By Jhonny Gonzalez
When junior welterweight Marcos Maidana (29-2, 27 KOs) was coming up in the ranks, he considered Erik Morales (51-6, 35 KOs) an idol. He would watch Morales' fights and study his form. On April 9, Maidana will set his feelings aside to fight Morales at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Maidana has a new trainer by his side, Rudy Perez, who knows Morales very well.
"I have a lot of respect for Erik Morales. I shook hands with him. When I started boxing, Morales was an idol, and one that I looked at a lot. I never thought I would be fighting him one day. I'm going to fight like I always do, and win. We'll see what he does, if he comes to box or not. But I will go out there to win, to put pressure him and take the fight. We are looking to increase our speed in the fight. Let's see what happens on April 9," Maidana told BoxingScene.com's Carlos Irusta.
