By Allan Fox: WBA Inter-Continental welterweight champion Marcus Maidana (33-3, 30 KO’s) will be making a tough first defense of his title next month against former junior middleweight title challenger Josesito Lopez (30-5, 18 KO’s) at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.
For Maidana, 29, it’s very important that he wins the fight and looks good in doing do because he’s one of the many possible opponents for Floyd Mayweather Jr. in his last five fights of his Showtime/CBS contract. A good win by Maidana over Lopez could raise his stock and keep him high on the list of potential opponents for Mayweather.
The Maidana-Lopez fight will be televised by Showtime. The undercard pits junior middleweight contender Erislandy Lara against Alfredo Angulo, and Jarnell Charlo vs. Demetrius Hopkins in a pair of 12 round bouts. The Lara-Angulo fight could be an interesting one if Angulo can cut off the ring on Lara and land his hard power shots. If not, then Lara should easily out-box him.
Maidana has won his last two fights since losing to Devon Alexander by a 10 round unanimous decision last year in February. Maidana has improved a lot with new trainer Robert Garcia, and he now uses his jab much more than he did in the past and he looks to avoid punches instead of seeking them out.
This is still going to be a tough fight for him because Lopez is one of those guys that forces his opponents to brawl with him. I’m not sure if this is the right tactic to use on Maidana, but it’s pretty much the only thing Josesito Lopez knows how to do.
He’s not going to be able to out-box Maidana because he doesn’t have the skills to win that kind of fight. Even if Lopez tried to, Maidana would force him into a brawl and the two of them would finish the fight in a toe-to-toe war.
Lopez hasn’t fought since last September when he moved up from 140 to fight WBC junior middleweight champion Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Lopez was much too light and weak to compete in that fight and was taken out in the 5th round after getting knocked down several times.
Maidana has the kind of power where he could smash Lopez if he tries to go right at him early in the fight. Lopez’s trainer will likely try and encourage him to stay away from Maidana until later in the fight, but the question is can Lopez follow instructions to avoid getting taken out early?
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