Juan Manuel Marquez Vs Erik Morales Happening 8 Years Too Late

A bout between Juan Manuel Marquez and Erik Morales is likely to take place April 16 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Marquez, who is coming off a fight of the year candidate with Michael Katsidis, was hoping to meet up with Manny Pacquiao for the third time, but that bout fell apart when Pacquiao signed to fight Shane Mosley in May.

Morales is coming off a close win over Francisco Lorenzo, and with three wins in 2010 over good but not elite opponents, he gets the best fight he could get at this point in his career. He is also looking for a fourth fight with Pacquiao, but that is never going to happen. His other two wins were over Willie Limond and Jose Alfaro.

Titles aside, it is an intriguing fight because of the story lines and history that follows both fighters. The legend and more popular of the two, Morales, meets up with the man who stood in his shadows for what seemed like forever.

Two Mexican fighters in the ring will always be fun to watch, but when one is not anywhere near the type of fighter he use to be, and the other is fighting tough fights and winning them, it makes for a big mismatch.

One things is for sure. A win won't get Marquez anywhere close to a third fight with Pacquiao.

The one problem with this match is it is happening way too late in each fighters' careers. It would have been a big fight in 2002 and would have worked in the years following, before Morales retired in 2007.

Today, Marquez will just be too good for Morales. Marquez knows this, and that's why he chose to fight him instead of choosing to fight another contender like Andre Berto. Maybe Marquez just wants to be known as the guy who retires Morales.

If both had fought in 2002, they probably would have fought more than once, and they would of been great fights, defining each of their careers even more, at least for Marquez. Now, Marquez looks to take advantage of a broken down Morales and claim a win over him, something everyone knows will probably happen.