By Jason Kim: 35-year-old former four division world champion Erik Morales (52-8, 36 KO’s) is getting ready for his October 20th title challenge against recent Amir Khan conqueror WBA/WBC light welterweight division Danny Garcia (24-0, 15 KO’s) at the Barclays Center, in Brooklyn, New York.

Morales didn’t really give a good account of himself in his last fight, a 12 round unanimous decision loss to Danny Garcia last March. Morales lost his title on the scales the day before that fight when he failed to make weight. Much like Adrien Broner, Morales didn’t even bother trying to strip off the extra weight after he failed to make the weight on his first attempt.

Instead, he merely let them strip the title from him and he focused on rehydrating immediately to try and at least win the fight. Morales fought poorly, looking stiff at the waist and having problems with Garcia’s powerful left hooks. Morales had his moments in the fight by breaking Garcia’s nose with his jabs, but other than that, Morales was out of his league.

This time Morales vows to come in better shape and give Garcia a harder fight. However, it’s still difficult to imagine seeing Morales winning against the 24-year-old Garcia. Morales is older, slower and weaker than Garcia. That puts him in a big hole almost immediately.

When Morales fought at super bantamweight, featherweight and super featherweight, his work rate and power enabled him to beat quality opposition. But after he left boxing for three years and then launched a comeback in 2010, Morales has been fighting at light welterweight and he simply doesn’t have the same kind of power that he once had earlier in his career. Morales is still a very smart fighter and he knows his way around the ring better than most of his opposition, but it’s going to be tough on him against a fighter as young and talented as Garcia.