Ajose Olusegun Wants His Promised Shot at Erik Morales

While Erik Morales lets his name swirl in the rumor mills around Floyd Mayweather Jr (that fight's not happening, in case you hadn't heard, and was never a serious question), mandatory WBC 140-pound challenger Ajose Olusegun is just hoping that the Mexican legend, who holds the WBC belt, and the sanctioning body will live up to their obligation to fight him.

In a piece by Gabriel Montoya of Max Boxing, Olusegun says he just wants his fair shake, having earned his spot:

"Erik Morales is running scared right now," said a bold Olusegun on Leave-it-in-the-ring.com radio show this past week. "With what he saw with Ali Chebah, he knows I am going to be a big threat. I am not going to be an easy opponent for him. So he hasn't decided yet to fight me. I hope he does because I want to fight him. ... I know I am better than him. So what I want to prove to the rest of the world is that I am better than Erik Morales."

Olusegun (30-0, 14 KO) has zero name value in the United States or in Mexico, as a 31-year-old Nigerian now living in London, who made his bones fighting on the British scene, where he won the Commonwealth and British titles. On September 30, he trounced Ali Chebah on ShoBox from Santa Ynez, Calif., his first fight in the States. While impressive, it also pointed out the reasons that Morales might be worried about fighting him: No name, no big money behind it, and a guy who could be incredibly difficult for the 35-year-old Mexican star.

The general feeling out there is that the WBC, which has a reputation of protecting favored Mexican fighters, won't be in any rush to enforce the mandatory title shot. Had the WBC acted fairly with their own rules in the first place, Olusegun vs Chebah, which had been set as a mandatory beforehand, would have been for the vacant title that they stripped from Timothy Bradley. But instead, the WBC chose to favor Morales, and originally had him slated to face unranked lightweight Jorge Barrios. Barrios had visa issues, was replaced by Lucas Matthysse, who then got hurt, and ultimately, inexperienced Pablo Cesar Cano was Morales' opponent on the Mayweather vs Ortiz undercard.

None of this has really been fair at any point, so I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for Olusegun to get his chance. But I hope he stays loud about it -- it deserves to be talked about.