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Advisor: Marcos Maidana would ‘sacrifice’ to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Fighters Network
10
Feb

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Marcos Maidana's manager says that the fighter knows and cares little about a poll in which Amir Khan was selected over Maidana to be the May 3 opponent for Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Maidana's manager, Sebastian Contursi, also said that while the Argentine slugger cited the expected mid-March birth of his daughter as a reason he would not be ready for an April rematch with Adrien Broner, a potential mega bout with Mayweather "would be a different story."

Maidana, who, like Mayweather and Broner, is advised by Al Haymon and promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, upset Broner via unanimous decision to win the WBA's 147-pound title in December.



"The first time we talked to Al Haymon after the Broner fight, in late December or early January, we were very clear that Maidana would not be ready for April," said Contursi.

"But if you want to ask why Maidana would be ready for Mayweather in early May and why he would not be able to be ready for Broner for a rematch in late April, or late May, well, that would be a different story."

Mayweather stated on his Twitter account on Feb. 3 that he would allow his fans to decide whether his next opponent will be Khan or Maidana. On Sunday, Khan was revealed on The Mayweather Promotions' website to have beat Maidana in the voting, 20,105-to-15,474.

"To be honest, Marcos he doesn't care about polls or anything like that. But after talking to Al Haymon, which was, like, one week ago, we have had some discussions about possibly Marcos fighting Mayweather, and/or Broner. So, I told Marcos about our conversation, and that was it," said Contursi.

"At that time, I didn't know anything about these polls. But to be honest, he doesn't care about polls. He said, 'If I get the Mayweather fight, of course, I would want to fight him, otherwise, we'll see.' We haven't spoken to Al Haymon about it since then, and I'm not even sure that Marcos is aware of the polls themselves."

Meanwhile, Khan has stated publicly that he has signed his contract to face Mayweather at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. But if Mayweather does, in fact, veto the fans and choose Maidana, Contursi said Maidana would likely accept the offer.

"Marcos told me that he would be trying to make an effort to sacrifice himself to fight Mayweather, and I told Al that, because everyone wants to fight Mayweather, and he would be excited about that," said Contursi.

"So Marcos would be able to sacrifice himself to get ready for May 3, but, of course, Mayweather is one thing, and Broner is another thing. So far, like I said, we don't know what Mayweather is going to do, to this day."

Contursi said Maidana was turned off by Broner's attempt to "dictate the terms" of a rematch.

"People have to understand that Maidana really gave a beating to Broner, so, of course, when you beat a guy in that way, you are not that excited to give him a rematch," said Contursi.

"So Marcos was a little bit peeved after that beating that Broner took that Broner was still trying to dictate the terms. I mean, to impose his conditions, like, 'I'll be fighting Maidana in April,' and stuff like that, we were like, 'He can not call the shots.'"

 

DANNY O'CONNOR, JOHN JOE NEVIN DEBUT HIGHLIGHT GOLDEN BOY LIVE! MARCH 17

Irish southpaw Danny O'Connor (23-2, 7 KO's) of will face Andrew Farmer (17-2, 7 KO's) in the welterweight main event of a Golden Boy Live! show on March 17 — St. Patrick's Day — on Fox Sports 1 and Fox Deportes from The House of Blues, Golden Boy Promotions announced on Monday.

"I can't imagine there can be a better place to have a boxing event on St. Patrick's Day than in Boston," said Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, who is co-promoting the event with Murphy's Boxing U.S.A. "We've partnered with Ken Casey and his company and we're going to bring the great boxing fans of this city the fights they want and deserve. On March 17, the only place to be in Boston is at the House of Blues."

In other televised bouts, Irish lightweight Jamie Kavanagh (15-1-1, 7 KOs) will face an opponent to be determined, as will heavyweight Alexis Santos (12-0, 10 KOs), who has seven first-round knockouts. Junior lightweight Ryan Kielczewski (18-0, 4 KOs) will also meet an opponent to be determined.

In other bouts, 2012 Irish Olympic silver medalist John Joe Nevin will face bantamweight rival Alberto Candelaria (3-0-1, 2 KOs), super middleweight Mike Schneider (debut) takes on Bill Traft (3-0, 1 KO), Rashidi Ellis (3-0, 2 KOs) meets Bryan Abraham (6-18, 6 KOs), and welterweight Greg Vendetti (4-1-1, 2 KOs) will fight Damon Antoine (11-52-2).