Left-Hook Lounge Mailbag: A Look Back at Mayweather vs Maidana, A Measurement of the ‘New’ Amir Khan, & a Look at the Same Old Adrien Broner!!!
Greg H. (Bronx, NYC): Going into the Maidana fight I thought Floyd Mayweather was in for an easy night, but I know you felt it would be tough from the beginning. What were your thoughts about both of their performance? And do you think a rematch is warranted?
Vivek W. (ESB): From the moment this fight was signed, I felt we would get precisely the fight we saw at the end of the night. I was shocked at the odds when they were initially announced, and I was even more shocked to see that they ballooned to the point in which they did by fight night (12:1). I don’t claim to know boxing any better than the next man, but what I learned once again is that the countless hours of film study in the still of the night does make a difference when giving educated feedback. Mayweather has always performed with a certain level of genius; but my logic from day one was that there was no way a precision based puncher who throws one shot at a time could get a decisive victory over a fighter who throws 70 punches per round with power at the end of each one. Continue reading
Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Wins Battle With Marcos Maidana
Marcos Rene “El Chino” Maidana might not have been the best opponent Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Jr. has ever faced, but he certainly proved to be his toughest. Often times that is said about Maidana. His awkward style turns fights into armed conflicts. He throws buzz bombs, rockets, and mortar shots. His overhand right is the most fun to watch. It should be called an overhead right, because It resembles a mortar round. It travels high up and over, and then bombs away as it decends. If Money or TBE, as he now prefers, would have pulled back from that punch saturday night at the MGM Grand, there would have been an explosion, and his first defeat might have resulted. Instead, TBE intelligently stayed inside the punch, so at worst it would carom off the back of his dome or just whiz by. Continue reading
Professional Boxing: Theatre of the Unexpected
As this past Saturday nights “The Moment” boxing show SLOWLY fades into history, I couldn’t help but notice how ironic the outcomes turned out to be. Redemption for a couple of main event fighters, upward mobility and the highest accolades for another. For the main guy, even though he won the fight (I scored it 115-113 for Mayweather), a lot of questions are being asked.
Has Mayweather’s defensive code been broken, is father time finally catching up with the P4P Picasso, will Mayweather RETIRE or give Marcos Maidana the rightful rematch he deserves? Will Mayweather even complete the final 3-fights on his Showtime deal?
Continue reading
Debate rages on over Mayweather-Maidana result; De La Hoya says Mayweather should be 43-3 now!
The arguments continue, two days on from the unexpectedly great action fight, over who actually won on Saturday night in Las Vegas: Floyd Mayweather or Marcos Maidana. Reading what people have had to say on this particular web site, it’s clear the majority of fans feel Maidana – who lost by scores of 117-111 and 116-112 and was given a drawn verdict of 114-114 on the third official card – deserved a narrow victory.
Watching the fight again (something the three judges do not have the benefit of doing of course) I was surprised to see a different fight from the one I watched, somewhat blurry eyed (at approx 5a.m UK time, having stayed up all night) as it unfolded live. Initially, I had Mayweather a clear 117-112 winner. Watching again, I had it much closer – with Mayweather prevailing by winning the following rounds: 2, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11, with the 3rd even. I gave Maidana the following rounds: 1, 4, 5, 8 and 12, with the 3rd even. Second time around I had it 6-5-1 for Mayweather. Continue reading
Floyd Mayweather Jr. wins controversial and tough win over Marcos Maidana
The judges have decided that Floyd Mayweather Jr. (46-0, 26 KOs) is the WBA and WBC welterweight champion by majority decision in the 12 round match between Marcos Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs) at the MGM Grand Arena over the weekend. This has been an interesting battle leading up to this fight starting with the controversial “glove” padding issue that nearly caused them to call the fight off down to the after fight brawl outside the press room where people were trampled and gun shots fired. Not to mention between rounds Maidana’s corner was caught telling him to fight dirty if he had to but it was overlooked by the commentators.
Boxing fans expected to see the Money Mayweather rain down on Maidana like a sledge hammer but surprising Maidana left fans feeling like he may have won this fight or at least pulled out a draw or even a split decision because it was really a close fight. Continue reading
Muhammad Ali wants Mayweather to fight Pacquiao
Much of boxing made a mistake underestimating the capability of the underdog champion to beat a pound-for-pound god. Floyd Mayweather Jr. must have realized he committed an equally big mistake handpicking the Argentine assault guru, Marcos Maidana.
