Maidana vs Alexander Will Take Place in February

Well it looks like the rumors from last week turned out to be true with the two Golden Boy fighters looking to get it on. The Ring's Lem Satterfield says that Marcos Maidana and Devon Alexander are officially headed for a February date.

In a twist that was announced last week, both fighters will be at the welterweight limit. Strange mostly because both fighters made their names in the junior welterweight division, and both of them are currently near the top of that division. Marcos Maidana last fought at the welterweight limit in 2006 while Devon Alexander last fought at the welterweight limit in 2007. Therefore, it is difficult to imagine how either of these fighters will deal with the extra weight.

Conventional knowledge would say that the brawler Maidana would have an easier time with the weight since he does not rely on speed and timing the way that Alexander does. However, the extra weight could make the already slow Maidana very easy to hit and very easy to avoid. Regardless of who carries the weight better, I think Maidana has the advantage going in to this fight. He has looked far better than Alexander recently and brings a style that gives Alexande trouble. If Alexander had trouble with Lucas Matthysse, then I would imagine that he would have trouble with Marcos Maidana as well, even though Matthysse is a little bit more of a boxer. The straight ahead pressure is going to bother Alexander, and hopefully the judges will know the difference between a landed punch and punch volume.

After his last couple of "wins," I do not rate Alexander highly and I think that this is a terrible style matchup for him. If Golden Boy can swing it, I would like to see the winner of this matchup face Paulie Malignaggi. Paulie has called out both of these guys and seems to be the third wheel. Anyways, who do you think has the advantage in this fight and do you see any decent future fights after this one for either fighter?