion Judah on July 23. Khan would then have two titles and he would be in the position to give up the WBA title in order to avoid a very, very risky rematch with Maidana. It wouldn’t endear Khan with the boxing public, but the casual fans would be in the dark about it and wouldn’t know anything or care. Khan could then wait around at his leisure until WBC/WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley is ready to fight him.

As for Morales, he needs to aim low and go after one of the vulnerable fringe contenders in the division rather than a top guy. Morales is simply too vulnerable now and would likely beaten by most if not all of the top five contenders in the division. Morales needs to be matched carefully until he can get a cash out fight against Khan, Bradley or Judah.