As the Star Power Pay Per View draws closer we sat down with former IBF Flyweight and WBO Super Bantamweight Champion Duke McKenzie to discuss the upcoming fights, starting with the vacant WBC Light Welterweight fight between Erik Morales and Lucas Matthyse.
Before discussing the fight Duke had some comments on the fact former champion Timothy Bradley was stripped of the WBC title;
?I don?t think it was right Bradley was stripped, boxing has become too political these days. If you put Amir Khan in a ring with Bradley there is no way he would say he doesn?t want to fight. It comes down to politics, the longer he holds off on a fight with Khan the more money that fight generates. These two are the flag bearers of that division and there aren?t many more superstars out there at Light Welterweight.?
?Bradley should stop thinking of moving up to fight Pacquiao, Christmas doesn?t come along every day of the week and while Pacquiao would be a career high pay day the question Bradley should be asking is ?am I going to win?? If he could beat Pacquiao it would elevate him to an elite level but should he lose it then that makes a fight with Amir Khan less financially viable. He won?t get a bigger pay day right now than from fighting Khan.? On Morales vs Matthyse;
?Morales deserves another title fight for what he?s done for the sport. You only have to look back over the last decade at the sensational victories he had over Marco Antonio Barrera, the legendary Daniel Zaragoza to capture WBC Bantamweight title. He?s been involved in some of the greatest fights of my generation.?
?I?m not saying it?s the right thing to do but if you?re going to give a guy an opportunity on the back of what he had given to the sport then there is nobody more deserving than Erik Morales.?
?Matthyse is very lucky to have this chance, on paper he doesn?t warrant a title opportunity.
There is no one outstanding on his record or any former champions of note to warrant a title opportunity. That makes this fight more evenly matched and I hope for boxing?s sake that he wins, I can?t imagine what Amir Khan would do to Morales at this stage and that isn?t a fight I would want to see.?
?Morales has to be considered a faded force, he is still a big name in the sport but he is not longer a threat to the top boys. He fought his heart and soul out against Maidana but that was his last throw of the dice. Morales was well beaten in that fight and the fact he went the distance was a victory in itself.?
?Taking the sort of punishment Morales takes in fights now won?t do him any favours later on in life. He can?t learn to fight any other way now, the legs don?t work anymore and the timing from his hands just isn?t as precise as it once was. He has to rely on trading and endurance and that plays into the other guys hands, he is not a young man anymore. The older you get you can?t start trading with young men anymore or they will beat the living daylights out of you.?
