Marcos Maidana

Marcos René Maidana (born July 17, 1983) is an Argentine professional boxer and a two-weight former world champion, having held the WBA (Regular) super lightweight and WBA (Super) welterweight titles. A versatile brawler in the ring, Maidana is well known for his punching power.

Professional career

Light Welterweight

On February 2, 2009, the then-WBA Light Welterweight titleholder Andreas Kotelnik beat the then-undefeated Maidana (25-0, 24 knockouts) via controversial split decision, with the judges scoring the fight 115–114, 113–115, 115–113 in Kotelnik's favour.

Maidana's first fight in the United States was against Mexican-American Victor Ortíz, that took place on June 27, 2009.^[3] Maidana was knocked down three times within the first two rounds, but rallied and came back to beat Ortiz for the interim WBA super lightweight title with a sixth-round TKO victory.^[3]

After his fight with Ortiz, it was rumoured that Maidana would face British boxer, and WBA super lightweight champion, Amir Khan, who won the title after defeating Andreas Kotelnik.^[4] However, Khan opted for Paulie Malignaggi as his next opponent. As a result, Maidana was scheduled to fight on March 27, 2010 against Victor Manuel Cayo, whose record, at that time, was 24-0 with 75% of victories coming by way of knockout.^[5] Maidana knocked out the undefeated Cayo in the sixth round to retain his interim WBA super lightweight title and improve his record to 28-1, with 27 knockouts.^[6]

After failing to secure a fight with Timothy Bradley, Maidana fought and defeated DeMarcus Corley in August 2010. Despite knocking Corley down in the 7th round, Maidana had to go the distance for only the third time in his career, eventually securing the victory via unanimous decision (117–110, 117–110, 115–112).^[7][8]

Amir Khan vs. Marcos Maidana

Before his fight with Corley, Maidana accused Khan and trainer Freddie Roach of "hypocrisy" and called out Khan in an interview:

On September 15, ESPN revealed that both fighters had agreed to fight on December 11 at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas.^[10]

Khan dominated the fight early and knocked down Maidana in the 1st round with a left hook to the liver, but had to withstand a furious barrage by Maidana in round 10, and continually backed up during rounds 11 and 12. Maidana was unable to finish Khan however, who went on to win the fight by unanimous decision.^[11][12] The fight was awarded the Boxing Writers Association of America Award for Fight of the Year.^[13]

Erik Morales vs. Marcos Maidana

In the first round against Erik Morales, Maidana came out with ferocity as expected and proceeded to batter his older opponent around the ring. He landed multiple power punches, including an uppercut that opened a huge swelling over Morales' left eye which worsened over the course of the fight, and when the Mexican walked back to his corner having taken a large amount of punishment in the opening three minutes most observers felt their predictions were being fulfilled. The one-sided nature of the bout continued for the next couple of rounds, but then at the end of the third round Morales begin to fight back and landed a hard combination to the head of Maidana and the tide began to turn.

From the fourth round onwards and although he was effectively fighting with one eye, Morales gave as good as he got and was landing the cleaner more effective shots, albeit occasionally being swarmed by the sheer number of punches being landed in return by the relentless Maidana. The fight became a see-saw affair and then, in the eighth round, Morales hit Maidana with a huge left hook that almost stopped the Argentinian. The next couple of rounds continued in this fashion, with Maidana using his strength and stamina to bully Morales and the Mexican using his sharper punching and ring intelligence to land effective counters and combinations. The fight was fast turning into a modern classic.

In the "championship rounds" (the eleventh and twelfth), Morales seemed to tire and Maidana took advantage, overwhelming him with his strength and punishing the ageing warrior continually to the head and body. Maidana finished the fight much the stronger of the two and his late surge gave him the win on the scorecards, 116–112 twice with the third judge scoring the fight a draw, 114–114.

Maidana was scheduled to defend his title Aug. 27 against Robert Guerrero, but Guerrero suffered a shoulder injury less than two weeks before the fight. Maidana's fought Petr Petrov of Russia on Sept. 23 instead, winning by fourth round knockout.^[14]

Welterweight

On February 25, 2012 Maidana moved up to welterweight and fought Devon Alexander who was also moving up in weight. Maidana clearly seemed uncomfortable in his first fight at the new weight as Alexander dominated the fight and went on to win a lopsided unanimous decision. In his first fight following the Alexander loss, Maidana defeated Jesus Soto Karass on September 15, 2012 by eighth round TKO in a back-and-forth slugfest.^[15]

Maidana then fought the largely unknown Angel Martinez on December 12, 2012. Maidana won the fight by KO in the third round.

