Fans Weigh In: Maidana Will KO Alexander

Marcos Maidana - Photo Credit: Will Hart

Devon Alexander's fight record is marred by only a head butt-filled bout against a top-ranked opponent. And yet, fully 83% of respondents to the HBO Boxing Facebook poll don't think he has what it takes to beat the hard-hitting Marcos Maidana. "Maidana is going to make Alexander quit again," writes Reuben C.  "If Alexander tries to slug it out he's getting KO'd," tweeted @LokWHR. Meanwhile, almost all respondents see Adrien Broner adding another knockout to his pristine record. "Broner will knock Perez out by the sixth," writes @Istahtyou_1.

Here's more of what fans had to say about Maidana-Alexander:

- i like alexander stepping up and taking this fight, of course its dangerous for him due to maidanas power but itll be a good test to see how he can adapt and how much he can handle, if he passes the test then itll get more ppl on his side again, if not i guess hell jus be another skilled boxer who jsut couldnt make it big tim. – J. Slaunwhite (HBO.com)
- Styles make fights. Maidana with iron chin, determination and power, can catch Alexander- more faster, but lacks strong will. - Peter A. (Facebook)
- Broner will win by TKO. Im rooting for Maidana but the only way he wins in St.Louis is by KO. - @LucianoGustini (Twitter)
- Alexander isnt ready for this type of pressure, strength and power!!! Hopefully he trains to boost up his punch resistance and his agility because he will need both and more!! He doesn't have the power to bother Maidana!! - Robert E. (Facebook)
- Maidana does have the power to knock anyone out in the division. For those who look to the Ortiz fight... Who do you think hits harder? Berto or Maidana? I say Berto. But Berto couldn't put Ortiz away.. It all comes down to styles. Ortiz's style made it easier for Maidana to do damage. I think Alexander will be hard to hit and it will be a similar fight to the Khan fight, with the same outcome... Maidana coming up short in a decision. – Harry K. (HBO.com)
- I'm going with Maidana over Alexander. Devon isn't impressive to me at all. I'm also taking the Problem over the Prince - Quinee J. (Facebook)
- If it's Maidana's fight pace, he might KO Alexander. If it's Alexander's fight, he'd box his way to a points decision. - @Kmauri_SM (Twitter)

Disagree? Share your fight predictions in the comments.

Three Witnesses to Marcos Maidana’s Punching Power

By Kieran Mulvaney

Marcos Maidana vs Erik Morales - Photo Credit: Will HartMarcos Maidana does not, at first sight, appear to match his reputation. A boxer’s muscles are generally lean rather than bulky, built for speed and reflexes rather than weight-lifting strength, but even by the standards of his weight division, Maidana seems slight. He is not obviously a man possessed of frightening punching power. But if Devon Alexander, who faces Maidana in the year’s first Boxing After Dark broadcast on February 25, needs any convincing of just how real that punching power in fact is, we offer three fighters who experienced it firsthand:

Marcos Maidana vs Victor Ortiz - Photo Credit: Will HartVictor Ortiz. When Ortiz stepped into the ring with Maidana in June 2009, he was the rising star who had been bowling over one foe after another. The little-known Maidana was expected to be another notch in the belt as Ortiz continued his path to glory, and when the Argentine went down in the first round after an Ortiz assault, the script seemed to be unfolding as planned. But then Ortiz, overeager, ran headlong into a Maidana right hand that flattened him. He recovered, and knocked his opponent down twice more in the second. But Maidana would not be denied, constantly powering forward and landing brutal blows that took the fight out of the young American, knocking him down and causing him to retreat from battle in the eighth round.

Marcos Maidana vs Amir Khan - Photo Credit: Will HartAmir Khan. Unlike Ortiz, the Briton emerged victorious from his encounter with Maidana, but like Ortiz, he doubtless expected on the basis of a first-round knockdown that his night would be easier than it turned out. That knockdown, which came at the end of the opening frame of their December 2010 clash, was the result of a Khan body shot that had Maidana grimacing in pain. Once again, however, Maidana proved resilient and relentless. He hauled Khan in down the stretch – including a furious tenth-round assault that all but sent his head flying into the crowd – only to fall agonizingly short on the scorecards.

Marcos Maidana vs Erik Morales - Photo Credit: Will HartErik Morales. The veteran exposed the weaknesses in Maidana’s style, showing just enough defensive movement to blunt his opponent’s occasionally crude assault, and enough offensive variety to pierce his guard. But even the wiles Morales had acquired over almost two decades of professional pugilism were not enough to prevent Maidana from inflicting an injury so grotesque, a right eye so horrendously swollen, that outside of a boxing ring it would have been photographed as evidence that a violent assailant was at large.

