Whatever is in the air or the
water at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California, it’s the boxing version
of a magical Room of Requirement straight out of Harry Potter. Fighters who
step into the ring at the Center in Carson recently have put on wildly
entertaining fights for fans: both Brandon Rios and Mike Alvarado bouts,
Timothy Bradley and Ruslan Provodnikov to name a few.
Showtime hopes the pugilistic
pixie dust (sorry, indulge me) does its work again on Saturday night for its
lineup including two good welterweight matchups with the potential to be great.
Marcos Maidana of Argentina
(33-3, 30 KOs) proved he can win at welterweight last September on the
Alvarez-Lopez undercard, a needed comeback after a loss to hard-hitting Devon
Alexander at super welterweight. He faces Californian Josesito Lopez (30-5, 18
KOs) in an important fight for both contenders.
Maidana, 29, comes into fights
in excellent condition. He likes to hit and he can take a serious punch, which
generally makes for an entertaining show for the fans. He has defeated several worthy opponents and
lost a few close decisions. Maidana is more powerful than Lopez, but Lopez has
plenty of gas in the tank. Ask Victor Ortiz, who thought Lopez would be a
tuneup fight but ended up with a broken jaw. That victory won Lopez, 28, a
matchup against Canelo Alvarez. It turned out to be a mismatch: Lopez took a
drubbing, hitting the canvas three times before a fifth round stoppage. This is
his first fight since that wipeout.
Maidana weighted in at the 147
pound limit; Lopez weighted in at 145 pounds even. (Source)
