Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer is going to be looking to match #2 WBC, Marcos Maidana (34-3, 31 KO’s) up against the winner of the June 22nd fight between WBA welterweight champion Paulie Malignaggi (32-4, 7 KO’s) and Adrien Broner (26-0, 22 KO’s), according to Dan Rafael of ESPN. Maidana defeated Josesito Lopez by a 6th round TKO last Saturday night in Carson, California, in a tough, tough for Maidana.
That was not an easy win despite the early stoppage. Maidana was hurt in the 4th round by some big body shots from Lopez, and the referee Lou Moret appeared to miss a knockdown of Maidana in that round.
Nathan Lewkowicz is saying on his twitter that Maidana will be facing Lucas Matthysse on September 7th and the co-feature will be Danny Garcia vs. Zab Judah 2. He seems pretty confident that this fight will be happening. However, Maidana has sounded less than excited about the idea of fighting Matthysse if there’s not going to be a title on line.
It seems like it’s another hoop for Maidana to jump through before he gets a title shot, and that’s what he wants most of all. It would be a disappointment if Golden Boy Promotions didn’t let him get a crack at the Broner vs. Malignaggi winner and instead pushed him into another non-title fight before he eventually gets a shot at the WBA belt.
Some boxing fans expect Broner to immediately vacate the WBA title if he beats Malignaggi on June 22nd, because if Broner were to keep the belt it would mean that he would have to defend it against the big punchers Keith Thurman, Maidana and Diego Chaves.
It would be a murderer’s row for the 5’7” Broner and he’d have to prove right then and there whether he’s the next Floyd Mayweather Jr. or just a guy who fights like him. It would be sad to see Broner vacate but it’s likely to happen because Maidana, Thurman and Chaves are a lot better than the guys that Golden Boy has been matching Broner up against.