By Ian S Palmer
Hard hitting Marcos Maidana of Argentina will be taking on Josesito Lopez of Riverside, California in a 12-round welterweight bout at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California on Saturday June 8. Maidana will enter the ring ropes with a record of 33-3 with 30 Kos while Lopez has a mark of 30-5 with 18 Kos. The bout will be for Maidana’s WBA Inter-Continental Championship.
Maidana is a power puncher who prefers to take his opponents out before giving the judges a say in his bouts. He’s aggressive and has a decent chin to go with his power. However, he can be outboxed if his opponents can stand up to his shots. His last two bouts were Kos over Angel Martinez and Jesus Soto Karass. Maidana’s pleasing on the eye since he’s an all-action boxer who gives the fans what they want.
Maidana’s Ko percentage stands at an impressive 83 per cent so Lopez knows he’s going to have to be able to withstand his power if he plans on remaining upright. If he can take Maidana’s best shots he’s got a chance to take a decision from him. Maidana simply throws his punches in bunches figuring that some of them will eventually land and do some damage. And he’s usually right.
Lopez is a good boxer with quick hands who also likes to keep himself busy by letting his hands go. He’s an accurate puncher who can box from a distance in an attempt to keep his opponents off balance. He’s effective when he comes forward as the aggressor and looked good in bouts against Jessie Vargas and Victor Ortiz. He lost to Vargas though while stopping Ortiz.
Maidana is a former junior welterweight champion and Lopez isn’t a natural welterweight either as he’s come up through the divisions from the junior welterweight class. He’s definitely doesn’t want to get into a slugfest with Maidana and will have to utilize his foot movement to keep out of close range and try to box him. Maidana has shown in the past that he can be outboxed if he doesn’t throw enough punches per round and this is why he needs to be the aggressor and press the action.
The 29-year-old Maidana has been accused of looking for the knockout in each fight and he’s in trouble if he can’t achieve it. He’s lost decisions to world champions Devon Alexander, Amir Khan and Andriy Kotelnik. The outcome of this bout could depend on the strength and durability of the 28-year-old Lopez’s chin.
Prediction
Lopez was stopped by Saul Alvarez in the fifth round last September and he’s getting right back on the horse against another power puncher in Maidana. It’ll be interesting to see how he reacts when Maidana nails him with the first heavy shot. It can be argued that Lopez is the better boxer here, but if Maidana keeps coming after him he’s going to have to stand his ground at some time. Lopez will need to be at his best to pull out a decision, but the more likely scenario will see Maidana eventually catch up to and stop him.
