By Gabriel Calderon: On June 27th, 2009, Argentinean-born Marcos “El Chino” Maidana (26-1, 25 KO’s) walked in to the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California for his first fight on U.S. Soil to face rising star and 2008 ESPN prospect of the year “Vicious” Victor Ortiz (24-2-1, 19 KO’s). At stake, was the WBA Interim Junior Welterweight Title. Both men squared off in the center of the ring anticipating a competitive bout, but surely neither of them could of known that their showdown would be arguably the best 16 minutes of boxing in 2009.

Marcos Maidana showed the heart of a lion by climbing off the canvas three times to come back and stop Ortiz 48 seconds into the 6th round. Maidana, was able to weather the onslaught of punches in the earlier rounds and figured out that his right hand could not miss.

By the 5th round Victor Ortiz had taken a lot of punishment and simply could not handle the power of the Argentinean. With each thundering right hand Maidana connected, he grew more and more confident and in the end, just simply refused to lose. He did not let the lights, cameras, or home town cheers intimidate him in any way and showed that he came to make a name for himself by imposing his will on Ortiz.

So I ask myself, Why Isn’t anybody talking about Marcos Maidana? Did he not knock out “The next Oscar De La Hoya” in convincing fashion? This was no fluke people and everybody knows it. He shocked Golden Boy Promotions and the entire Staples Center, but yet no one seems to be talking about him and I don’t understand for the life of me why this is so.

Prior to this bout, he only had one questionable split decision lost against ex WBA Junior welterweight champion Andreas Kotelnik. So in the eyes of many he is still undefeated. I understand that Maidana has a lot of flaws in his boxing style and that most of the fighters on his resume are unknown, but never the less one cannot deny that not only is he a true junior welterweight contender, but he is also a legitimate threat to any of the current belt holders in the division.

He is still very young, only 26 years old and in my opinion nowhere near his prime. As he gains more experience the flaws in his boxing style will be rectified and he will become more and more skilled with each outing. Ring magazine currently ranks him as the #9 contender at 140 pounds, but in looking at the other names above his own, one could always make a case to place him higher in the rankings.

Unfortunately for him, He will probably have to deal with “The Politics” involved in boxing because even though he is the World Boxing Association interim titlist (which in theory should be the mandatory challenger for the WBA world championship belt) chances are that current champion, Amir Khan will not give him a much deserved title shot any time soon. So what is next for this true junior welterweight contender?

That remains to be seen. One can only hope to hear his name in the future being thrown into the mix with others such as Juan Urango, Juan Diaz, Timothy Bradley, Amir Khan, and Paulie Malignaggi.