Alexander, who possesses the kind of boxing skills that could leave Maidana swinging and missing, is confident. “I've got my legs strong and fast, and I'm ready to rock and roll,” he says. But many a thoroughbred has become bogged down in the rough terrain that is a Maidana fight. Will Alexander prove the exception?

Maidana-Alexander: Thunder and Lightning

By Nat Gottlieb

Marcos Maidana, Devon Alexander - Photo Credits: Ed MulhollandOne of the most common templates for a boxing narrative is the classic boxer-puncher fight. On the surface it appears we have one slated for February 25th in St. Louis, when Marcos Maidana, the lethal power slugger with limited boxing skills faces Devon Alexander, the slick boxer with fast hands who wins more on points than knockdowns. But pigeon-holing this fight would be a mistake. Although Alexander can box your ears off, he has a fondness for going inside and standing toe-to-toe. That may be a bad move against Maidana, but it will make for an exciting fight.

There are also many subtle issues at play which could decide the winner. Chief among them is stamina. Alexander (22-1,13KOs) has been labeled a great six-round fighter who fades down the stretch, a contention supported by his most recent fights. His camp counters that the fades were a result of trying to boil down to the 140-pound weight limit, which cut muscle and left him fatigued. This fight will take place at 147, and both Alexander and his trainer Kevin Cunningham say the extra seven pounds will make a big difference in his stamina.

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Remembering Famous Trainers Angelo Dundee and Goody Petronelli

By Kieran Mulvaney

The principal focus of last Saturday’s World Championship Boxing broadcast was, of course, on the televised bouts, which in Nonito Donaire and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. featured two of the most popular of the current generation of pugilists.

But between the two contests, the emphasis shifted, and sadly so; because even as a young wave of fighters – the likes of Donaire, Adrien Broner, Gary Russell Jr, and others – prepares to assume its role in the spotlight, the past several months have seen one member after another of one of boxing’s golden ages leave the stage.

Joe Frazier, one of the greatest heavyweights of all time, died in November in the same week that one of the greatest lighter-weight fighters of all time, Manny Pacquiao, prepared to meet his nemesis, Juan Manuel Marquez. Smokin’ Joe was joined shortly afterward by another of the great crop of 1970s heavyweights, Ron Lyle, whose slugfest with George Foreman was the first fight at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas and remains one of the best.

And now, we have lost two heavyweights among trainers, with the passing of Goody Petronelli and Angelo Dundee.

Petronelli helped steer, at various times, the careers of fighters such as former middleweight and super middleweight Steve Collins, and unlikely Mike Tyson conqueror Kevin McBride. But, with his brother Pat he was best known for managing and training Marvelous Marvin Hagler, one of the very best middleweights ever to lace up the gloves (and one of the best southpaws to do so, which was directly attributable to Petronelli, who took the naturally right-handed fighter and turned him lefty). Hagler earned a middleweight shot later than he should have done – as Petronelli lamented, Hagler’s problem was that he was left-handed, black and good – and when his opportunity finally arrived, against Vito Antuofermo in November 1979, he had to be content with a draw. Ten months later, his turn came again, against new champion Alan Minter, and this time he would not leave his fate in the hands of the judges. Hagler bloodied Minter’s face over three rounds to annex the middleweight crown, a title he kept until he lost it in the final contest of his career, on April 6 1987.

His opponent in that fight was Sugar Ray Leonard, and Leonard’s trainer on that night, as throughout his career, was Angelo Dundee. If Petronelli was especially famed for his involvement with one great fighter, Dundee was forever celebrated for training two – Leonard and, before him, Muhammad Ali. When both had retired, he steered the second career of George Foreman, and was in his corner when Foreman shocked Michael Moorer and the world in 1994.

Hagler described Petronelli, a gentle and universally-loved figure, as an “unbelievably great human being”; much the same has been said repeatedly of Dundee, and with good reason. To speak with Dundee, even as he approached 90, was to speak with a man of genuine humility who seemed forever surprised and grateful that anybody would want to hear what he had to say. He loved boxing and everyone associated with it, and would not hesitate to help anybody – fighter, writer, trainer or spit-bucket carrier – who needed or wanted assistance or advice.

Twenty-five years after working in opposite corners, Petronelli and Dundee were united again, Petronelli leaving us on January 29 and Dundee passing away three days later. The world of boxing mourns their departure, but their achievements and their gentle personalities shall not soon be forgotten.

Chavez Jr. Wins Unanimous Decision

By Kieran Mulvaney

Photo Credit: Will hartSometimes it’s important simply to win, to take the victory by whatever means necessary, go home and tend to the bruises, and look for a spectacular win another day. Sometimes a fighter has to suck up the adversity and the obstacles and gut it out.

On Saturday night in San Antonio, both Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and Nonito Donaire emerged victorious after battles that were perhaps more grueling than either might have wished or expected, but which were nonetheless clear enough that the trajectories of their professional careers will continue upward.

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