Marcos Maidana: Amir Khan is 'a Liar ... a Hypocrite ... (and) Scared'

On Saturday night at Estadio Luna Park in Buenos Aires, in his native Argentina, WBA interim junior welterweight (140 pounds) champion Marcos Rene Maidana will meet former world titlist DeMarcus Corley for a match that would set him up for a Dec. 11 clash with England's WBA king Amir Khan, should Maldana be victorious.

The 36-year-old Corley (37-13-1, 22 knockouts) is coming off of last month's fourth-round knockout of Damian Fuller that helped him to rebound from February's fifth-round knockout loss to 148-pound Freddy Hernandez (28-1, 19 KOs) for the latter's 11th straight win.

The 27-year-old Maidana, (28-1, 27 KOs) is coming off of a sixth-round knockout over Dominican Republic-born Victor Cayo (24-1, 16 KOs) last March for his third straight victory and his third consecutive knockout win since a February 2009 split-decision loss for the WBA crown to Ukrainian-born, 32-year-old Andrey Kotelnik (31-4-1, 13 KOs) of Germany.

Maidana, who is promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, spoke to FanHouse in this Q&A about Corley as well as what has become a heated rivalry and negotiation period with the 23-year-old Khan (23-1, 17 KOs).



FanHouse: What are your thoughts on your upcoming opponent, DeMarcus Corley?

Marcos Rene Maidana: DeMarcus Corley, I respect him because he's a former world champion. He's an American boxer who has faced such great fighters as Zab Judah and Floyd Mayweather and Miguel Cotto, even though he lost to them. So I have to respect him.

But I respect every opponent that I face, because I learned a lesson when I fought Andriy Kotelnik. I kind of underestimated him. I was overconfident. I learned a lesson that I will not be overconfident ever again. So, for that reason, I respect DeMarcus Corley as an opponent.


I know that you are focused on DeMarcus Corley, but how badly do you want to get into the ring with Amir Khan?

I really want to face Amir Khan, not only because I want him, but he has the other portion of the WBA title. And I want to be the absolute champion. I don't want to be called the interim champion any longer. On the other hand, Amir Khan is a hypocrite.

Because he says one thing in front of the camera. Like, that's when he'll say that he badly wants to face Marcos Rene Maidana. But then when it comes to being behind closed doors and when he's talking to our promoter, Golden Boy Promotions, he says that he wants to stay away from Marcos Rene Maidana.

So that's why I want him so badly. On Dec. 11, I will fight Amir Khan, but that's only after I defeat DeMarcus Corley on Saturday night.


Do you feel that you need to look impressive and to score a knockout against DeMarcus Corley and make some sort of statement?

Well, of course I need to win. A win is always a win, no matter how you get the win. But, I think that the public, everybody, they see me as a puncher and a knockout artist.

Everybody is expecting me to knock my opponent out. So, I would probably make a stronger statement if I were to beat DeMarcus Corley by the way of knockout.


Do you feel that Amir Khan is afraid to fight you?

Yes, not only Amir Khan, but his trainer, Freddie Roach, is too. Now all that you have to do is to go back to what Amir Khan's trainer, Freddie Roach, said a while back. He said it in public.

it was like, three or four months before Amir Khan beat Paulie Malignaggi, Freddie Roach said publicly that there should be like one year before Amir Khan was prepared to face Marcos Maidana.

So, yes, I think that they are scared of me.






What do you make of Amir Khan's saying that you are asking for too much money and pricing yourself out of the fight because you, in fact, do not want to face him?

I'm surprised. I read that today on the internet. It's just another lie from the Amir Khan team and his camp. Because, just yesterday, myself and my team met with Eric Gomez of Golden Boy Promotions. And Eric Gomez told my team that it would be probable for me to face Amir Khan.

But the money was never discussed at all, whatsoever.


Then why do you believe that Amir Khan is saying that about the money?

It's like I said before, he's afraid. But he's not only afraid, but Amir Khan is a liar. It's another example of him not saying it to my face. It's another excuse not to face me.


If you face Amir Khan, likely on his home turf of England, how will you handle the partisan crowd?

I would not be affected by the English crowd. On the contrary, I like that sort of environment, with me being a pure Argentinian soccer fan. So I'm very accustomed to that sort of atmosphere, having been to a number of highly-attended soccer games at soccer stadiums.

I enjoy that sort of atmosphere at a boxing match, so I plan to enjoy myself in England. I want to knock Amir Khan out, but not simply because we would be fighting in England, because I have nothing against the English.

But I want to knock him out because I want to knock him out. I don't like to make a forecast or a prediction about my fights, because fights can be tough. So I'm not the kind of guy who talks like that. But I am sure that I will defeat Amir Khan.

But right now, I want everyone to know that my focus is purely on DeMarcus Corley. I don't like to overlook an opponent, and I'm not underestimating him. I respect DeMarcus Corley for Saturday's fight. My mind is totally on DeMarcus Corley.