Maidana pulls out of Bradley fight

Marcos Maidana has pulled out of his much-anticipated junior welterweight fight against Timothy Bradley, which was scheduled for July 17 in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

Golden Boy Promotions, which handles Maidana, informed Gary Shaw, Bradley’s promoter, that Maidana continues to be bothered by a back injury and cannot fight. A news conference scheduled for Tuesday at Agua Caliente Casino Resort Spa was canceled.

Shaw said Bradley will still fight on that date and will begin searching for a new opponent.

"Eric told me Maidana missed his flight to the U.S. and later in the same conversation told me Maidana's back was still injured and that he would not be fighting Timmy on July 17," said Shaw. "Obviously Maidana's back was not getting any better and a call to us last week from Team Maidana would have been the professional thing to do. But HBO and Agua Caliente are standing behind Timmy and his July 17 date, and I expect to announce Timmy's new opponent soon.”

Maidana (28-1, 27 knockouts) is coming off a sixth-round knockout victory over Victor Cayo in March. He is THE RING magazine’s No. 4 140-pounder. Bradley (25-0, 11 KOs) easily outpointed Lamont Peterson in his last fight, in December. He is rated No.1.