By Allan Fox: Former WBA light welterweight champion Marcos Maidana (31-3, 28 KO’s) will be getting a reported $250,000 for his 10 round fight on Saturday night against 2nd tier fighter Jesus Soto-Karass (26-7-3, 17 KO’s) on the undercard of the Saul Alvarez vs. Josesito Lopez fight card, televised by Showtime at the MGM Grand, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
What’s really strange is that Maidana, 29, is getting a bigger payday than Josesito Lopez, even though Maidana is longer a champion and there’s no title on the line for the Maidana-Soto Karass fight. It goes to show you how much HBO values Maidana, because the way he fought in losing his last fight against Devon Alexander by a lopsided decision February, Maidana hardly deserves a big payday off of that fight.
Alexander exposed Maidana as someone that doesn’t belong at welterweight, and it’s surprising that Maidana is staying at this weight after that fight. A couple more loses for Maidana and I expect him to find a way down to 140 so that his career doesn’t do down the tubes.
Maidana should be able to beat Soto-Karass, because he’s got the better power and is the better fighter. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if Maidana gets beaten or has to struggle badly to win this fight.
Maidana is a pretty limited fighter to where you can’t predict accurately whether he can beat anyone at welterweight. He’s easy to hit, he’s slow and he tires out after five or six rounds. All Soto-Karass has to do in order to win this fight is to take the fight to Maidana and make him work harder than his body is capable of doing. If Maidana can’t get a knockout in this fight then he’ll be in great danger of losing it.
Soto-Karass has lost four out of his last seven fights, albeit against good opposition. He’s won his last two fights is coming into the Maidana fight with some confidence coming from those victories.
Comments are closed.