By Jhonny Gonzalez
A rep for former three-division champion Erik Morales (51-6, 35KOs) has told members of the Mexican press that a deal was reached to fight hard-hitting junior welterweight contender Marcos Maidana (29-2, 27KOs) on April 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Golden Boy Promotions is handling the card. The fight came about after Juan Manuel Marquez took a pass on fighting Morales in order to concentrate on sorting out his promotional situation with Golden Boy Promotions.
Morales was quoted on the subject as saying - "it's an honor for me to return to Las Vegas ... and what better way to do it than by facing a formidable opponent such as Marcos Maidana."
In other news, reports in Argentina have published quotes that came from Maidana's personal twitter account, in which the fighter annouces that he's going to use a new trainer for the fight on April 9. Maidana has parted ways with veteran trainer Miguel Diaz. He does not reveal at the moment who the next trainer will be. He expects to retain one in the next few days.
"I want to announce that after one and a half years of working of with him, I'll no longer have to Miguel Diaz as chief trainer. We had a great time working together for that period and I've learned some valuable things from him. We thought that we needed to make a change so Miguel and I parted ways on amicable terms of course. You will learn who my next trainer will be in the next few days," Maidana said.