Morales vs Barrios Could Be for WBC Title at 140 Pounds

Jose Luis Camarillo of notifight.com and BoxingScene.com reports that Erik Morales' September 17 fight could well be for the vacant WBC junior welterweight title. With Timothy Bradley inactive, Morales has filed a formal request to fight for the belt, and the WBC has sent the request to its board for approval.

The 34-year-old Morales (51-7, 35 KO) will be facing Argentina's Jorge Barrios (50-4-1, 35 KO) on the Mayweather vs Ortiz undercard on HBO PPV, from the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Currently, Morales is ranked as the No. 3 contender to the title by the WBC. Barrios has never fought above lightweight, where he has no notable fights. He is unranked in any division by the WBC.

In other words, the WBC approving this fight for the vacant belt would again show incredible bias. Currently, Ajose Olusegun (WBC #2 contender) and Ali Chebah (WBC #6 contender) are scheduled to fight an eliminator on September 30. By any fair standard (while taking into consideration the limitations of boxing matchmaking and whatnot) if they're going to strip Timothy Bradley of his title, that should be bumped to a vacant title fight.

If the WBC approves the title fight, and Morales wins, he will technically be the first Mexican fighter to ever win major, non-interim titles in four weight classes. Considering how hard so many -- including Morales -- have fought over the years only to come up short running down that dream, it would feel just a little cheap for it to happen this way. But then again, maybe that's perfect for today's boxing climate. After years of people caring about that, everyone just gets a cheap, manufactured knockoff of what it could have been.


Hmmm - very strange the way this has worked out. What do you all think and where does Khan fit into this?

Source: http://www.badlefthook.com/

Cheers
Dazstarr

Looks as thought the governing bodies are doing everything in their power to hand Morales a historical 4th world title which would be the first for a mexican.

alma wrote:Looks all conveniently set for a unification - rumours that Khan was going to fight Morales would be even stronger if 3 belts were on the line

Quite possibly Alma. I hope Khan becomes undisputed before moving up, I have no doubt he would demolish Morales, but fear he will leave the 140 division very soon.

Imperial Ghosty wrote:Looks as thought the governing bodies are doing everything in their power to hand Morales a historical 4th world title which would be the first for a mexican.

Shocking from the WBC! Haha!

alma wrote:Looks all conveniently set for a unification - rumours that Khan was going to fight Morales would be even stronger if 3 belts were on the line

Khan will be stripped of his IBF before that.

Scottrf wrote:

alma wrote:Looks all conveniently set for a unification - rumours that Khan was going to fight Morales would be even stronger if 3 belts were on the line

Khan will be stripped of his IBF before that.

Why would that happen?

Dazstarr wrote:Why would that happen?

They are making Peterson vs Cayo winner his mandatory and he wont face them.

What happened to the Crolla fight?

d260005p wrote:What happened to the Crolla fight?

Good point!

Scott - I hope Khan takes a lower pay check to make it happen. Doubtful though.

This is all because of Bradley and his desire to avoid Khan! Just have a bloody Fight at the end of the year, unify the division someone, and then move up in weight or whatever! Just get it on!

Dazstarr wrote:

d260005p wrote:What happened to the Crolla fight?

Good point!

Scott - I hope Khan takes a lower pay check to make it happen. Doubtful though.

You want to see him in with either of those? I don't.

I watched an interview with Crolla last week and he was preparing for the fight with Erik, and now out of nowhere, its gone, and Erik is fighting for Bradley's title?!?! What!

Scottrf wrote:

Dazstarr wrote:

d260005p wrote:What happened to the Crolla fight?

Good point!

Scott - I hope Khan takes a lower pay check to make it happen. Doubtful though.

You want to see him in with either of those? I don't.

I want to see him undisputed. Some fights are more attractive than others i agree - but still want him to do it.

Dazstarr wrote:I want to see him undisputed. Some fights are more attractive than others i agree - but still want him to do it.

He'd be fulfilling mandatory obligations all the time. I'd rather just see good fights. Bradley is legit, if he gets stripped, it doesn't make a Peterson fight any more attractive to me.

Khan's only just finished winning a title which should have been Bradley's.

Should we be surprised? The same organisation demanded that Naseem Hamed had to vacate either his WBC or WBO title in the immediate aftermath of his fight against Soto; made Tyson number one contender after being in prison for 4 years even though Lewis had just won an eliminator to fight to regain his title. And not to mention they have Champion Emeritus, Youth champions, International Champions (is that not another way of saying World Champion), Silver Champions and a title for any other boxer that is either Mexican or willing to give the WBC loads of money and relocate to the that part of the world.

What makes this worse is that they are not the only organisation doing this nonsense.

Scottrf wrote:

Dazstarr wrote:I want to see him undisputed. Some fights are more attractive than others i agree - but still want him to do it.

