By Rick Reeno

One thing is for sure, Erik Morales will still fight on September 17th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, as part of the pay-per-view undercard to the Floyd Mayweather-Victor Ortiz welterweight collision. As reported this morning on BoxingScene.com, Morales' opponent Lucas Matthysse withdrew with an illness.

Morales and Matthysse were going to fight for the vacant WBC junior welterweight title.

Eric Gomez, Vice President of Golden Boy Promotions, is going to discuss a few possible options with the WBC, but also indicates that British boxer Anthony Crolla (21-2, 9KOs) is a "backup, backup" option if nothing else comes through. Crolla was the original opponent for Morales, but he was later replaced by Jorge Barrios, who was later replaced by Matthysse. Crolla is already scheduled to fight on the Mayweather-Ortiz undercard, against Juan Montiel.  The British boxer told Golden Boy that he's willing to step in for Matthysse.

"Morales will fight on the card. He will still fight. Anthony Crolla is still willing to fight him. He's available and willing to fight. Crolla is a backup, backup option. Right now I'm working with the WBC to see who they would sanction [to fight] for the title. I'm waiting for a call from Mauricio [Sulaiman] to give me some options. To Erik, this title means the world to him. The title is very important to him and winning it would open up a lot of other doors," Gomez told BoxingScene.com.