By Dan Ambrose: Marcos Maidana says he would come out of retirement for a fight against superstar Manny Pacquiao. That’s a fight that interests the 36-year-old former two division world champion Maidana (35-5, 31 KOs), who hasn’t fought in almost five years since his 12 round unanimous decision loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in their rematch in September 2014.
Maidana recently trimmed off a lot of weight to try and make a comeback to the sport, but he suddenly gave up. A lot of boxing fans were excited at the prospects of seeing the Argentinian knockout artist return to the ring, but Maidana chose not to continue. It’s unlikely Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) will choose to fight Maidana, because he’s not well known with the younger casual boxing fans. The older fans will obviously remember Maidana, but there aren’t enough of them to make a fight between him and Pacquiao a huge success on pay-per-view.
Maidana: I’m waiting for Pacquiao
“I Already fought with everyone; Pacquiao would be the only one, with him he would fight directly,” Maidana said to ESPN Deportes. “I like Pacquiao’s style. It’s going to be a good fight, a fight that people would enjoy, not like with Mayweather, that you have to run around the ring. “There is only one boxer that left me the corner to test his power, Manny Pacquiao. So w’re are waiting, I will return for him. I would like to,” said Maidana.
It sounds like a pipe dream on Maidana’s part in him hoping that Pacquiao would agree to fight him. Pacquiao, 40, is coming off of a huge 12 round split decision win over WBA Super World welterweight champion Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman (29-1, 21 KOs) on July 20. The Filipino star plans on returning to the ring in 2020, and that’s to potentially face the winner of the Errol Spence Jr. vs. Shawn Porter fight.
If Mayweather Jr. comes out of retirement, Pacquiao could face him. There’s a number of fights out there for Pacquiao that would be far more interesting than a fight between him and Maidana. With the way Maidana suddenly stopped training recently in ending his comeback bid, how could Pacquiao trust him? If Maidana quits again during training camp, Pacquiao would have to find another opponent. Can Maidana make it through training camp?
Marcos Maidana hasn’t won a fight since 2013
Maidana’s last win came against Adrien ‘The Problem’ Broner in December 2013. Marcos beat Broner by a 12 round unanimous decision in an impresive performance. The victory for Maidana earned him a fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr. Maidana fought Mayweather twice in losing both matches in 2014. Some boxing fans thought Maidana deserved the victory in the first fight, but the judges saw it differently. Mayweather struggled in the first half of the fight when he fought with his back against the ropes. In the second half of the fight, Mayweather used movement, and got the better of Maidana.