By Chris Robinson

In a fight that got a bit unnoticed, WBA interim-junior welterweight Marcos Maidana successfully defended his title in his native Buenos Aires, Argentina on September 23rd with a 4th round knockout over game but limited Russian-born Petr Petrov. Maidana had been lined up for an August 27th date against former champion Robert Guerrero, who was moving up in weight for their bout, but saw the matchup fall about when the Gilroy, Calif. boxer withdrew from the fight because of a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder.

It’s likely that Maidana’s 2011 campaign is now a wrap and he will surely be looking for bigger matchups in the coming year, as his stock took a slight hit after his unexpected life-and-death struggle with Erik Morales in April. But what is certain is that the 28-year old is undoubtedly one of the most exciting fighters in the sport given his straightforward nature and crippling power, so there are surely fights to be made for him near the 140-pound weight class.

 

I recently ran some questions Maidana’s way about his career and some key fighters he has either fought or would soon like to. I asked the modest champion about the rumors of him turning down a fight with Sinaloa, Mexico's Humberto Soto, tried to gauge his interest in a bout with Paul McCloskey, and also got his take on his former foe Amir Khan’s upcoming date with Lamont Peterson on December 10th as well as Timothy Bradley’s November 12th return against Joel Casamayor.

 

Maidana also responded to WBA lightweight champion Brandon Rios, who had recently said he would be eyeing a fight with him upon his inevitable move to the junior welterweight class. Speaking through his advisor Sebastian Contursi, this is what Maidana had to say…

The aftermath of the Petrov fight…

“The week after a fight you usually are going from here to there as there are many people to thank for and other commitments. But luckily I was able to spend time with family and friends and to celebrate my mom’s birthday with her.”

Reasons for turning down a fight with Humberto Soto and eyeing other options…

“After the Guerrero fight was cancelled and no worthy replacement was found we moved fast and organized a fight in Argentina. We had everything set, contracts signed, and all of a sudden [Lucas] Matthysse got injured. Morales took advantage of the situation and started to call me out to take the fight on one week’s notice. I said if we both win in September and then we can have the rematch in December as we would have proper time to prepare. But when it came to fight, Morales just vanished and now talks about going down to 135 pounds.  Regarding to Soto, the date and purse was not what we were expecting.”

Interest in a bout with Irishman Paul McCloskey…

“Let me be clear: I’m not interested in one fighter in special. I’m interested in facing any of the top guys as long as I have enough time to prepare and to get the kind of money I deserve, that’s all. Regarding McCloskey, he’s a warrior who had taken his last two worthy opponents, Khan and Prescott, without crying. I respect that kind of fighters. He called me out in a respectful way and I said I am ready, that’s all.”

Thoughts on Tim Bradley’s November 12th date with former champion Joel Casamayor…

“Casamayor is a boxer you always have to respect. But I’d like Bradley to win and then I can fight him. About a year ago my former manager arranged a fight with him behind my back and then when I realized it he made up an injury to justify that I didn’t sign the contract. Some people thought I was the one who faked the injury but if you asked Golden Boy Promotions they know exactly how it happened. Then, I heard that Bradley himself had managerial issues and I understand it 100%. But now we are now clear to fight each other.”

Not impressed by Amir Khan’s December 10th fight with Lamont Peterson…

“No disrespect to Peterson but the Queen Khan has cherry picked another rival as expected.”

Thoughts on Richard Schaefer proposing a welterweight tournament…

“Of course, I’m up for it. I know Golden Boy Promotions is trying to secure me great fights. Basically, it seems that the tourney would have participants who come from 140 pounds so at the end of the day we all are going to be in similar conditions. All we have to do is adjust properly in physical terms.”

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Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at Trimond@aol.com