Marcos René Maidana (born 17 July 1983) is an Argentine former professional boxer who competed from 2004 to 2014.
2004
Maidana started his career in 2004 before turning 21 years old.
He fought his first 18 fights in his native Argentina over two years, winning all, including 17 via stoppage.
2008
At the end of 2008, Maidana had a professional record of 25–0, with 24 stoppages.
2009
On 2 February 2009, Maidana challenged for his first world title, the WBA super lightweight championship against Andreas Kotelnik at the StadtHalle in Rostock, Germany.
Kotelnik beat Maidana via controversial split decision, with the judges scoring the fight 115–114, 113–115, and 115–113 in Kotelnik's favor.
Maidana was credited with landing 342 of 1241 punches thrown (28%), with 259 of them being power punches and Kotelnik was more accurate in landing 229 of his 655 thrown (35%).
Maidana's first fight in the United States was against Victor Ortíz, that took place on June 27, 2009, for the Interim WBA super lightweight title.
Ortiz entered the fight with an eight-fight knockout streak.
Both Ortiz and Maidana were knocked down in the first round.
Ortiz knocked Maidana to the canvas twice in the second round.
Ortiz suffered a cut in the fifth round and was knocked down in the sixth.
The fight was stopped when the ringside physician would not let Ortiz continue to fight.
Many in the boxing media, including HBO, chastised Ortiz for not wanting to continue in the fight.
After his fight with Ortiz, it was rumoured that Maidana would face British boxer, and WBA super lightweight champion, Amir Khan, who won the title after defeating Andreas Kotelnik.
However, Khan opted for Paulie Malignaggi as his next opponent.
2010
As a result, Maidana was scheduled to fight on 27 March 2010, against Victor Cayo, whose record, at that time, was 24–0 with 75% of victories coming by way of knockout.
Maidana knocked out the undefeated Cayo in the sixth round to retain his interim WBA super lightweight title and improve his record to 28–1, with 27 knockouts.
After failing to secure a fight with Timothy Bradley, Maidana fought and defeated DeMarcus Corley in August 2010.
Despite knocking Corley down in the seventh round, Maidana had to go the distance for only the third time in his career, eventually securing the victory via unanimous decision 117–110, 117–110, and 115–112.
Even with the knockdown, many believed the fight was close.
By round 11, Maidana was tired and both fighters traded in the final round.
Before his fight with Corley, Maidana accused Khan and trainer Freddie Roach of "hypocrisy" and called out Khan in an interview:
I'll go to Khan's home soil to take the other portion of the WBA title, which belongs to me ... They say they want me next when the cameras and mics are on.
But when it comes to make the fight for real, Roach begs Golden Boy Promotions to keep Khan away from me.
Khan was looking for a good opponent to challenge him for his WBA title.
One of his possible opponents was lightweight Champion Juan Manuel Marquez.
Marquez decided not to move up in weight and stayed at lightweight.
Maidana then stated his intention to fight Khan: "Stop looking for possible opponents for next Khan 11 December in England. Stop looking for lightweight boxers and face the real 140-pounders. I'll go to Khan's home soil to take the other portion of the WBA title that belongs to me."
The fight was confirmed on 16 September to take place at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas on 11 December.
Khan was reported to earn at least $1.5 million compared to Maidana who had a purse of $550,000.
Khan successfully defended his title for the third time against Maidana.
Khan knocked Maidana down with a combination of 2 body shots in the first round.
Maidana was saved by the bell but somehow regained composure and continued to battle on.
Khan dominated the scoring until tiring around round 7.
Maidana rallied and midway through round 10 stunned Khan with a heavy right hand.
2011
He held world championships in two weight classes, including the WBA (Regular) super lightweight title from 2011 to 2012, and the WBA welterweight title from 2013 to 2014.
A versatile brawler in the ring, Maidana was well known for his formidable punching power, and was never stopped in any of his five losses.
2018
On his 18th bout, he won the WBA Fedelatin super lightweight title.
Over the next year, Maidana only fought once in Argentina, five times in Germany and once in Panama.
