By Eric Thomas: With WBC light welterweight champion Devon Alexander’s disappointing 10th round technical decision loss to WBO light welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (27-0, 11 KO’s) on Saturday night in Pontiac, Michigan, Alexander will now likely be pushed by HBO into a loser’s fight against Argentinian knockout Marcos Maidana (29-2, 27 KO’s), who is coming off an exciting 12 round decision loss to WBA light welterweight champion Amir Khan last December. Maidana fought well in the 2nd part of the Khan fight and had him badly hurt in the last three rounds of the fight.

Alexander initially might not like the idea of facing Maidana, but this really is the best and the only real way for Alexander to quickly get back some of what he lost tonight in the Bradley defeat. If Alexander can turn around and beat Maidana by a dominating decision or be the first to stop him, it would put Alexander right back in the thick of things for shot against one of the champions.

The same applies to Maidana. He’s got a lot of things to be proud of for his fight with khan, which was the fight of the year for 2010, and he can find himself in a big money bout against Bradley if he can do away with Alexander. Maidana looks stronger than Alexander based on his better performance in the Khan fight. Alexander looked to be getting weaker against Bradley, while Maidana was clearly the stronger fighter and looked to be a round or two away from knocking Khan out when the fight ended in the 12th.

Hopefully, Alexander doesn’t reject the idea of facing Maidana. There’s no shame in taking that fight because it’s really the quickest way to get back on top.