On Thursday, jr. welterweight contender Lucas Matthysse withdrew from his September 17 championship fight versus Erik Morales. The fight was slated for the undercard of "STAR POWER: Mayweather vs. Ortiz". Matthysse, claiming an illness, had lost two of his last three fights, but both losses were very controversial. Some believe he beat Zab Judah in a 12-round split decision loss last November, and most believe he beat Devon Alexander this past June in another split decision loss. Virtually everyone believed the Matthysse-Morales fight would have been the best fight on the pay-per-view card. Golden Boy Promotions is now left searching for a new opponent for Morales.
A few names are being thrown around to replace Matthysse, but they are overlooking the one obvious choice...Argentine power-puncher Marcos Maidana. Forget the politics of world titles because the championship belt on the line is a farce. Morales and Maidana staged an epic battle in April, which was won by Maidana via majority decision. Maidana was scheduled to fight Robert Guerrero on August 27th before Guerrero had to withdraw due to a shoulder injury. Maidana, looking to stay busy, is now scheduled to fight September 23 in his native Argentina. Why not just put Maidana in there against Morales for round 13? It should be easy to make. Both fighters are promoted by Golden Boy and both fighters are in fighting shape. This fight is the only one appropriate to replace the caliber of fight that would have been Matthysse-Morales.
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