By Dan Ambrose: Marcos Maidana (31-3, 28 KO’s) is scheduled to fight Jesus Soto-Karass (26-7-3, 17 KO’s) in a 10 round bout on September 15th on the undercard of the Josesito Lopez vs. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez card at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. If Maidana can win that fight, he told esnewsreporting.com that he’d like to fight WBA/WBC light welterweight champion Danny Garcia if he can get the fight.

Unfortunately, it may be difficult for Maidana to get that fight, because Golden Boy Promotions, Garcia’s promoters, badly want to set up a rematch between Garcia and Amir Khan following their recent fight this month in which Garcia knocked Khan out in the 4th round in a big upset win. Golden Boy needs to have Khan try and avenge that loss as soon as possible because it’s really hurt Khan’s stock in a major way. At the same time a rematch between Khan and Garcia is a fight that will likely draw huge ratings because boxing fans will want to see if Khan can turn his career around.

Maidana, a Golden Boy fighter as well, remains an appealing option for Garcia should the Khan fight fail to materialize. Maidana’s fight against Soto-Karass is a very winnable fight for Maidana, and he’ll need an important fight after that to keep moving forward. Golden Boy has to match Maidana selectively because he doesn’t do well against certain types of fighters, particularly the ones that can box and move.

Maidana really would have helped himself out big time had he faced Keith Thurman last Saturday night on the Adrien Broner – Vincente Escobedo undercard. Maidana and Thurman were in negotiations for a fight, but Maidana decided to go in another direction. But in looking at how vulnerable Thurman looked, Maidana would have had a great chance of beating him. There wouldn’t have been much of an upside in defeating Thurman, however, because the casual boxing fans in the United States don’t have a clue who he is.