Marcos Maidana Stops Victor Ortiz In a See Saw Battle!

Marcos Maidana Stops Victor Ortiz In a See Saw Battle!

By Bob Carroll, Doghouse Boxing (June 28, 2009) Photo © German Villasenor

In a battle for the interim WBA super lightweight title, Argentina's Marcos Maidana (26-1, 25 KO's) stopped the highly touted Golden Boy prospect, Californian Victor Ortiz (24-2, 19 KO's) in round six Saturday night at the Satples Center in Los Angeles. This fight was originally scheduled as a co-main event of the rematch of Chris John vs. Rocky Juarez, which was cancelled when Chris John fell ill, so this fight turned into the main event. HBO was not sure how this would turn out as a main event, but it turned out to be a fight that my wife, Kathy Carroll and I, would throughly enjoy watching together and HBO should be proud to serve to the boxing public. The WBA

approved this fight as it's interim championship after champion Andreas Kotelnik was forced from his bout against Amir Khan due to a dental problem.

Ortiz, coming in as the favorite against the power punching Maidana, dropped his opponent in the first round with a quick right hand. After Maidana took his eight count, Ortiz rushed forward, only to be caught and dropped himself by a right hand. Ortiz bounced back towards the end of round one and held on to win the round. Round two saw Ortiz take the battle back to Maidana, as he dropping him twice in the round, Maidana looking like he would have trouble getting off the stool for the thrid round. Maidana did make it, losing a strategic round three and taking round four on the scorecards by pressing the action.

In round five Maidana continued the pressure, even cutting Ortiz over the left eye with precision right hands and continuing to pressure Ortiz, much to the dismay of his boss Oscar De La Hoya. During the break of that round, Ortiz's corner warned him that they would stop the fight, due to his lack of will and the fact that Maidana was starting to turn the fight in his favor, a strategy that was supposed to help thier fighter regain his earlier dominance. It failed to

work for the young Ortiz, as Maidana continued to push the action, hammering Ortiz with combinations and dropping him early. As Ortiz stood up, the referee became concerned with the cut and took Ortiz over to be examined by the ringside physician, who immediately called for a halt to the bout. The referee then halted the fight, giving Marcos Maidana a TKO victory and the WBA super lightweight championship belt. This fight will certainly be mentioned during the fight of the 2009 considerations.

For more on the Maidana - Oritz fight, listen to Bob, Butch and "THE Big Dog "Benny Henderson Jr, every Wednesday night from 8-9pm on Fightin Words Radio Show. To listen worldwide, go to http://1490wwpr.com and look for the "listen here" tab. Also, don't forget to visit the shows website, www.fightinwordsonline.com