Raise your hand if you thought Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Marcos Maidana would be that competitive and that entertaining? I didn’t either. I had predicted a fight that resembled something along the lines of Mayweather-Gatti as others thought as well. I’m glad I was wrong.
Another person who may have not expected that type of a performance and competitive fight may have been Floyd Mayweather himself. In my opinion, I thought Maidana won the 1st half of the fight 4 rounds to 2. Mayweather adjusted and depending on how you look at it, he either won most of the second half of the fight or split the last 6 rounds. I had a close fight with the victor being Marcos Maidana but scoring it a draw or for Mayweather would not be wrong either. Scoring is subjective but I don’t think that the clarity of the victory as many were saying was that clear.
The scores were announced and Mayweather won a majority decision 117-111, 116-112, 114-114. Mayweather may have been the winner on the cards but if you didn’t watch the fight afterwards and listened to the interviews and post fight press conferences, you would think he lost a controversial decision.
For starters, Mayweather complained about the referee and stated if there was a rematch, “I don’t want Tony Weeks to be the referee.” I’ll admit myself that Tony Weeks had a bad night. Maidana did implore some rough house tactics but to suggest that those rough house tactics were all one sided is to be naïve to the cause. Mayweather would push off with his elbow, clinch plenty, and would also hold the back of Maidana’s head at times during the fight. Not to mention in round 11, Malignaggi pointed out on the telecast that during one of the clinches were Mayweather had Maidana tied up in a headlock, the Mayweather’s gloves was purposely around Maidana’s breathing area.
Listen, if the referee doesn’t catch it, you’re going to get away with what you can. But to feel like you deserve every call in the fight was Lebron Jamesesque. During the fight Mayweather looked to Tony Weeks for a lot and complained about the inside fighting to a point where during the later rounds, Weeks would break them up even if Maidana had a free hand or two, which kind of stunted Maidana’s inside game.
If there was anyone benefitting from Tony Weeks’ off night, it was more Mayweather than Maidana. Weeks resembled an old Joe Cortez who shies away from the inside fighting and that plays to Mayweather especially when Maidana had made it a habit of whaling away at Mayweather while he was on the ropes. Mayweather let his sour grapes known as he was asked if Maidana had hurt him at any point in the post fight press conference, which he replied with, “Those dick shots hurt,” insinuating that Weeks had missed plenty of low blows.
That sad thing is because Mayweather is such an attraction in Las Vegas, Tony Weeks probably won’t ref his next fight. If you disagree just take a look how glove gate was handled. Yes, the commission disapproved of the blue MX Everlast gloves but approved the red stock ones. Maidana wore neither as he had to use the black and neon Powerlock Everlast gloves for whatever the behind the scene reasons were.
Robert Garcia said the gloves were an issue as it wasn’t something Maidana was used to. As he was answering the question, Mayweather cut in and gave his whole, “As fighters, we have to worry about our safety,” spiel. While I agree with that statement, would the commission have even allowed it to be an issue if it was a different fighter? Probably not. But Mayweather didn’t help his cause when he followed that quote up by saying he stood in the pocket, fought toe to toe with Maidana for the fans. Which one is it safety first or getting hit for the fans?
Not only is that statement somewhat hypocritical but it takes away from what Maidana did. I was entertained by the fight and was happy it wasn’t the usual box you for 12 rounds Mayweather but Maidana certainly had a lot to do with the way Mayweather fought. Dare question Mayweather and he’ll call out your bias as he did in the presser but the very next moment he’ll yell out, “Hard work,” and expect his entourage who took up the entire stage at the press conference to reply with, “Dedication.”
The sour grapes continued as he told the press that he felt Cotto and Canelo hit harder than Maidana, also saying that Cotto was still his toughest fight. Combined in my eyes, Cotto and Canelo didn’t win as many rounds as Maidana did last Saturday.
Maidana didn’t speak much in defeat but he raised his stock and every time Mayweather had a complaint whether it was dick shots, hip shots, or complained about the head butt, Maidana’s stock rose. Maidana was just there to fight and win but after all the talking Mayweather did, Maidana replied in Spanish, “Dame la revencha carbon. (Just give me my rematch bastard.)” He might very well get it and Mayweather says,” We can do it again in September as long as the money is right.”
Mayweather won the fight but sounded like a sore loser in victory while Maidana in defeat looked like a winner. Boxing is an amazing sport in some aspects. The great fight this weekend will be overshadowed in a sense by wide scorecards, glove gate, bad officiating, and very vocal Mayweather. The fight was great, if there’s a rematch I hope Maidana is allowed to use his gloves, get a fair shake with the judges, and we have adequate officiating.
The fight may look like Mayweather-Castillo 2 but who knows in boxing, Mayweather could have slipped some and Maidana with Robert Garcia and Alex Ariza might be the formula to put up the same performance. We’ll see in September, maybe.