Heavy favorite Mayweather lost yesterday many times over and in ways more than one even though the bias opinions didn’t reflect the judgment and cards didn’t read the way it should. However, Floyd’s poor performance in the fight didn’t cause him less a superb boxer in my estimation because I never was ever blinded by the facade and shows in the past like the jerks. I remain a fan and admirer of Floyd’s wizardry in the ring. Maidana was not underrated. It was Mayweather who was overrated by the normally jerk “experts.” And for them, it was well worth it as they all cry a bucket now and ask “bakit” (why). Continue reading
Mayweather Jr. vs. Maidana: Did Floyd really gift Maidana and the fans the toe-to-toe action?
It’s no secret that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is a virtuoso when it comes to moving, defending, and making his opponent look inadequate. Sure he fights word class champions, and many of them are truly deserving of that opportunity, but aside from Castillo way back in the day, there has not been a challenger that made Floyd work harder than a routine sparring session.
Yesterday, Marcos Maidana did just that. Forget the fact that he came out swinging and did not run of ouf gas until the last second of the last round, and forget his stunning ability to walk through and keep pressing no matter what he himself gets hit with, in his fight against Mayweather Jr. what surprised me, was just how indifferent he looked and performed when facing someone as elusive as Mayweather Jr.
Talking before the fight is one thing, and even trying to persuade the people watching the fight by showing off, sticking out one’s tongue, or even in some cases humping their opponent in the ring, but when it comes to making Mayweather look vulnerable, everyone failed without any glimpse of hope. Continue reading
Maidana’s Moment
photo by NAOKI FUKUDA – Let’s get one thing straight about last night’s main event at the MGM Grand. Burt Clements, who scored 117-111 in favor of Mayweather, should be expelled from the sport. As Paulie Malignaggi pointed out in his post-fight comments, Clements must have been watching the fight unspool from a seat in the rafters.
Or perhaps I’m being cruel and Clements is, in fact, legally blind.
Reality is as follows. Marcos Maidana was comically disregarded going into this bout and perhaps for good reason. Mayweather – on top of simply, at this point, being Floyd Mayweather Jr., all time great – was coming off an ultra-polished September win in which he made Canelo Alvarez look like a befuddled toddler. The always-exciting Maidana, sporting losses to Kotelnik, Khan, Alexander (and arguably a last-hurrah version of Erik Morales), won the Mayweather lottery on grounds of his beat-down of Mayweather-wannabe Adrien Broner who emulates all of Floyd’s stylistic tics and possesses not one iota of his supernatural intelligence. Continue reading
September 2014: Mayweather-Maidana II? Mayweather-Khan? Or a vacation for Floyd?
Make no mistake about two things -1: Floyd Mayweather Junior was given his toughest, roughest fight in years last night as a relentless Marcos Maidana ploughed ahead pretty much all night and made the unbeaten superstar work very, very hard. 2: Mayweather won the fight by a wide margin.
The fans in attendance at The MGM Grand, most of them vocal Maidana fans, felt the defending WBA welterweight champ was robbed, but the fact is, Mayweather – once he got control of the fight and began tattooing Maidana with shots, to the body most hurtfully – won the fight fair and square. This has done nothing to stop talk of a September rematch, though, and Mayweather, looking more tired than in recent times after a fight, said he would give Maidana one “if the fans want it.” Continue reading
Mayweather/Maidana: The ‘Mavinci’ Code
“Tonight is the night,” they said, “Maidana has the power,” they said. But once again, Floyd Mayweather showed in front of a full house in the MGM Grand Las Vegas, that he is miles ahead of any other boxer in the world. So far ahead in fact, even NASA cannot find him.
His majority point’s decision last night may not have been as clinical and clear cut as his previous wins, but he proved once again that he can adapt and beat any style that he comes across.
The fight was billed ‘The Moment’ and Marcus Maidana, the WBA champion, did indeed have his moments. He came out swinging from the opening bell intent on making a dent in the impregnable defence that the ‘Money Man’ applies. Continue reading