By Dan Ambrose: According to Steve Kim, he’s reporting that Lucas Matthysse has pulled out of his September 17th fight against Erik Morales due to illness. Matthysse was/is supposed to be fighting Morales for the vacant WBC light welterweight title on the undercard of Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Victor Ortiz. The Morales-Matthysse fight was supposed to be one of the better fights on the card.

If Matthysse does in fact pull out, a replacement opponent will be sought to step in and fight Morales for the vacant WBC strap. However, it’s going to make the fight a bit of a joke considering the chances are high that no one of quality will be found at this late date.

It will probably be a lower level guy, and Morales will essentially be handed the WBC title without much of a struggle. The good news is it will Morales a 4th world title, but the bad news it will be a paper title and won’t get him much respect. Hopefully, Matthysse can still make the fight. Morales is coming off of a loss to Marcos Maidana in his last fight, and has looked terrible in three of his four fights since making a comeback last year. It’s hard to see what Morales has done to deserve a title shot given his level opposition since making a comeback. And Matthysse has lost two out of his last three fights, making some boxing fans shake their heads about him being picked for this fight. A replacement for Matthysse will have to be a good fighter for the card not to be weakened by this.