Mayweather wins ugly, dangles September rematch with Maidana

After all the last-minute hullabaloo (see: #glovegate) en route to Saturday night’s ‘The Moment,’ as well as the last-ditch effort by the fighters and promoters to make a ruckus of the possibility that the Mayweather-Maidana fight may not push through -- which many boxing observers noted to be just for show to hype and encourage the fence-sitters to buy the pay-per-view... whether the people behind the punch-and-judy show succeeded with their objective remains to be seen.

The fight that many fans lambasted from the get-go produced an unexpected twist inside the ring but turned up with the usual expected result -- a win by Floyd Mayweather, Jr. to snatch Marcos Maidana’s WBA welterweight belt and add to his WBC and Ring versions and stay undefeated at 46-0.

Still, Marcos Maidana, who, before the fight, was condemned to the slaughterhouse by oddsmakers, writers and fans alike, defied expectations and made Money Mayweather worked hard for his money, as the Argentine banger brought the fight to Mayweather right off the bat and made it ugly.

Thus, the anticipated 12 rounds of one-sided shellacking that many expected Mayweather would dish off to Maidana quickly vanished into thin air the moment the bull from Argentina came out of his corner and started firing in the first round.

Marcos Maidana rushed Floyd Mayweather, Jr. to the corner and bullied the American champion to the ropes as he unleashed his unorthodox but powerful shots with mean intentions. Maidana threw wicked left hooks in succession as well as those bad and swift overhand rights, combinations that would make a lesser fighter cringe in horror and abandon all hope in the face of adversity.

But Marcos Maidana is not fighting an ordinary fighter. He is fighting one of the best fighters of his generation, with a prodigious boxing talent to boot and a defensive whiz. Despite the early hiccups, Floyd Mayweather, Jr., as was his wont, put his game face on and buckled down to work. Mayweather found a way to escape all the traps that Maidana laid out for him: he timed and pot-shotted the slow and plodding Argentine, and held and wrestled his way to clinch the victory.

After Jimmy Lennon, Jr.'s announcement of the 114-114, 117-111, and 116-112 majority decision victory in favor of Floyd Mayweather, Jr., the powers that be at Showtime and Golden Boy, as well as the camps of the protagonists, immediately jumped the gun and announced that they planned to have a rematch of the fight in September.

And because of the said announcement, some boxing fans have already shared a piece of their mind regarding the possibility of a Mayweather-Maidana rematch via social media. Many opined that they smelled a fix, but whether their allegations or conclusions are true or not, we really do not know, since there is really no evidence to support the said issue. But as the late Jimmy Cannon once wrote, “boxing is the red light district of sports,” and so we can say in a way that everything is possible until proven otherwise.

As for this writer, all I can say is thanks but no thanks. There is really no rhyme or reason nor a compelling narrative to warrant a repeat performance of what has just transpired right before our very eyes.

Do we really think that a slow and plodding fighter like Marcos Maidana will be better off the second time around and do his thing against Floyd Mayweather, Jr.? Do we really think that Floyd Mayweather, Jr. will change his style and stand toe-to-toe and knock out El Chino in a rematch?

Yes, the fight was close, but not really close. Yes, Marcos Maidana gave Floyd Mayweather, Jr. something to think about in the future, but there was really no way that a rematch can top the result of the first fight.

To illustrate the fight, it was not what many would have expected, but it failed to provide the necessary fireworks to be considered an exciting fight. At first, there was an element of surprise, a surge of adrenaline in anticipation of what could potentially unfold inside the ring, but as the fight wore on, round after round, it was just the same old refrain that eventualy became tiresome, predictable and futile. Mayweather may have been caught off guard by Maidana’s game plan, but he was never in serious trouble, let alone in any danger of losing the fight. To paint the big picture, Marcos Maidana tried his best, but his best just was not good enough to put a dent in Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s undefeated run.