Mykal Fox: Maestre won’t fight me again; He had to decide whether he could live with that or not.

Mykal Fox faced Gabriel Maestre earlier this year at trainer Ismael Salas’ gym in Las Vegas.

Salas trained Maestre and Brian Mendoza, whom Fox was helping prepare for his shot at Sebastian Fundora’s WBC interim in the 154-pound mark on April 8. Fox and Maestre held hands before Fox concentrated on sparring with Mendoza.

Looking back, Fox felt that it must have been close enough. As he faces Maestre in the ring once more, Maestre now stops former champion Devon Alexander and defeats world welterweight champion Travon Marshall in a dramatic performance. He definitely deserved a rematch at Fox based on the defeat Fox suffered with Maestre two years ago.

“He probably won’t fight me again,” Fox told BoxingScene.com. “He got a victory he didn’t get. And he earned two more victories. I think he’s trying to get ahead in his career. he is trying to fight [Eimantas] Stanionis and stuff like that, but you know, everything he has right now. I don’t think it’s guaranteed just because of how our fight goes.”

Maestre infamously defeated Fox by unanimous decision in August 2021 at The Armory in Minneapolis. Doubts lost a surprising 12 rounds to referees John Mariano (115-112), Gloria Martinez Rizzo (117-110) and David Singh (114). -113)

The WBA responded to the harsh criticism by suspending Rizzo, whose racist tweets were exposed after her questionable score in a Maestre-Fox fight. The WBA temporarily stripped Maestre for 147 pounds, but the Minnesota Combat Sports Authority did not change the fight’s outcome. nationally televised as no contest as requested by the WBA.

“Gilberto Mendoza, I spoke to him directly,” Fox said in reference to the WBA chairman. “He said we would have a rematch. But after that he didn’t come. They took his name off. But they said they would order a rematch and never did.”

Maestre (6-0-1, 5 KOs) is 2-0-1 as he fights Fox and needs a position shot after annihilating Marshall (8-1, 7 KOs) by a second-round knockout in the fight. Showtime broadcasts live Saturday nights from MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland.

Most recently, Fox (22-4, 5 KOs) lost a 10-round unanimous decision to Lithuanian rival Egidijus Kavaliauskas (23-2-1, 18 KOs) on Oct. 8 at Dignity Health Sports. Park in Carson, California. That defeat was Fox’s only fight since he faced Maestre 24 months ago.

Maestre told BoxingScene.com It was last week that he would fight Fox again, but Fox expects the two-time Olympian to go in a different direction.

“It’s more about him,” said Fox. “Whatever happens. now you look and every time they talk about him They’ll say he can’t beat Mykal Fox, they’ll say they rob Mykal Fox, it’ll be more asterisks on his record. So he has to decide whether he can live with that or not.”

However, Fox noticed that Maestre had improved since they fought. Fox knows Marshall well. Because they punched each other more than 300 times in a nearby gym outside of Washington, D.C.

“I don’t need to say I’m surprised. [by Maestre’s win]Fox said, “I mean I don’t think he will be eliminated in the second round. I know it’s going to be a tough matchup for Travon, you know, you have two guys boxing single-digits, but Maestre is a two-time Olympian.

“I respect him and am friends with the Salas team and everything, so I see the difference when I’m fighting him and when he’s fighting Travon. one point”

Fox tries to console Marshall after the 22-year-old fighter suffers a disastrous defeat.

“I just told him. Success is never direct,” said Fox. “You know, he’s still young in his career. I told him he would be fine.”

Keith Idec is a senior writer/column for BoxingScene.com He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.