Maidana scored a TKO over welterweight contender Josesito Lopez in the sixth round of a June 9, 2013 fight. Maidana had injured his hip in the second round and Lopez capitalized tagging his opponent with hard shots. Maidana was able to reverse the tide and hurt Lopez with an overhand right in the sixth round that dropped him to the canvas.^[16]

Adrien Broner vs. Marcos Maidana

On December 14, 2013, Marcos Maidana defeated the heavily favored Adrien Broner after 12 rounds via unanimous decision to win the WBA Welterweight title. Maidana dropped the previously unbeaten Broner in the second and eighth rounds and won by comfortable margins on all three judges scorecards, 115–110, 116–109, 117–109. Maidana was a 3/1 underdog entering this fight.^[17] He had now won four consecutive fights under the tutelage of boxing trainer Robert Garcia.

Floyd Mayweather vs. Marcos Maidana

Floyd Mayweather vs. Marcos Maidana, billed as "The Moment", was a boxing welterweight championship superfight. The bout was held on May 3, 2014, in the MGM Grand Garden Arena, at the MGM Grand Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, on Showtime PPV. Maidana lost by a Majority Decision, with one judge scoring the bout 114-114 (Draw), and the other two 117-111, and 116-112 in favor of Floyd Mayweather.^[18]

Floyd Mayweather vs. Marcos Maidana II

A rematch with Mayweather was later confirmed, with the bout taking place on September 13, 2014 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, with Mayweather's WBA (Super), WBC and The Ring welterweight titles at stake, as well as Mayweather's WBC light middleweight title. Mayweather won the fairly one sided affair via unanimous decision, with scores of 115-112, 116-111 and 116-111. Maidana hurt Mayweather greatly at the end of the third round, he drew Floyd in with a jab that he attempted to counter with a straight right hand but in the process moved his head into a return counter by Maidana in the form of an overhand right that sent Floyd back into the ropes, just as the bell rang to end the round. Despite this, Maidana had little success in the bout.^[19][20]

