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Morales could face Crolla or Barrios

Fighters Network
25
Jul

Three-division titleholder Erik Morales could face either Anthony Crolla or Jorge Barrios on the Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Victor Ortiz card Sept. 17 in Las Vegas, according to Golden Boy Promotions matchmaker Eric Gomez.

"We're still kind of working things out, but we've got some time," said Gomez. "We think that within the next week or so, we're hoping that maybe we will have it all wrapped up."

Barrios (50-4-1, 35 knockouts) is a 34-year-old former WBO super featherweight titleholder from Argentina. He has won three consecutive fights, even as his career has been dogged by out-of-the-ring legal problems in Buenos Aires.

Barrios allegedly was involved in three incidents in the past seven months: a hit-and-run accident that killed a pregnant woman, the beating of his own son and sexual assault against a woman.



Morales (51-7, 35 knockouts) is the last man to defeat eight-division titleholder Manny Pacquiao, having accomplished that feat by unanimous decision in March of 2005.

Morales, 34, lost a disputed majority decision to Marcos Maidana in April – ending a winning streak at three – but is among the candidates to fight Amir Khan in December.

The 24-year-old Crolla (21-2, 9 KOs) has won eight consecutive bouts, four of them by knockout, since losing a 10-round decision to Gary Sykes in 2009. He is the British Commonwealth titleholder.

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