Maidana vs. Alexander is on; fight to take place in Saint Louis

By Boxing News - 12/01/2011 - Comments

Image: Maidana vs. Alexander is on; fight to take place in Saint LouisBy Dan Ambrose: According to news reports, the proposed fight between former IBF/WBC light welterweight champion Devon Alexander (22-1, 13 KO’s) and the WBA light welterweight champion Marcos Maidana (31-2, 28 KO’s) is a done deal, set for either February 18th or February 25th in Alexander’s home city of St Louis, Missouri.

Maidana is taking a huge risk by agreeing to fight Alexander in St Louis because two of Alexander’s recent opponents Andriy Kotelnik and Lucas Matthysse have gone home losers after being beaten by questionable decisions while fighting Alexander in St Louis.

Matthysse thought he would beat Alexander decisively enough to where he would win by a knockout or a wide enough decision to get the win. But he ended up losing by the scores of 96-93, 95-94 and 93-96. I had Matthysse winning by a 96-93 score, but it goes to show you how hard it is to beat Alexander when he’s fighting at home.

Timothy Bradley refused to fight Alexander in St Louis and instead their fight took place in Pontiac, Michigan. Bradley got the win. Maidana obviously is agreeing to fight in Saint Louis because that’s where the biggest money can be made.

Alexander fights in front of huge crowds there and if he can draw 10,000 or more fans, Maidana will get a much bigger payday in this fight compared to if it were to take place in a neutral venue like Las Vegas. But the downside is Maidana is going to really need to pound the stuffing out of Alexander to ensure that he gets the win, and I doubt he’ll knock Alexander out in this fight. It’ll probably got to the score cards and I think it’ll be very, very hard for Maidana get a decision. He’s about to make the same mistake that Matthysse and Kotelnik did.



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