Maidana Breaks Down Maysonet In Six Rounds
Jul 23, 2016 • 8:52 PM ET
By Jake Donovan
SAN ANTONIO, Tex.--With his older and more famous brother sitting barely five feet away at ringside, Fabian Maidana used the night to make a name for himself.
The 24-year old super lightweight prospect from Argentina overcome a rough opening round to break down and stop Jorge Maysonet Jr. after six rounds in their PBC on NBC Sports Network-televised headliner Saturday evening at Scottish Rite Theatre in San Antonio, Texas.
Because of an outdated rule that the commission is currently revisiting, the official time is 0:10 of round seven, since the verdict was that Maysonet did not come out for round seven.
It ultimately proved to be an easy night at the office for Maidana, but it certainly didn't begin that way. Headlining his first U.S.-televised card, the 24-year old boxing brother of Marcos 'Chino' Maidana - the former two-division champ who was dressed in his Saturday night best while sitting just outside his corner - was tentative coming out the gate, a situation of which Maysonet Jr. took full advantage.
A straight right hand in the back half of the opening round drew a stream of blood from the nose of Maidana, suggesting the start of a long and competitive night in store.
It simply didn't work out that way for the second-generation boxer, whose father Jorge Sr. challenged Simon Brown for the welterweight title in 1989. As for the son, his aspirations of advancing from prospect to contender will have to come another evening, as dreams of overnight success ended the moment the bell sounded to begin round two.
Maidana picked up the aggression, but without being reckless. A counter-puncher by nature, the unbeaten super lightweight drew in Maysonet before catching him with flush right hands and crisp left hooks.
""Fabian got caught in the first round but we knew he wasn't hurt," trainer Robert Garcia Jr. - filling in for his father Robert Sr., who was with Olaksandr Gvozdyk in Las Vegas - told BoxingScene.com after the fight. "We just had to keep him calm. That's the biggest difference between him and Marcos.
"Even when Fabian was winning rounds, Marcos kept standing up and shouting "Come forward! Attack!" That's how he fought; that's not Fabian, he's a counter puncher and we just let him know in between rounds to listen to us and stick with what's working. Marcos gets it; he just gets emotional during fights because he loves watching his brother in the ring."
The crowd on hand loved watching the younger Maidana in action as well, and for good reason. He swept the subsequent rounds as Maysonet's offense all but disappeared with each passing frame. His corner tried different strategies each round, first telling him to relax and not fight tense, then to stick and move, before pleading for the Puerto Rican boxer to simply throw punches.
Meanwhile, Maidana was piling up points and slowly breaking down his once-beaten opponent. Five straight rounds of punishment was enough for Maysonet Jr. and his corner to decide there was no longer a need to continue,
"I had him hurt early, but I couldn't put my punches together after that," admitted Maysonet, who falls to 13-2 (11KOs). "I gave 100% of what I had, but I really only had 50% of my best stuff. I'm a lightweight. They wanted the fight at super lightweight, then 143. We took the fight because of who he is, really who his brother is.
"To be honest, we don't think much of him as a fighter. He's bigger than me and was able to beat me that way. My corner saw that I reached a point where I couldn't fight the way I wanted to. We didn't want to disappoint the crowd by going out there and not fighting, so my corner stopped the fight and I respect their decision."
Whether an honest assessment or sour grapes, Maysonet Jr. is forced to rebuild after having now lost two of his last four starts.
Meanwhile, Maidana cruises to 10-0 (7KOs), The knockout is his first in more than a year, having gone the distance in each of his last two starts. On this particular night, he felt a power surge that allowed for the early ending.
"We were very pleased with our performance,"Maidana toldBoxingScene.com after the fight. "He caught me with a good shot that drew blood from my nose in the first round. I just kept calm, listened to my corner and stuck to the game plan. I knew I was the stronger fighter; I just had to remain patient.
"I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to knock him out, but I sensed that he would eventually quit. He stopped throwing punches and didn't want to fight back."
Heading into the night, Maidana insisted this opportunity was to be the first step in emerging from his brother's shadow. It's not an easy task given the cult following Marcos enjoyed, not to mention the fight taking place in the same city where the now semi-retired former champ enjoyed his biggest career victory, dominating Adrien Broner over 12 rounds in Dec. '13.
Saturday night provided a bit of role reversal, with the focus on the two-year prospect while the aged veteran was perfectly fine enjoying the night as a spectator.
"I'm so proud of Fabian. He looked great tonight," the elder Maidana told BoxingScene.com. "One thing he does well that I never really had, he was patient, especially when he got his nose busted. I would've went straight after the guy and probably lost more rounds, but Fabian kept a cool head and then eventually exploded once he had him trapped. That's why they call him TNT.
"Watching him improve with every fight allows me to enjoy watching from the sidelines. Everyone wants to know when or if I'm coming back... but right now, it's all about Fabian. It's not fair to compare him to me, and it's not fair for me to steal his spotlight. I'm here to support his career."
"Watching him improve with every fight allows me to enjoy watching from the sidelines. Everyone wants to know when or if I'm coming back... but right now, it's all about Fabian. It's not fair to compare him to me, and it's not fair for me to steal his spotlight. I'm here to support his career."
UNDERCARD
Alan Castano remained unbeaten with an eight-round unanimous decision win over Aaron Garcia in their televised co-feature.
Scores were 78-74 in favor of Castano, whose older brother Brian outpointed Garcia last December,
Brandon Figueroa (9-0, 6KOs) opened up the show with a 3rd round knockout of Puerto Rico's Adalberto Zorrilla (6-2, 6KOS).
It was a slow start for the baby-faced Figueroa, who eventually established a sound body attack in breaking down Zorrilla. The bout was competitive early, but threatened to get away from the visiting Boricua after losing a point in round two for repeated low blows.
Figueroa took it out of the judges' hands altogether, dropping Zorrila twice in round three, including a crisp left hook to the body to end the fight. The official time was 2:44 of round three.
MORE RESULTS TO COME...
Twitter: @JakeNDaBox_v2
Jake Donovan is an award-winning journalist who served as senior writer for BoxingScene from 2007-2024, and news editor for the final nine years of his first tour. He was also the lead writer for The Ring before his decision to return home.
