Belt or no, Maidana brings the heat

LAS VEGAS – Marcos Maidana didn't get the decision in his last fight, but it wouldn't be fair to call him a loser, either.

Maidana dropped a unanimous decision to Amir Khan for the World Boxing Association super lightweight belt on Dec. 4 in a bout so entertaining that the Boxing Writers Association of America voted it the 2010 Fight of the Year.

Whether that bout, or another, like Humberto Soto-Urbano Antillon or Giovani Segura-Ivan Calderon, deserved the award is missing the point. The fight was typical Maidana: short on style, long on leather.

Khan survived Maidana's closing rush, but there were no losers in this bout. If you saw Maidana in that fight, you clearly would want to see him again.

"People say 'He's not this' or 'He can't do that,' and what they say may have some merit," Golden Boy Promotions president Oscar De La Hoya said of Maidana. "But I have never heard anyone say 'Maidana is boring.' The guy gives you a great fight every time out. He's that kind of a fighter."

Good losses – losses in which the loser comes to fight, gives a great effort and leaves the fans clamoring for more – should never derail a fighter's career. And, fortunately for Maidana, who is 29-2 with 27 knockouts, the loss to Khan has had no discernible negative impact upon his career.

He'll meet one-time superstar Erik Morales, who is on the comeback trail, in the main event of an HBO Pay-Per-View card on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Morales is a big name and will deliver a big payday to Maidana, who also will have another gift waiting should he win.

The World Boxing Association has chosen in its infinite wisdom to sanction the bout for its interim super lightweight belt. There would be no problem with that, except for one small thing: Khan, who defeated Maidana to win the belt in the ring, is going to defend it a week from Saturday, on April 16 in England, against Paul McCloskey.

There has been no word from the WBA about why it sanctioned the fight for an interim title when it already had a 140-pound champion preparing to defend his belt, but that's likely because there is no explanation. Gilberto Mendoza Jr., the organization's vice president, couldn't be reached for comment.

To its credit, Golden Boy hasn't used the fact that the bout is for the interim WBA belt in its promotional material and CEO Richard Schaefer almost seemed embarrassed to discuss it.

"We have stayed out of it and we haven't advertised it or promoted it or in any way tried to make something of it," Schaefer said. "As far as I'm concerned, Amir Khan is the world champion of the WBA and, really, that's all I have to say. I do think Maidana is one of the most exciting and hard punching fighters, not only in this division, but in boxing, but I'll leave it up to someone else to determine if they think he's a world champion again if he wins this bout.

"I just stay out of this whole sanctioning body stuff. Amir Khan is the world champion, no ifs, ands or buts about it. If the WBA wants to give a belt to someone else in another fight and the fighters want to fight for it, it's up to them."

Maidana isn't bothered by it and has agreed to pay the WBA's sanction fee that is required for the, ahem, privilege of fighting for its belt.

That's a questionable decision, but he's right when he notes the loss to Khan has had minimal impact upon his career.

"I consider myself at that same level, at that high level, if not a little bit better," Maidana said prior to a lightly attended media workout Wednesday at the MGM. "It was a good showing. It was a close fight and I feel I gave a good performance."

That he did, though most of his work came after it was too late. Khan knocked Maidana down with one of the year's finest body shots in the opening round and controlled the fight throughout its first half. It wasn't until later in the fight that Maidana began to find the range and connect with Khan.

When he did, the tide of the fight turned. Maidana is one of the hardest punchers in the game and his former trainer, Miguel Diaz, once said Maidana punched as hard as a good-punching middleweight.

Clearly, he rocked Khan in the second half of the fight and nearly knocked him out in the 10th. He just fell too far behind.

"I started a little slow and it might have been overconfidence," a stern-faced Maidana said. "I was overconfident in my ability. That body shot I took in the first round, it did affect me. It affected me a bit, so I knew I had to be careful. But after a few rounds, I had to gamble, and that's exactly what I did."

Maidana threw and it wasn't long before Khan was retreating. Whatever he lacks in boxing skill, he makes up for in power.

He's always a threat to end a fight, even in bouts in which he's getting drubbed. He's proven that his power stays with him throughout the fight and while his right is clearly his best punch, he's also dangerous with the left.

"He doesn't have to be the most technical guy because of the way he can punch," Golden Boy matchmaker Eric Gomez said. "That's one of those things that is natural; either you're born with it or you're not. He has that punch that can change everything. We saw it in the Amir Khan fight. We saw it in the Victor Ortiz fight. He's never out of it. He can be losing 11-and-a-half rounds and all of a sudden, hit the home run. He's a home run hitter and when you're good enough to hit it out of the park at any time, you always have a chance."

And, it seems, with the WBA, there's always going to be a title belt.

The WBA is a joke, but Maidana is not.

Title belt or not, he's got the style to turn a boxing match into a slugfest at a moment's notice. No one I know of can complain about that.