By Mark Vester

It's no secret that former three-division champion Erik Morales wants to come out of retirement for a final run in 2009.

The Mexican legend has been retired since a close decision loss to David Diaz in August of 2007. There were quite a few people who felt that Morales did enough to earn the decision against Diaz. The more Morales heard that he should have won the fight, the more he wanted to return. Morales has been winless in his last three ring appearances, which include two brutal knockouts at the hands of Manny Pacquiao

"I want to return in May of 2009 against a top opponent and I want to put on a good performance to show that I still have what it takes to be in the ring again," Morales told NotiMex.

Morales wants to fight fellow Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez. Morales was last under contract with Top Rank, who no longer want to promote the fight. Top Rank head Bob Arum says that Morales told him after the Diaz bout that he felt a buzzing noise in head after taking some hard punches.

"Top Rank is like a family to me, we worked together for many years, but they no longer want to work with me," Morales said.

Morales has already spoken with Golden Boy Promotions about the possibilty of fighting Marquez. He says the reason Pacquiao beat him was due to his struggles with the weight. He says the Filipino champion did everything to avoid the two of them fighting at lightweight.

"We are in negotiations. In a few weeks will be laying out a summary of our talks. It will be a very anticipated fight. People saw Morales-Barrera, Barrera-Pacquiao, Morales-Pacquiao and Barrera-Marquez. The only thing missing is Morales-Marquez," Morales said.

"I beat Manny and he had two close fights with the Filipino, and a lot of people thought he won. This will be a collision of two guys who beat Pacquiao. Pacquiao claims to be the best in the world, but I don't agree. Although he beat me later on, he never wanted to give me an opportunity to fight him at lightweight - he wanted nothing to do with me there. Making super featherweight killed me."

Send News Tips and Comments To Mark Vester @ boxingscene@hotmail.com