Erik Morales Overweight, Title Stripped

Erik Morales was stripped of his WBC junior welterweight title when he weighed 142 pounds at the Friday weigh-in ahead of his Saturday clash with Danny Garcia. The ultra-veteran didn't try to sweat off the two extra pounds and instead immediately gulped a drink. Garcia weighed 139 1/2 pounds, and he can win the vacated crown at the Reliant Arena in Houston if he gets the W.

Morales (57-2) is 35, and many are thinking that the young gun Garcia will just be too fresh and fast for the surefire Hall of Famer. HBO will show the tussle.

For his scale screwup, Morales will forfeit $50,000 of his $1 million purse, according to ESPN's Dan Rafael, and that sum will go to Garcia (22-0), who will gross $225,000.

Readers, are you irked at Morales for not making weight? Or do you give the Mexican a pass, for his superlative service to the sport?

Junior middleweight James Kirkland (30-1, 27 KOs) and Carlos Molina (19-4-2, 6 KOs) both weighed 153¾ pounds. Who do you all like in that one, the gunner Kirkland or the unheralded and crafty pugilist Molina?

No huge surprise, Jose Luis Castillo didn't make weight for his bout with Jose Cotto. He was 147 1/2, well over the 145 pound max, while Cotto was 144 1/2. Their bout was cancelled. Castillo famously missed weight for his anticipated 2005 rematch with Diego Corrales, and the third scrap between the two sluggers in 2006. In 2008, a scrap with Timothy Bradley was cancelled when Castillo was 4 1/2 pounds over the 140 pound limit. For his lack of professionalism, this guy should be banned for a year from the sport, in my opinion.

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