MANILA, Philippines — Ageless Mexican prize fighters Erik Morales (51 wins, 6 losses, 35 knockouts) and Juan Manuel Marquez (52-5-38 KOs) — who both engaged eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao to epic ring battles — aim to prove who’s the better between them when they collide on a proposed April 16 match in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Although no concrete details have been leaked out of the said fight,it has been reported that the bout is close to being finalized, with the 34-year-old Morales aiming for a shot at history in trying to become the first Mexican boxer to hold four world titles in as many divisions.
“The last fight against the Dominican Francisco Lorenzo was complicated, but we got the better of him,” said Erik Morales’ father and trainer Jose, referring to his son’s 12-round unanimous decision victory over the 39-year-old Lorenzo in Tijuana, Mexico last December. “Erik’s experience helped him very much to get the win,” the elder Morales added, as quoted by Jose Antonio Soriano on his post at the Boxing Scene website.
“My son is 34 and hopefully his body will still continue to respond. Erik has fought the best, has experience, and has technique. The three fights he did in his return were good; we started from welterweight against Nicaraguan Jose Alfaro. Then we went lower to 140 pounds to face Willie Limond where he won the WBC silver belt, and finally against Lorenzo in Tijuana,” Jose Morales continued.
“This year, we want my son to win his fourth world title and leave a deeper mark on the world and on Mexican boxing. He is talking with two names to fight in world title bouts, and one of them is Marquez,” said the elder Morales.
“The bout will be at lightweight, so training will be much stronger and harder.”
The 37-year-old Marquez, on the other hand, had his own share of rough outings against Juan Diaz, the unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr., and recently Michael Katsidis.
He was earlier considered to be one of Pacquiao’s next possible foes, together with unbeaten welterweight king Andre Berto and the veteran Shane Mosley. Mosley, later, got the nod from Pacquiao and will be facing the pound-for-pound king on May 7 in Las Vegas.
With the third fight against Pacquiao now ruled out, Marquez’s camp is now studying their options and looking at other boxers, even eyeing to go up higher weight classes to challenge the best fighters available.
One of them is WBA junior welterweight king and Pacquiao’s understudy Amir Khan of the United Kingdom.
"Marquez has expressed some interest in going up to 140 and perhaps maybe fighting Amir Khan," said Golden Boy Promotions (GBP) matchmaker Eric Gomez, as cited by Fanhouse’s Lem Satterfield. "Amir Khan is of interest, and we have tried making that fight before. So there is some interest."
Against Khan, who previously earned a much deserved citation following his dominant showing against Marcos Maidana last December, Marquez will be targeting to achieve the same feat as Morales’ in trying to snatch a fourth world title in as many weight divisions — a first in the history of Mexican boxing, as was mentioned earlier.
"We are going to see if we can get that fight done," said GBP CEO Richard Schaefer of the proposed Marquez-Morales bout. "That's one of the fights that we will be working on in the next couple of days and weeks."
Erickson Beco, Manila Bulletin
