WHEN undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr (46-0-KO26) probably the best fighter of his generation faced Argentine slugger Marcos “El Chino” Maidana (36-4-KO31) four months ago at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas my headline was, “Will Mayweather Jr Make It 46-0?” And he did.
The question is, will Maidana change this to 47-1-KO26?
Tonight, (Sunday, 03:00 hours Zambian time and live on SuperSport), Mayweather and Maidana meet in a rematch at the same venue with significant consequences for either fighter.
Should Mayweather make it 47-0, he’ll continue protecting his legacy and inching closer to equalling the 49-0 record in boxing history achieved by former heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano, while Maidana will raise his stock as the first man ever to remove the ‘0’ from the American’s unblemished record.
In their first meet, Maidana, 30, used his awkwardly aggressive style to pressure Mayweather to the extent that a lesser opponent would have come unstuck. The result was a majority decision in favour of boxing’s gift to boxing.
That fight turned out to be Mayweather’s toughest scrap since his back-to-back fights with Jose Luis Castillo in 2002. Judge Michael Pernick scored the fight 114-114, a draw. Burt A. Clements had it 117-111, while Dave Moretti scored it 116-112 both for Mayweather.
Maidana gave it his all in that encounter and was lucky referee Tony Weeks allowed him to get away with a lot of illegalities like head butts, (which inflicted a cut on Floyd’s brow), low blows and his vaunted right overhand that often found its mark on Mayweather’s back of the head.
The American complained about his opponent’s apparent rugged “mixed martial arts” tactics in post-fight interviews where everything goes including kneeing (Maidana can be seen doing so in one of the rounds in that fight), but wasn’t warned. Kenny Bayless will referee the rematch tonight and I’m sure he will warn Maidana about his dirty tactics.
Maidana has been trying to play mind games by claiming that Mayweather is not as good as people think without explaining why Mayweather’s hand was raised as winner in their last fight.
The Argentine has, however, promised to take the fight to the champion, but with some minor adjustments. He will try to control the distance between him and his opponent. He has promised to go to the body more and then upstairs with the sole aim to knock out Mayweather.
For his part, Mayweather, 37, says he won’t change much, but I think it will be foolhardy of Maidana to believe this deceptive statement.
I strongly believe that if Maidana fights clean, and not on the inside, like he did the last time, this will suit Mayweather who is a deadly counter puncher and should be able to pot-shot his nemesis from angles and better still weather the storm if backed up on the ropes with his famed shoulder roll.
Like Maidana, I couldn’t understand why Mayweather gave Maidana an immediate rematch when their first contest appeared to have been made in hell for the American. On second thought, though, it’s plausible to believe that Mayweather has an ace up his sleeve this time which could make the outcome largely different from the last one.
I see Maidana being out-classed the way all three previous serious prospects-Miguel Cotto, Robert Guerrero and rising Mexican star Saul Canelo Alvarez were schooled by Mayweather.
According to the CompuBox statistics, Maidana threw twice as many punches as Mayweather over the 12 rounds, 858 to 426, but was out-landed 230-221 in the last fight. As usual, Mayweather was absurdly accurate in power punches, landing 178 of 274, while Maidana had to throw them in bunches to land 185 of 540.
I expect Maidana to throw volumes of punches like he did last time, but so will Mayweather who, it must be noted, does not waste punches. The difference will be in precision punching, for which the American commands respect.
“Mentally I’m just a strong person,” Mayweather said in answer to a question on how he comes out of trouble. “I had to take my game up. This is what I’ve done my whole life. I’ve never done anything but box. I’ve faced every style and that’s the difference between me and any other fighter. I can make adjustments always.”
“This fight is about the sport of boxing. Fans wanted to see this fight. They like to see excitement. Why not do it again? Maidana is a hard worker who is coming to fight. My job is to be patient and smart and to entertain.”
Nobody can solve the May-Vinci code.” If you are a real fan, you can’t afford to miss this fight. I think Mayweather will not let Maidana ruin his legacy of 18 years, however tough the fight will be.
Comments: mwale.simon@yahoo.co.uk 0966 755574/0953744074