Maidana (left) and Cayo at the weigh-in

In what was scheduled to be a World title double-header tonight on HBO’s ‘Boxing After Dark’ card from the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Marcos Maidana 27-1 (26) and Joan Guzman 29-0-1 (17) were set to defend their titles but last night, as reported by fightfranchise.com, those plans were disrupted as Joan Guzman came in a whopping 9lbs over the 135lb weight limit for a defence of his IBF lightweight title.

Maidana’s defence of his ‘interim’ WBA welterweight title against undefeated Victor Manuel Cayo 24-0 (16) will still go ahead but there are stumbling blocks over Guzman’s rematch with Ali Funeka. Guzman was this morning scheduled to be weighed again, and provided he was no more than 150lbs the fight would go ahead. As yet there is no news of Guzman’s on the day weight.

Maidana-Cayo should prove to be an explosive fight regardless of the controversy surrounding the card. Cayo is undefeated, and apart from a win over faded former lightweight title holder Julio Diaz is largely untested. That doesn’t mean he can’t fight though. With a pro record of 24-0 with 16 KO’s Maidana cannot take him lightly. An undefeated fighter doesn’t yet know how to lose.

Maidana won the title in a surprising win over touted prospect Victor Ortiz, who was undefeated at the time and marked as a fighter with a future. Maidana didn’t read the script and proved why he’s considered a dangerman, picking Ortiz apart for a sixth round TKO win. Since then he has gone on to make a voluntary defence against William Gonzalez, blowing the Panamanian away in three rounds in front of his home crowd in Argentina.

This fight will be a more stern test for Maidana, but he should have enough to win the fight. If he is to fulfill his ambitions of operating at the top-level these are the sort of fights he should win.

Guzman seemed unbothered by the occasion

If the Guzman fight does go ahead, it promises to be the slightly more competitive of the two. That is if the 9lbs Guzman conceded at the weigh-in doesn’t affect things. Whether that serious error by Guzman is a genuine inability to make the lightweight limit or just a lack of true ambition will become clear if the fight takes place.

Funeka 30-23 (25) is a very decent fighter, and wont let Guzman get away with anything less than 100%. The South African has already drawn with Guzman for this very title in November ’09, so Guzman simply cannot afford to give away any advantage. It could be that the best thing for Guzman in this situation is for the fight to be called off, because even if he fights, the failure to make weight for such a big fight is surely an indication of a serious problem. I can very likely see Funeka beating Guzman as things stand, and the hunger of Funeka alone should be the catalyst.

1. Maidana and Guzman both win on ‘Boxing After Dark’