By Jason Kim: WBC light welterweight champion Erik Morales (52-7, 36 KO’s) and his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions are looking for Morales next opponent for him to make his first – and likely only – title defense of his World Boxing Council title on December 10th in Tijuana, Mexico.

Morales, 35, then wants to move down to lightweight, 135 lbs, and challenge for the WBC lightweight title against the winner of this Saturday’s fight between Jorge Linares and Antonio DeMarco. As for his WBC light welterweight title, Morales will likely vacate the title rather than defend it against his number #1 contender Ajose Olusegun (30-0, 14 KO’s).

Morales would have a very hard time beating Olusegun, an all action fighter who throws a lot of punches. That’s a fight Morales would get beaten up in all likelihood in the process of losing his WBC light welterweight title. Morales showed pretty clearly in stopping fringe contender Pablo Cesar Cano that Morales doesn’t really belong at light welterweight.

Morales lacks the power to dominate at this weight and it was more than a little unsettling to see him struggling to beat Cano, who is someone the top contenders would make easy work of. Morales just doesn’t have the power to easily beat the lower level contenders and he would likely be taken out if he defends his title against Olusegun.

It’s unclear if Morales will be any better off at lightweight, though, because he may have problems making the weight without draining himself. If you look at Morales’ physique since he made his comeback, he’s got flab around his midsection that appears resistant to exercise and dieting.

For him to take off more weight, Morales will likely lose valuable muscle and be too weak to win a 5th world title against the likes of DeMarco and Linares. DeMarco is vulnerable, but not Linares would be a lot of problems for a weakened Morales.