Robert Guerrero vs Marcos Maidana Would Be a Great Fight

Robert Guerrero was, by all accounts, the runner-up in the Amir Khan sweepstakes. Ultimately, Zab Judah was chosen as the opponent for Khan on July 23rd. 

As a consolation prize, Guerrero may end up fighting one of the next best fighters in the division in Marcos Maidana. Guerrero, who looks to jump up to 140 and certainly has the frame to do so, would face a tough test in the heavy-fisted, sturdy Maidana, whose only losses were to Khan and a controversial, very narrow defeat to Andriy Kotelnik, another one of the top guys at Junior Welterweight.

Guerrero was the total package against a similarly offensive-minded fighter in Michael Katsidis in April. He put on a dominating display of power, footwork, efficiency and toughness, leaving Katsidis' face a "grotesquely swollen mask" in the process (Jim Lampley's words, not mine).

In some respects, Maidana is a bigger version of Katsidis, a guy who will basically press forward and look to brawl, and can take a lot of punishment in the process, having never been stopped despite being badly wounded several times. A fight with Guerrero would appear to be very entertaining, like the Katsidis fight, but much more competitive.

Maidana carries a lot more power than Katsidis does, and he's taken punches from guys bigger and stronger than Guerrero in Khan and Ortiz. He will take shots and will keep coming with an assault more powerful and relentless than anything Guerrero has faced at these weights. But I think Guerrero has the skill and the speed, as well as the willingness to engage, that'll make this a very competitive match, one in which I would expect both fighters to get dinged up a bit. 

When you look at the already loaded JWW division, with Khan, Bradley, Maidana, Alexander, Mathysse, Kotelnik, Judah, Morales, and think about Guerrero making the jump, and down the line a Brandon Rios maybe coming up, and also consider the next "biggest" fight in Boxing will be at a catch-weight 4 lbs above JWW between Pacquiao and Marquez, the ballpark of 140 lbs is absolutely stacked with intriguing match-ups and the sport's next potential superstars.