After a few weeks of looking for an opponent for his first defense of the WBA super lightweight title on Friday the 23rd of September, Marcos Maidana has an opponent: Russian Petr Petrov (29-2, 13 KOs).

“It was great news to know that I have an opponent for September 23 in Argentina. My team went through nearly 50 candidates but they all said no for one reason or another. But Petrov didn’t even hesitate and stepped in. It will be a good fight, “ Maidana said.

All of a sudden in the last few days, Lucas Matthysse got sick and withdrew from his scheduled fight with Erik Morales, which was scheduled to take place on September 17 in Las Vegas.

“I could not believe it when they told me. First, [Robert] Guerrero got injured and I walked out totally empty handed and my team had to make a huge effort to organize a fight and a new training camp for me in Argentina in only three weeks, as I was advised that no dates were available for me in the United States. Now Matthysse pulled out and some people asked me why didn’t I step in,” the Argentinean KO artist continues.

“We got a phone call from Golden Boy Promotions asking if we were interested [in facing Morales]. No financial offer was made because they already have an established budget for the whole card in Las Vegas and it would be difficult to change it at this stage,“ he adds.

“On top of that, we already have a commitment with my Argentinean people, contracts signed and everything organized for September 23. We don’t want to let all of them down. If people want to see me against Morales again, let’s do it. He wins his fight on September 17 and I win my fight on September 23 and then we can have a rematch in December,” Maidana concludes.