By Sean McDaniel: It wasn’t easy for Marcos Maidana (29-1, 27 KO’s) to get a fight with World Boxing Association light welterweight champion Amir Khan (23-1, 17 KO’s). Maidana pursued Khan for the past year before finally getting his shot against the British fighter. Khan, in an article at the Manchester Evening News, says “I did not duck this. I’ve wanted this fight for a long time but he [Maidana] asked for stupid money. He wanted three times more than he got in his last fight. In the end, we said, ‘If you want that much, we will give you it, but it’s got to be in the UK.’ The problems was, if it went to purse bids the U.S would win, so I said, ‘I’ll fight you anywhere.’ After him, I want [Timothy] Bradley or [Devon] Alexander, but I think Maidana will be tougher than either of them.”

That’s interesting, because many boxing fans see Bradley and Alexander as better fighters than Maidana. However, as it turns out, Maidana may be tougher for Khan to beat because of Maidana’s big punching power. He’s obviously more dangerous than those guys because he loads up with everything and has better power than Bradley and Alexander. Those fighters tend to throw a lot of faster punches and like to jab a lot more than Maidana. For his part, Maidana focuses more on trying to take his opponents out with every swing.

Against Khan, who has a history of having a weak chin, Maidana will no doubt will be swinging for the fences from the first round on. Khan has a lot of ideas for his future and wants the big money fights against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. These are the same dreams that a lot of boxers have, but few of them will ever reach those dreams. Khan may not make it either if Maidana connects with anything big, he likely will at some point in the fight. Khan seems to think he’ll be able to get through the Maidana fight without getting hit by him. We’ll see about that. But Maidana will likely be tougher for Khan than Bradley and Alexander. Khan can box those guys, but against Maidana he’s going to have to fight him to get a win.