In a fight that got a bit unnoticed, WBA interim junior welterweight Marcos Maidana successfully defended his title in his native Buenos Aires, Argentina on September 23rd with a 4th round knockout over game but limited Russian-born Petr Petrov. Maidana had been lined up for an August 27th date against former champion Robert Guerrero, who was moving up in weight for their bout, but saw the matchup fall about when the Gilroy, Calif. fighter withdrew from the fight because of a torn rotator cuff in his left shoulder.
It?s likely that Maidana?s 2011 campaign is now a wrap and he will surely be looking for bigger matchups in the coming year, as his stock took a slight hit after his unexpected life-and-death struggle with Erik Morales in April. But what is certain is that the 28-year old is undoubtedly one of the most exciting fighters in the sport given his straightforward nature and crippling power, so there are surely fights to be made for him near the 140-pound weight class.
I recently ran some questions Maidana?s way about his career and some key fighters he has either fought or would soon like to. I asked the modest champion about the rumors of him turning down a fight with Sinaloa, Mexio’s Humberto Soto, tried to gauge his interest in a bout with Paul McCloskey, and also got his take on his former foe Amir Khan?s upcoming date with Lamont Peterson on December 10th as well as Timothy Bradley?s November 12th return against Joel Casamayor.
