By Ben Jacobs

After a seven-month layoff WBC Middleweight Number one Sebastián Heiland made his long awaited return to the ring last Saturday in his native Argentina with a hard-fought decision win over ten rounds against game Martín Fidel Ríos while a decision over whether or not Saúl ‘Canelo’ Álvarez-Gennady Golovkin bout will be made as announced.

Before a packed Club Rivadavia in Necochea, Heiland (27-4-2, 14 KOs) launched an intense attack throughout the fight and hurt Ríos a few times to win a unanimous decision. In a rough fight that Heiland clearly dominated, two of the judges’ scorecards were amazingly close at 95-94, 96-93 while the third one was 97.5-92.5.

However, Heiland had a scary moment in the eighth round when a perfect uppercut by the hard-hitting Ríos (17-9-3, 9 KOs) put him on the canvas. After the count Heiland immediately rose onto his feet to finish the round on the attack, proving once again that he is an exciting fighter.

“The long layoff is never a good thing for a fighter. However, the records of opponents like Ríos probably don’t say much about them but they are as tough as nails so this bout was perfect for me to keep me on track,” Heiland said.

Heiland is now awaiting ‘Canelo’ Álvarez’s decision on whether he will unify his WBC Middleweight title against WBC Interim Middleweight king Golovkin as they have agreed. But first they both have scheduled fights as Álvarez faces Amir Khan next on May 7 while Golovkin takes on Dominic Wade on April 23.

“I’ve been waiting for the title shot for a long time now but I have to thank the WBC who have supported me and I’m sure that I will win the green title this year against whoever they put me in with”, Heiland added.

In yet another comeback after eight months of absence due to an injury, hot prospect Fabián Maidana (9-0, 6 KOs) beat tough challenger Andrés Amarilla by unanimous decision.

Maidana Photo

Maidana, the youngest brother of former world champion Marcos “Chino” Maidana, had made all his previous appearances in the US and was scheduled to fight last December 18 in Las Vegas but had to withdraw two days before as a serious tendinitis in his arm came back to prevent him from fighting.

"Thank God I'm now fully recovered from the injury. We asked for a tough foe as I needed to test myself. I've felt good and willing to keep training in the US for my next fights," Maidana said.

Fabián Maidana outboxed the brave Amarilla for most of the bout and emerged as the unanimous decision winner in eight rounds with scorecards of 78-74, 79-73 and 79.5-73.5.