Images from Las Vegas: Maidana, Morales, Malignaggi and others make arrivals

Earlier today inside the main lobby of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada, participants from this weekend’s ‘Action Heroes’ pay per view event made their arrivals, including Argentinean puncher Marcos Maidana, Erik ‘El Terrible’ Morales, former champion Paulie Malignaggi, James Kirkland, Jose Miguel Cotto and lightweight contenders Robert Guerrero and Michael Katsidis.

The main event is said to be a slaughtering depending on whom you ask, as the fierce power of Maidana will likely prove to be too much for the badly faded Morales, who, at age 34, is years removed from his glory days between 122 and 130 as well as being a few divisions too high, one would think. Maidana has been training out of the nearby Pound 4 Pound Boxing Gym and has looked sharp while in camp.

<--- Slideshow: Behind the scenes with Malignaggi, Morales, Maidana, Cotto, Kirkland, Katsidis and Guerrero inside the MGM Grand

The co-feature to the main event is the Guerrero-Katsidis bout, which figures to be a high-octane shootout from stat to finish. Katsidis is making a return to the same building where he suffered his last defeat, a grueling 9th round TKO to Juan Manuel Marquez, while Guerrero finds himself in likely the most dangerous fight of his career. The southpaw boxer-puncher has been dealing with the illness of his wife Casey over the past few years and claims that he was able to have a full training camp for the first time in years.

Brooklyn’s Paulie Malignaggi will be facing a decent test in former title contender Jose Miguel Cotto, younger brother of WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel, in his second fight at 147 pounds. The contest will likely boil down to Cotto’s aggression and volume-punching against Malignaggi’s superior boxing skills. It’s a ‘must-win’ type of fight for Malignaggi.

Undefeated banger James Kirkland will be fighting in his third bout in the last month when he goes up against Japan’s Nobuhiro Ishida in a middleweight attraction. Kirkland is a fan favorite due to his all-action style and is working his way back down to 154 pounds in hopes of ruling the junior middleweight class.

For images of Malignaggi, Kirkland, Morales, Maidana, Guerrero, Katsidis and Cotto please visit the slideshow on the left…

Chris Robinson is based out of Las Vegas, Nevada. He can be reached at [email protected]