By Miguel Rivera and Alfredo Jaime Gomez, notifight.com

WBC junior welterweight champion Erik "Terrible" Morales wants to close the year with another victory, by making the first defense of his title on the 10th of December. It was previously mentioned that Anthony Crolla is a possible opponent, but now former champion Jorge Barrios is being mentioned as well. Barrios was scheduled to face Morales on September 17th in Las Vegas, but legal issues in Argentina prevented him from leaving the country. Crolla, like Barrios, was at one point scheduled to face Morales on the same September date.

"I would like the fight to take place somewhere in Tijuana or Baja California. This Saturday I will meet in Los Angeles with Golden Boy Promotions to make a decision on my opponent. I will train in Mexico City and later at the Otomi Ceremonial Center. This year has been great for me. I had two interesting fights. With [Marcos] Maidana I earned the respect and admiration of the people and the other with Pablo Cesar Cano I became the WBC champion and the first Mexican to win four divisional titles. In 2012, I will try to win my fifth title. I would like to get the lightweight belt," Morales said.

Morales is targeting the winner of this Saturday's bout between Jorge Linares and Antonio DeMarco, who clash for the vacant WBC lightweight title.