In February, Erik Morales beat Jesus Chavez for his WBC super featherweight belt, just like he was supposed to. Now, four months later, he is supposed to beat Carlos 'Famoso' Hernandez for his IBF version of the title. And if all goes according to plan, he will have a showdown with WBA titlist Acelino Freitas or Diego Corrales for The Ring's pound-for-pound top junior lightweight title.

That's the long-term plan for the Morales camp. It seems easier said than done, but then again, we're talking about Erik Morales here. All he knows how to do is fight and win.

So it's no insult to Carlos Hernandez that going into Saturday night, everyone with a pulse expects Morales to walk out of the ring with the IBF belt. Like Chavez, Hernandez is a tough, capable fighter with good determination but no devestating punching power (although Morales did get rocked in the early going against Chavez). Hernandez has a better chin than Chavez, but is prone to bleeding. 'Famoso's last loss was to Floyd Mayweather Jr., and prior to the Morales loss Chavez's last defeat was against-you guessed it-'Pretty Boy' Floyd. So like Chavez, Hernandez is a good top-10 type junior lightweight (Ring magazine ranks Chavez and Hernandez at #4 and #5, respectively), but he is clearly not in the same league as Morales.

Morales's last knockout victory was his debut at 130 where he knocked out Guty Espadas Jr. in the 3rd round, and the fact that he couldn't finish off a one-armed Chavez coupled with last week's stoppage of Paulie Ayala by Morale's foe Marco Antonio Barrera (Morales also failed to put away Ayala in their November 2002 fight) means that Morales is going to be firing on all cylinders. Still, sometimes the knockouts don't come, no matter how hard a fighter tries.

This has the potential to be the kind of fight that Morales-Chavez SHOULD have been. If Morales doesn't stop Hernandez on cuts early, it will be a very entertaining fight. I'm not talking Hagler-Hearns here, but the good chin and aggressive style of Hernandez should compliment Morales' all-action style nicely.

And those looking for an upset victory for Hernandez shouldn't expect any surprises, even though boxing has seen a lot of them lately. Barring an earthquake, Morales should win when Hernandez is stopped late on cuts.

Remember, this is 'El Terrible' we're talking about.

Prediction: Morales TKO 11.