By Ryan Burton

 

Erik Morales became the first Mexican to win world titles in 4 weight classes when he defeated Pablo Cesar Cano on Saturday evening in Las Vegas.  The fight had a lot of two way action but ultimately Morales' experience and harder punches proved to be too much for his younger opponent as Cano's corner threw in the towel after the 10th round.

 

Morales was thought to be finished as a fighter and few gave him much of a chance prior to his fight against the hard hitting Argentinean Marcos Maidana in April.  Many observers were shocked that he would step in the ring with the heavy handed Maidana and genuinely feared for his health.  Despite fighting with an eye that was virtually swollen shut for most of the night, Morales gave a spirited performance and backed up Maidana on several occasions before ultimately losing a decision.

 

After the victory over Morales, Maidana was scheduled to face Robert Guerrero in August but Guerrero ended up sustaining an injury in training camp that ultimately required surgery on his shoulder.  Maidana will now take a stay busy fight in his native Argentina on September 23rd against Petr Petrov.

 

After the defeat Morales asked for an immediate rematch against Maidana but Maidana's team was unhappy with the financial terms of the offer. A couple weeks ago Maidana told Boxingscene's official radio show, The Boxing Lab that he had no problem facing Morales again if the money was right. 

"We have no problem giving Morales a rematch.  We just didn't like the offer they gave us," Maidana told The Boxing Lab.

 

Maidana plans on fighting one more time this year after the Petrov fight and said that he is targeting December for his return.   After his victory on Saturday, Morales was asked if he was interested in facing Maidana in December.  Morales said that he was still interested in the fight but that Maidana's return date was too soon.

 

"March is good.  I need to let my cuts heal.  You can see that I have a couple cuts from the fight.  December would be too soon.  I would like a rematch with Maidana in March," explained Morales.

 

Send questions or comments to ringsidewriter@gmail.com Follow Ryan on Twitter @ringsidewriter and tune in to The Boxing Lab, Boxingscene's official audio on Tuesdays. The show is hosted by Ernie Gabion, Luis Sandoval and Ryan Burton.