By William Mackay: Marcos Maidana says he’ll step in and face either Amir Khan or Victor Ortiz next, albeit if both of them change their current fight schedules to face Maidana in last July rather than in June or early July.

Maidana said on his twitter “If God provides, I’ll be ready for mid or late July. People are talking about rematches vs. Ortiz or Khan and I’d love to face them again! I know it’s difficult date-wise, cause I need to be in top shape for that kind of challenges like Ortiz or Khan. But if Golden Boy can reschedule Khan’s or Ortiz’s next dates for late July, then I’d love to face them again.”

Before anyone sounds off about Maidana ducking either Khan or Ortiz, they need to realize Maidana just started his first week of training this past week. He’s not going to be in great shape if he has to fight Ortiz with only four weeks of training in order to stick with Ortiz’s original June 23rd fight date. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer says he doesn’t want to cancel the June 23rd card. Ortiz’s previously scheduled opponent, former IBF/WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto, who allegedly tested positive for the steroid nandrolone, and he’s not going to be able to take the fight now. But if Schaefer sticks to the June 23rd date, it’s not going to be enough time for Maidana to train to take the fight, and he’s not rush himself and go into the fight out of shape.

Perhaps Maidana would have done that in the past, but with him coming off of a lopsided 10 round unanimous decision loss to Devon Alexander last February, he’s not going to take chances with his career just to accommodate Golden Boy.

A rematch between Khan and Maidana would seem like the best option. However, Schaefer wants Khan to fight on July 7th, and that’s still too early for Maidana. If Schaefer really wants Maidana, then he’s going to have to squeeze Khan into a later date.

Maidana gave Khan huge headaches in their fight in December 2010, losing by a 12 round decision. You can make an argument that Maidana would have had a great chance of winning the fight had referee Joe Cortez not stepped in to separate the two fighters so often after Maidana had Khan badly hurt and ready to be knocked out in the 10th. With Maidana pounding Khan against the ropes, Cortez would step in from time to time to separate them. It just looked like Khan would have been knocked out to me if he hadn’t stepped in during crucial periods when Khan was on bambi legs.

Maidana already knocked out Ortiz in an exciting 6th round knockout win in 2009 in a fight where both fighters tasted the canvas multiple times.