Earlier today inside of the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada, WBA junior welterweight champion Amir Khan and interim titlist Marcos Maidana made their grand arrivals to the city in advance of their clash this Saturday night on HBO. The two participants from that evening?s co-feature bout, Victor Ortiz and Lamont Peterson, also arrived in what is yet another big fight week in the city after a noticeable lack of action this year.
Khan is regarded as the star of the show and has looked sensational after hooking up with trainer Freddie Roach following his disastrous and shocking knockout loss to Breidis Prescott over two years ago. Now training out of the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles, Khan is favored over Maidana because of his tremendous skills, speed and underrated power.
<--- Slideshow: Images of Khan, Maidana, Ortiz and Peterson in Vegas
Maidana technically arrived in Las Vegas in early October and for the past two months has been working rigorously out of Barry?s Boxing Center right off of the strip. As evidenced in camp, Maidana is a brutal puncher and has veteran Miguel Diaz in his corner. Diaz is a wise old fox and has worked with the likes of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Manny Pacquiao, Erik Morales, Jorge Arce and countless others during his time in the sport. He has been pleased with Maidana?s progression in training and always has a slight smile when discussing this weekend?s fight, almost as if he knows something that we don?t.
The Ortiz-Peterson pairing is a very interesting clash between two young and hungry contenders.
Ortiz suffered a rough stoppage loss to Maidana in June of last year but has seemed to find himself again this year as he is coming off of back to back victories over former champions Nate Campbell and Victor Ortiz this year. The 23-year old fights out of a southpaw stance and has some serious heat on his punches that often goes unnoticed because of his fine boxing ability.
Peterson challenged for a title roughly a year ago but was dropped in the early going against Timothy Bradley before surrendering a unanimous decision. On that night Peterson was simply outclassed despite proving his mettle. The D.C. fighter is a smooth stylist who makes up for his lack of power with pure boxing and vaunted skills.
The 2010 year has been a slightly sour one for the sport but we have been witness to a strong finish in November and December as Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Lopez, Sergio Martinez, Juan Manuel Marquez and most recently Nonito Donaire and Humberto Soto have all produced stirring victories. The four junior welterweight thoroughbreds on Saturday?s card will be looking to add their names to the list.
