Boxing In Argentina: Marcos Maidana vs. DeMarcus Corley

Tonight, Buenos Aires’ famed Luna Park Stadium hosts an Interim WBA light welter championship bout between Marcos Rene Maidana and DeMarcus Corley.

Titlist Maidana, 28-1 (27), puts his strap at risk for the third time and the Jose Leon Suarez resident will enjoy a massive hometown advantage over the visiting American veteran.

An even bigger edge for the Argentine body puncher will be the reduced abilities of southpaw Corley, 37-13-1 (22), who is at least six years past his prime and has become a bit of an opponent these days.

However, the 36 year old ex-WBO champ Corely has faced the far greater opposition during the course of his 14 year career in the form of Floyd Mayweather Jr, Zab Judah, Miguel Cotto, Devon Alexander, Junior Witter and Randall Bailey when those boxers were in their prime.

Maidana only started facing world class level opponents last year when he dropped a controversial split decision to Andriy Kotelnik last February for the full WBA strap.

The 27 year old puncher bounced back just four months later to win an absolute slugfest with Victor Oritz, climbing off the canvas three times before finishing off his rival in the sixth to capture the Interim WBA crown.

Maidana has since produced KO victories over William Gonzalez and Victor Manuel Cayo but will now have to overcome his most seasoned opponent to date.

Corley should provide Maidana with a good test but will have to produce his best performance in years to walk out of Luna Park with the local man’s title strapped around his waist.