Whats next for Maidana?

By Gavin Duthie - 09/21/2014 - Comments

maidana4566By Gav Duthie: Despite two defeats in 2014 for Marcos Maidana the Argentine has probably enhanced his reputation after running Floyd Mayweather Jr close on both occasions. His record now stands at 35-5 (31) and his next bout is crucial in shaping his future career. Many will be looking at Maidana as a stepping stone to big fights and will rightly feel a convincing win over him may lead to a fight with Mayweather himself. 

Adrien Broner 2

Adrien Broner has said on a few occasions he wants the fight but I don’t think any of his team does. His trainer even recently stated that he didn’t want him to fight Lucas Matthysse next. After watching him in has last few fights its probably a good idea to keep him away from strong pressure fighters because of his lack of footwork. Many have written Broner off as a top pound for pound fighter and he probably needs a Maidana win to enhance his reputation ‘quick fix’. The bottom line though is that he isn’t a welterweight and the likes of Danny Garcia and Lamont Petersen are safer and more lucrative options as a title at 140lbs would make him a 4 weight world champion. From Maidana’s point of view Why go over old ground? The last fight was relatively one sided with two knockdowns so I don’t see any point in Maidana taking it. 

Shawn Porter

This would be a fantastic fight. The way Maidana beat Broner was down to bullying as was the way Shawn Porter beat Devon Alexander and Paulie Maliggnaggi. Don’t get me wrong there is skill to the pressure tactics they use but the basic principles are to not let your opponent box. This fight would be entertaining as it would suit an all action fight. Both need a win after recent defeats and would probably like to make their way up the IBF ratings ladder for a crack at Kell Brook. It looks highly unlikely that Porter will get an immediate Brook rematch but wins over the likes of Maidana won’t do him any harm. 

Keith Thurman

Golden Boy promotions should be all over this fight for Keith Thurman. ‘One Time’ has shown some discontent at his lack of top level fights. At present he is between a rock and a hard place as nobody wants to fight him as they don’t want to lose and if they win people will just say Thurman was obviously no good. He is mandatory with the WBA at welterweight but they will never force Mayweather to fight him as he dictates who he fights. Thurman needs a fight like this but so does Maidana. The Argentine’s stock went through the roof when he won against unbeaten Adrien Broner and the same would happen if he could beat Thurman. 

Robert Guerrero

I hope Maidana doesn’t take the Guerrero path of inactivity after a loss to Mayweather. ‘The Ghost’ is another who rarely fails to entertain but his long awaited comeback fight against Kamegai was probably tougher than he expected. Guerrero has mentioned Amir Khan on a few occasions and would expect that he could bully the Brit. This is probably his preferred to Maidana but as per usual Khan is very busy throwing his hat into the ring for fights against Mayweather, Pacquaio and Brook despite only one fight this year. 

Manny Pacquiao

This is the only opponent I’ve mentioned outside the Golden Boy stable but its a fight that makes sense. We are starting to see a grain of hope that a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight could happen. First Manny needs to get past Chris Algieri but if he does this as expected and Floyd opts to fight someone like Amir Khan in May then a big win over Maidana would hopefully force a fight with Floyd although I won’t hold my breathe. 

Win/lose or draw Maidana always entertains but his next few fights will tell us if Mayweather’s victories over him were truly against a world level fighter or just a tough guy in the lower half of the welterweight top 10. 



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