SHOWTIME COMES WITH LIKELY WAR
San Francisco, CA– Marcos Maidana (33-3, 30 KOs) and Josesito Lopez (30-5, 18 KOs) are two fan-friendly fighters of Hispanic descent who compete in the welterweight division and train in Southern California. They are both fierce, tough, rugged, young men, who do not give an inch in the ring. For all their similarities however, there are two words that best describe the connection between Maidana of Argentina, and Lopez of Riverside, Ca: Victor Ortiz.
NOTHING BUT INTRIGUE IN CROSSROADS FIGHT
Both men burst on the boxing scene with their respective victories over the “Vicious” one, in which they eventually forced the Kansas native to surrender in bouts which they were supposed to be mere steppingstones to bigger money bouts for the new “Golden Boy” (as Ortiz was being heralded at the time). Interestingly enough, both men were also coming off losses in their previous fights against Ortiz which may speak to why they were selected as opponents for the up and coming star.
MAIDANA TOUGH AS NAILS!
As the boxing world knows by now, Maidana withstood an early onslaught from Ortiz in June of 2009 before forcing his opponent to quit in the 6th round. The victory catapulted him into must-see-tv status for fight fans everywhere.
LOPEZ TOOK PAYDAY IN PREDICTABLE LOSS
Riding the momentum of his victory, Lopez went on to fill in for Ortiz, facing Canelo at a weight in which he had no business fighting and getting destroyed in the process. Since his bout with Ortiz, Maidana has went on to have mix results, most notably a Fight of the Year candidate loss to Amir Khan, a tougher than expected victory over faded legend Erik Morales, a lopsided decision loss to Devon Alexander, and most recently a stoppage of Jesus Soto Karass in a thrilling shootout on the undercard to Lopez’s loss to Canelo.
MEMORIES OF FALLEN WARRIOR ARTURO GATTI
This may be heresy to some but if Maidana reminds me of any fighter of recent memory it is the late Arturo “Thunder” Gatti. Like Gatti before him, Maidana is seldom in a fight that doesn’t prompt your seat. Like his predecessor he possesses a solid pair of whiskers along with the ability to end a fight with one punch. Lastly, just like Gatti, Maidana will never top any pound for pound lists. He will always fall short to the elite but that matters little to those who pay to watch him. The man makes for exciting fights and those of us who follow the sport find it foolish to miss an opportunity to see him in battle. It says here that if Maidana were from the United States, Mexico, or Puerto Rico, he would be one of the most popular and well-paid athletes in all of combat sports.
RUGGEDNESS PERSONIFIED BY BALDOMIR
On the contrary, if there is any recent fighter whom Lopez reminds me of it is his upcoming opponent’s countryman, Carlos Baldomir. The similarities aren’t quite stylistic but they are both tough, scrappy fighters who have made the most of their limited talent. Most importantly, Lopez seems to be riding the wave of his victory over a mentally unstable southpaw into making himself a well known name in boxing and earning bigger money fights as Baldomir did before him with Zab Judah.
THE GATTI-BALDOMIR SITUATION
Now I know what you’re thinking. Baldomir beat Gatti and I just compared Baldomir to Lopez and Gatti to Maidana so I am obviously picking Lopez to defeat Maidana right? Not quite. Gatti was shot by the time he faced the Argentine and they were fighting at 147lbs which never suited “Thunder” well.
SO HOW DOES THIS FALL OUT?
If Lopez can keep the rugged fighter known in Argentina as “El Chino” at a distance he should be able to win a decision. But the Southern Californian has too much heart for his own good and will eventually be pulled into a dogfight which favors the harder puncher with the better chin. As we’ve seen before, Maidana will be in trouble early before rallying late to stop his opponent in Gatti-esque fashion.
Jason B. Nava