Maidana: “I feel that I have to knock Alexander out!”

Interview by Mariano A. Agmi
Photo by Chris Cozzone

On Saturday, February 25th at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, two time WBA junior welterweight champion Marcos “El Chino” Maidana (31-2, 28 KOs) faces former unified WBC/IBF junior welterweight titlist Devon “The Great” Alexander (22-1, 13 KOs) in a 10 round welterweight bout.

The HBO-televised bout is a move up to the welterweight limit for both pugilists, who have each spent practically their entire careers successfully campaigning in the 140lb weight class. While the power-punching Maidana enters the bout having decisioned the legendary Erik Morales and knocking out the unknown Petr Petrov in 2011 after losing a close decision to Amir Khan, it is the talented southpaw Alexander who must show the world that he is still a rising star in the sport after sub-par performances against Andriy Kotelnik (W12), junior welterweight king Timothy Bradley (L10) and Lucas Matthysse (W10). Fightnews.com spoke to the Argentine from his training camp in Carolina, Puerto Rico to discuss the bout, whether he feels he has to knock out Alexander to win in St. Louis, and what it was like to spar against rising Puerto Rican prospect Thomas Dulhorme, among other topics.

Marcos, how are preparations going for your bout against Devon Alexander?

Good, I’m well prepared. I trained for over two months and I feel good. I’ve been working extremely hard since I’m moving up to welter.

How has your training changed now that you are training with Rudy Pérez instead of Miguel Diaz?

I’m not with Rudy for this camp due to a health issue, so I’m training with Cristian Rodriguez who is an Argentine trainer. Cristian works with Rudy, so he’s training me in the same school of boxing that Rudy would. Training has been good – Rudy and Cristian know how to tweak little things in my style to make me a more effective fighter.

You trained in Puerto Rico for this bout and sparred with top prospect Thomas Dulhorme. Was this your first time in Puerto Rico? How did sparring go against Dulhorme?

This was my second time in Puerto Rico. Dulhorme is a very fast boxer. He helped me out a lot because my opponent is also fast and has a similar style. He gave me great sparring and I think Dulhorme has a great future ahead of him.

Q&A with Marcos Maidana – I feel that I have to knock Alexander out!

His speed might complicate things, especially his foot speed if I can’t catch up to him to unload my shots, because I’m the type of fighter that is going to throw a lot of power punches. I’m not looking to box or anything. If he stands in front of me I’m going to hurt him. If not, I’m going to cut the ring off. I prepared intensely for this fight to be able to get to him.

What about your style do you think he should be worried about?

Southpaws are always susceptible to the right hand, so we’ve been practicing that a lot in the gym and I hope that we can show in the ring everything that we’ve been working on.

You lost close fights against Amir Khan in Las Vegas and Andriy Kotelnik in England. After seeing your fellow Argentine, Lucas Matthysse, lose to Alexander in Missouri in a fight where he dropped Devon and had many feeling that he won, do you think you have to win this fight by knockout?

Yes, either by knockout or very clearly so that there is no question about who the winner is.

Since a spectacular win against Juan Urango, Devon hasn’t looked good against the likes of Kotelnik, Timothy Bradley or Matthysse. Many feel that Alexander lost all 3 of those bouts and has peaked as a boxer. What do you think?

Well, he lost to Bradley. Matthysse and Kotelnik were there – they just needed to apply a little more pressure to pull off the victory. I never really followed Devon as a boxer. It wasn’t until now that I’m going to face him that I’ve really seen him fight.

Now that I’ve studied the tape on him, I see that he performed badly against Bradley and he didn’t look so good against Matthysse either. Hopefully he trains hard for this bout so that we can have a good fight.

Have you talked to Lucas Matthysse about Devon? If so, did he say anything about Devon’s strengths and weaknesses during their fight?

I didn’t because I flew to Puerto Rico to prepare for the fight and Lucas stayed in Argentina to train for his. Honestly, we don’t really have much of a relationship.

This is the first fight at welterweight for both of you. How do you feel at the new weight?

It’s the first time that I will fight at this weight class, but at least during training and sparring I felt good and we’ll see how I feel on the 25th and whether I can stay at welterweight or return to 140. I feel pretty strong though and I never had trouble making 140, so making 147 is easy and I’m able to eat well and relax.

There were rumors that your team was not aware that this would be a 10 round fight. Did you know that it would be a 10 round fight, or did you think it was scheduled for 12?

We wanted this to be a 12 round fight, but they made it a 10 round fight. The contract said that it was going to be a 12 round fight and then they changed it to 10. [How strange] It is what it is and I’m going to come forward for all 10 rounds.

Your team also requested that drug tests be administered for both fighters before and after the fight in case anything illegal went on during training. Is that situation resolved?

Sebastian Contursi, my advisor, has been handling that, so I’m not as informed but I know we will both be drug tested.

Is your preference to stay at welterweight?

If I win this fight, I’ll stay at this weight because I’m sure a big opportunity will present itself afterwards. It depends on whether I win and feel good.

There are many compelling fights taking place in this weight class, including some involving guys you’ve already fought. Looking at Pacquiao-Bradley, Ortiz-Berto and Peterson-Khan, do you have a preference as to whom you’d like to face next?

After winning this fight, God willing, I would face any of those guys. I’m ready for them and I feel that I’m capable of fighting well against any of those guys.

After receiving so much exposure on HBO the past few years, how do people treat you when you return to Argentina?

Good, at least my family welcomes me! The people of Santa Fe, my province, have always supported me and welcome me with open arms after every fight, no matter if I win or lose.

Closing thoughts?

Just want to send my regards to all of my fans and I hope that we give them a good fight.

February 22nd, 2012

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