Devon Alexander Eyes Ortiz vs Berto Winner After Maidana

By Ryan Burton

 

Former junior welterweight champion Devon Alexander "The Great" appeared on a recent episode of The Boxing Lab, BoxingScene.com's official audio show.  Alexander will face Marcos Maidana on February 25th in the main event of an HBO doubleheader.  WBO super featherweight champion Adrien Broner will defend his title versus Eloy Perez in the televised opener.

 

Alexander has received criticism for what some perceive to be hometown cooking in his points victories over Andriy Kotelnyk and Lucas Matthysse.  Both of those fights took place in Alexander's hometown of St. Louis, MO as does the upcoming fight against Maidana.  Alexander said that at first he wanted to fight away from home to prove the critics wrong but he also understands the business aspect of the sport.  Alexander is a big ticket seller in his hometown while Maidana doesn't have a big fan base in the United States.

 

"I originally wanted to go away to fight but I am a big draw in St. Louis and Maidana isn't a big draw in the States. I don't care where it (the fight is at) is at.  I am happy that my hometown fans will be able to go to the fight," Alexander explained.

 

Alexander, who will be making his welterweight debut, is motivated for the challenge that Maidan abrings.  He also said that he would like a shot at the winner of the rematch between Victor Ortiz and Andre Berto.  The fight takes place on February 11th in Las Vegas, NV.

 

"We heard Maidana was moving up to 147 so we wanted to fight him. Berto and Ortiz are fighting. I would love to fight the winner of that fight as well," said Alexander.