Professional boxing record

35 Wins (31 knockouts, 4 decisions), 5 Losses (0 knockouts, 5 decisions), 0 Draws[21]
Res.	Record	Opponent	Type	Rd., Time	Date	Location	Notes
Loss	35–5	Floyd Mayweather, Jr.	UD	12	2014-09-13	MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada	For WBA (Super), WBC and The Ring Welterweight and WBC Light Middleweight titles.
Loss	35–4	Floyd Mayweather, Jr.	MD	12	2014-05-03	MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada	Lost WBA (Super) Welterweight title. For WBC and The Ring Welterweight titles.
Win	35–3	Adrien Broner	UD	12	2013-12-14	Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas	Won WBA Welterweight title.
Win	34–3	Josesito López	TKO	6 (12), 1:18	2013-06-08	Home Depot Center, Carson, California	Retained WBA Inter-Continental Welterweight title.
Win	33–3	Martin Ángel Martínez	KO	3 (12), 1:21	2012-12-12	Luna Park, Buenos Aires	Won vacant WBA Inter-Continental Welterweight title.
Win	32–3	Jesús Soto Karass	TKO	8 (12), 0:43	2012-09-15	MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada	Won vacant WBA International Welterweight title.
Loss	31–3	Devon Alexander	UD	10	2012-02-25	Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri
Win	31–2	Petr Petrov	KO	4 (12), 2:44	2011-09-23	Sociedad Alemana, Villa Ballester, Buenos Aires	Retained WBA (Regular) Light Welterweight title.
Win	30–2	Érik Morales	MD	12	2011-04-09	MGM Grand Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada	Won Interim WBA Light Welterweight title.
Loss	29–2	Amir Khan	UD	12	2010-12-11	Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas	For WBA Light Welterweight title.
Win	29–1	DeMarcus Corley	UD	12	2010-08-28	Luna Park, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires	Retained Interim WBA Light Welterweight title.
Win	28–1	Victor Manuel Cayo	KO	6 (12), 1:38	2010-03-27	Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada	Retained Interim WBA Light Welterweight title.
Win	27–1	William Gonzalez	KO	3 (12), 2:20	2009-11-21	Club Deportivo Libertad, Sunchales, Santa Fe	Retained Interim WBA Light Welterweight title.
Win	26–1	Victor Ortiz	TKO	6 (12), 0:46	2009-06-27	Staples Center, Los Angeles, California	Won Interim WBA Light Welterweight title.
Loss	25–1	Andreas Kotelnik	SD	12	2009-02-07	Stadthalle, Rostock, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern	For WBA Light Welterweight title.
Win	25–0	Silverio Ortiz	KO	2 (8), 2:04	2008-11-01	König Pilsener Arena, Oberhausen, Nordrhein-Westfalen
Win	24–0	Juan Carlos Rodriguez	KO	7 (10), 2:35	2008-08-29	Burg-Waechter Castello, Düsseldorf, Nordrhein-Westfalen
Win	23–0	Esmeraldo José Da Silva	TKO	2 (10), 2:34	2008-07-11	Club Deportivo Libertad, Sunchales, Santa Fe
Win	22–0	Arturo Morua	TKO	3 (10), 1:36	2008-04-19	Bördelandhalle, Magdeburg, Sachsen-Anhalt
Win	21–0	Manuel Garnica	KO	8 (10), 0:48	2007-12-07	Sporthalle Hamburg, Hamburg
Win	20–0	Jairo Moura dos Santos	TKO	2 (8), 0:28	2007-08-16	Centro de Convenciones Figali, Panamá
Win	19–0	Laszlo Komjathi	TKO	3 (8), 0:37	2007-06-30	Porsche-Arena, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg
Win	18–0	Miguel Callist	TKO	3 (12), 2:59	2006-12-22	Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires	Won WBA Fedelatin Light Welterweight title.
Win	17–0	José Herley Zúñiga Montaño	KO	1 (10), 2:13	2006-09-23	Club Regatas, Santa Fe, Santa Fe
Win	16–0	Ariel Gerardo Aparicio	TKO	1 (10), 2:58	2006-07-15	Unidad Funcional Pueblo Chico, Tortuguitas, Buenos Aires
Win	15–0	Luis Gustavo Sosa	KO	1 (10), 2:59	2006-05-20	Centro Municipal Nº 29, Santa Fe, Santa Fe
Win	14–0	Omar Leon	KO	1 (6), 0:21	2006-04-22	Luna Park, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires
Win	13–0	Sergio Javier Benítez	KO	3 (10), 2:20	2006-02-11	Club Sportivo America, Rosario, Santa Fe
Win	12–0	Rubén Darío Oliva	KO	2 (10), 2:20	2005-11-26	Estadio F.A.B., Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires
Win	11–0	Marcelo Martin Miranda	TKO	3 (10), 0:44	2005-10-01	Estadio F.A.B., Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires
Win	10–0	Daniel Benito Carriqueo	UD	6	2005-08-06	Estadio Ruca Che, Neuquén, Neuquén
Win	9–0	Sergio Javier Benítez	TKO	3 (6), 1:45	2005-06-18	Estadio F.A.B., Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires
Win	8–0	Omar Leon	TKO	4 (10), 1:50	2005-05-07	Estadio Virgen de Lujan, Centenario, Neuquén
Win	7–0	Avelino Virgilio Silveira	KO	1 (6), 1:03	2005-03-26	Sociedad Alemana de Gimnasia, Los Polvorines, Buenos Aires
Win	6–0	Adolfo Espinoza	TKO	1 (6), 3:00	2005-01-29	Quilmes Atlético Club, Mar del Plata, Buenos Aires
Win	5–0	Francisco Humberto Sanabria	RTD	1 (4), 2:13	2004-12-18	Estadio F.A.B., Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires
Win	4–0	Ramon Alberto Marquez	TKO	1 (4), 1:02	2004-10-23	Estadio F.A.B., Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires
Win	3–0	Cristian Pablo Gastón Ruiz	RTD	2 (6),1:53	2004-09-04	Estadio F.A.B., Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires
Win	2–0	Germán Omar Jesús Sánchez	TKO	1 (4), 1:50	2004-07-24	Club Sportivo America, Rosario, Santa Fe
Win	1–0	Adán Basilio Mironchik	KO	1 (4), 0:50	2004-06-12	Regatas Corrientes, Corrientes, Corrientes	Professional debut.

Titles in boxing

Major World Titles:

• WBA Interim Light Welterweight Champion (140 lbs)
• WBA (Regular) Light Welterweight Champion (140 lbs)
• WBA Welterweight Champion (147 lbs)

Regional/International Titles:

• WBA Fedelatin Light Welterweight Champion (140 lbs)
• WBA International Welterweight Champion (147 lbs)
• WBA Inter-Continental Welterweight Champion (147 lbs)

Pay-per-view bouts

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Marcos René Maidana.

• Professional boxing record for Marcos Maidana from BoxRec