He'd be fulfilling mandatory obligations all the time. I'd rather just see good fights. Bradley is legit, if he gets stripped, it doesn't make a Peterson fight any more attractive to me.

Khan's only just finished winning a title which should have been Bradley's.

See what you mean - the Bradley fight is defintely the fight that should be made but with Bradley not really doing much at the moment - and if Khan doesnt move up immediately then why not unify the division further.

Khan beats Bradley and it means far more than unifying the belts, what does it matter holding 3/4 belts if you still can't be considered the number one

Imperial Ghosty wrote:Khan beats Bradley and it means far more than unifying the belts, what does it matter holding 3/4 belts if you still can't be considered the number one

Depends who you ask - I think Khan beats Bradley - he is the man at 140 IMO. Being the unified champ also helps his cause. Although the individual belts dont mean much nowadays - being undisputed champ is still held in high regard. This is what Khan should strive for before moving up to 147.

to be fair to khan if he can't get the fight with bradley, who else is there in the division who will offer a tougher test than maidana or judah? they should strip bradley if he doesnt defend soon, but then i fear khan wont unify anyway.

Feel Khans furstration with all this mix up and I just can't help feeling this is all Bradleys fault I actually hate the guy to be honest right now.

Know what you mean Alex - I actually like Bradders but he is frustating the hell out of me at the moment by being so inactive and not saying anything. He needs to sort his legal issues out asap or at least signal his intentions.

Even if he just defended it, I wonder how long Khan will stay before moving up and giving up completely on Bradley, the possiblr Peterson fight could be ok, saw Peterson outbox Ortiz and was desperately unlucky to go home with a draw, though he would get beaten by Khan and I feel Khan will want to really begin pushing on now. Problem is if he moves up without facing radley he will be remembered for that and won't be rated as high as a lot of people, but it's just not his fault at this moment in time.

Dazstarr wrote:

Imperial Ghosty wrote:Khan beats Bradley and it means far more than unifying the belts, what does it matter holding 3/4 belts if you still can't be considered the number one

Depends who you ask - I think Khan beats Bradley - he is the man at 140 IMO. Being the unified champ also helps his cause. Although the individual belts dont mean much nowadays - being undisputed champ is still held in high regard. This is what Khan should strive for before moving up to 147.

Unifying the belts doesn't mean anything if you haven't beaten the rightful claimant to those titles, if Khan goes on to get the WBO or WBC title and not beaten Bradley then it means next to nothing, he needs to fight Bradley, no one else will do.

But Ghosty if he can't get him into the ring then what can he possibly do!?

But a unification wont make up for that in the long run much in the same way I never saw Jones Jr. as the man, he got his 175lb titles by default

I get what you're saying but you can't rank Khan down because BRadley refused to get in the ring do you? i think that he would get get demoted byso many for moving up without fighting him but if hecan't get it then surely its just not his fault!

He has two options really get a fight with Bradley finalised or move up to Welterweight, there's no point fighting anyone else at 140lbs now.

Well exactly however if he can't get that finalised (Because of Bradley) then he's going to get put down by many in there estimations because he never fought his toughest rival at the weight but it's not his fault at all! Absolute garbage

Khan now has the most important thing in the world on his side and that is HBO, they realise it's Bradley avoiding the fight so no matter what Khan does now it wont backfire on him.

Another tinned can of Pineapple for Khan to easily dispose of. He is moving up the p4p list rapidly and he is being mentioned as the next star after MP and FM. Incredible considering he has just fought has beens and rudey poo (bar the Maidana fight, which he made a harder nights work out of then it should have been, though was very enjoyable).

Khan's recent opponents have actually been of pretty high calibre, and I feel you are being slightly harsh in discounting them as you have done.

Kotelnik was a solid, if unspectacular champion, who has proved his mettle by being in with the likes of Maidana (which he won), and Devon Alexander (which he also won, in my opinion, despite not getting the decision).

Salita, fair enough he was completely unproven, but he was a mandatory, and it was therefore necessary to get him out of the way.

Malignaggi has always operated at the higher levels of the sport, and is a very good boxer. His lack of punching power has always let him down, however, and he was made to order for Khan in this respect. Nevertheless, a good win against a fighter that has been in with the best.

Maidana was also a mandatory, a tough as nails fighter and a very dangerous puncher to boot. Khan was fantastic in this fight, despite his apparent lapses in concentration (I'm thinking the 10th round, in particular), and he proved a lot of doubters, including myself, wrong in this fight.

McCloskey is a good European level fighter, but it was always envisaged that Khan would have little to no problems in disposing of him. He was however unbeaten, and an awkward opponent, so Khan could certainly have found an easier option for a voluntary defence.

Judah is another that has been in with the very best, and despite losing pretty much all of his big fights he has managed to cause even the likes of Floyd Mayweather Jr problems. The Judah that Khan was in with may have been slightly over the hill, but he was nevertheless still a relatively dangerous opponent, with speed and power of his own. Add to this that he held one of the belts in a division that Khan is trying to unify, and I don't think you can criticise this fight too much.

