By Dan Ambrose: Blessed with excellent power and very average boxing skills, WBA light welterweight champion Marcos Maidana (30-2, 27 KO’s) will be defending his World Boxing Association title on Friday night against Russian Petr Petrov (29-2, 13 KO’s( atr the Sociedad Alemana, Villa Ballester, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Maidana, 5’9″, is listed as two inches taller than the 5’7″ Petrov, but when they stood eye to eye recently for photos, Petrov clearly looked like the bigger man in height, frame and arm length. It’s already clear that the 28-year-old Petrov is faster and has better boxing skills.

The only question here is whether Petrov will be able to stand up to Maidana’s heavy pressure and big shots. If he can, we may see an upset on Saturday night because Petrov is a live threat here.

Petrov is ranked #10 by the International Boxing Federation (IBF) in the lightweight division, which gives you an indication how good he is, because the lightweight division is loaded with talent right now. Petrov is ranked above Kevin Mitchell and John Murray by the IBF, and those are two well thought of fighters.

Maidana is going to have to really bring it on Saturday if he wants to escape with his title and or without a controversial win. Maidana is fighting at home in Argentina, and that’s going to make it hard for Petrov, the visiting fighter, to win a decision. But I can see him doing just that if Maidana can’t get a stoppage or at least a couple of knockdowns to put Petrov behind the eight ball.

Speaking with fightnews.com, Petrov said “I’m in Argentina for no holiday, I’m here to win. I’m not going to tell you how. But I have the tools to take the title home.”

I think Petrov does have the tools to win this fight, and if Maidana can’t knock him out he likely will lose. Petrov is so much better in terms of boxing skills compared to Maidana, and he’s got a good chin as well. This will enable Petrov to take Maidana’s occasional big shots.