Those quick summaries above show that Khan is making very good progress over recent years, and maintaining a decent level of opposition whilst seeking out the bigger challenges such as Bradley, and by the looks of it ultimately Floyd Mayweather Jr himself. I don't think people should be too hard on Khan for those opponents, he could certainly have done a lot worse, and let's say in two years time he has the likes of those I've just mentioned on his resume, I for one will look at it as a pretty stellar record (as far as modern day records go).

I agree the Alexander decision was very dubious (he gets every decision is St Louis, the Matthyse fight proved this), but I believe Kotelnik lost comfortably to Maidana. Malignaggi has the punching power of a 10 year old girl. McCloskey brings nothing special whatsoever - average in every department. I understand the Judah fight as he held the IBF but for all these fights there really is only one winner. I know it can be said for alot of modern day boxers like you said; but when was Khans pick em fight, 50/50 kind of affair. It would probably be Bradley but he seems to reluctant to any sort of fight. I think the winner of Guerrero and Maidana (which should be Guerrero as he is a fantastic boxer with a wonderfully effective jab and good power and speed in both hands), would be the better fight for Khan as lets face it Morales is a shot fighter, granted with tons of heart. I would love to see Khan vs Guerrero as it would be a genuine test and a measure of his actual ability.

i dont think khan is picking his fights carefully, he is just that much better than the rest of the division, theres only bradley left to prove that against.

I kind of agree with Eddy, Bradley is the only real option left for Khan at 140 that is anywhere near Khan's ability.

Guerrero would be a good fight failing the Bradley fight though, I really rate him and think it'd be interesting to see Khan's tactics for that fight, given that Guerrero has a jab that could possibly even rival Khan's.

There's no pick 'em fight for Khan in the 140lb division, he is a step above everyone out there including Bradley so all he can do is try and fight the best available opposition which he has been doing.

you think morales is the best available opposition?? do you think Mccloskey was?? or malignaggi?

As in he's fought five fighters ranked in the top 10 in his last 6 fighters or is that not good enough?

Morales lost his last fight which was at junior welter. His only qualification is being Mexican.

Bradley has not missed a deadline for a mandatory.

All cowpat.

I'm a little confused I heard again today that he was still fighting Crolla?!

Unbeatable Georgey Groves wrote:you think morales is the best available opposition?? do you think Mccloskey was?? or malignaggi?

who at the weight would you rather see him fight bearing in mind bradley is a no no?

Anyone but Morales, surely. Haven't there been enough Ali v Holmes in history already?

who though? there is no one else

Maidana 2.
Alexander.
Mathysse (who most don't think has genuinely lost a fight and I think is a superior version of Maidana. Good power, good footwork.)
all better than Morales who hasn't beaten anybody vaguely good at 140

he beat maidana already, so no credit for a rematch, alexander has already been beaten by bradley, so he wouldnt prove his is better than him with that fight, and mathyesse lost to judah, khans last fight. i dont think any of them prove much, he would get as much flack for those fights as he will for morales. at least morales showed he is still coming to fight (maidana fight).

Morales is a shot to pieces former bantamweight who has won what, twice at 140? Against greats like Limmond! You say he shouldn't fight Mathyyse because he was beaten by Judah, well Morales was beaten by Maidana more decisively.

Bradley beat Alexander? so what. Khan isn't Bradley, they don't share scalps. He wouldn't prove he's better than anyone by beating up Morales.

Styles make fights, I don't see why Mathyyse dropping a controversial split decision to a guy Khan beat makes a difference. He's still done more than Morales.

maybe but im not arguing morales is a good fight for khan- im arguing that the 140 division has nothing to offer khan, unless he fights bradley. would you put money on morales, maidana, matyyse or alexander to beat khan? i certanly wouldn't.

I'd put my house on them giving a better account of themselves than Morales. I agree that the only fight for Khan is Bradley, but he may as well fight something challanging rather than Morales. Lets face it, if he wasn't called Morales then we wouldn't be talking about him. Call him Smith.

Smith hasn't looked good in years, nearly 20lbs up from his first weight and has two wins at light welter, neither over stunning opposition. Lost his last fight. Does he get anywhere near a fight with Kahn? No chance.

i think he will only take the fight with him if he wins the WBC, your right theres nothing for him if he loses. to be honest i was more excited about morales vs crolla, that seems a more even contest

Morales would be the definition of a paper champion if they did give him the WBC belt and it would completely destroy any kind of recognition they have at light welter. I'd respect Kahn much more avoiding Morales and highlighting the shoddy practices of the WBC.

exactly, dont think khan will fight at 140 unless its a unifaction though. it might just be worth his while stepping up to 147, taking a warm up fight whilst waiting for floyd or ortiz or another name like that