Atlas: Mayweather did just enough to win

ESPN commentator Teddy Atlas feels that WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr (47-0, 26 KOs) did just enough to win last Saturday night in his 12 round unanimous decision victory over Marcos Maidana (35-5, 31 KOs) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Atlas thinks Mayweather played it safe too much by holding, running and throwing pot shots instead of standing and trading with the hard hitting Maidana. Atlas thinks that if a prime Sugar Ray Leonard was in the ring with Maidana last Saturday night, he would have knocked him out with his combinations and power punching.

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The Calm after the “Mayhem”

On Saturday night Floyd Mayweather did what he was supposed to do earlier this May – dominate Marcos Maidana. The rematch billed “Mayhem” turned out to be anything but, as boxing’s pound for pound king pitched a near shutout in front of 16,144 fans at the MGM Grand Las Vegas.

Mayweather, clearly more focused this time around, kept the match in the center of the ring and moved or held to avoid taking punishment from his slower, plodding opponent. Other than a flush right hand Maidana landed at the very end of the third round and a bizarre hand biting incident in the eighth, this was pretty much a glorified sparring session. Punch stats tell the story, as the Argentinian slugger threw more, but landed at less than half the rate than Floyd did. Marcos landed just 17% of his jabs (41-237) and 26% of his power punches (87-335), while “Money” landed 43% of his jabs (64-149) and an astonishing 58% of his power shots (102-177). It was target practice, and Floyd’s holding and mauling tactics quelled “Chino’s” attack. Compare that to the first bout, where Maidana threw almost as many power punches (540) as he did total punches (572) in the rematch.

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This Day in Boxing History: Ali vs. Spinks II – September 15, 1978

Approximately 13 years before Muhammad Ali ever stepped into a boxing ring with Leon Spinks, then Cassius Clay had overcome great odds by defeating Sonny Liston to become World Heavyweight Champion.

Ali went on to successfully defend that title nine times against such legendary boxers as George Chuvalo, Cleveland Williams, and Floyd Patterson.

However, Ali was stripped of the belt because of his refusal to report for induction into the U.S. military for the Vietnam War.

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“My Fingers Was Numb!” Mayweather Survives Alleged Nom, Dances to UD in Maidana Rematch

(Photo credit: Stephanie Trapp/Mayweather Promotions) Fortify your stomach and think back for a moment on what visceral terror you have seen in this our great and noble sport of boxing. I’m not talking about a sustained beating so much as I’m referencing those singularly weird, graphic manifestations of brutality that years later you can’t shake, even if the fight itself wasn’t particularly noteworthy in the long run.

I’m thinking of that soft-ball sized hematoma that Holyfield head-butted into existence on Hasim Rahman’s forehead back in 02. Or that pearly-white segment of Vitali Klitschko’s skull I swear I can see in photos of that canyon-deep cut he endured against Lewis.

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Mayweather unsure who he’ll fight next in May 2015

(Photo credit: Stephanie Trapp/Mayweather Promotions) WBA welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr (47-0, 26 KOs) said before last night that Marcos Maidana (35-5, 31 KOs) would be his 47th victim and that’s exactly what happened with Mayweather using superb footwork to box his way to a 12 round unanimous decision at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

There may not have been as much toe-to-toe action as there was in their first fight in May of this year, but the fight was still quite exciting to watch from start to finish.

After the bout was over, Mayweather was asked repeatedly by media members whether he’ll be fighting Manny Pacquiao or Amir Khan next, but Mayweather didn’t have a clear answer at the time. He says he still needs to think about what direction he wants to go in for his fight in May of 2015.

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Maidana: I did enough to win; I didn’t bite him

(Photo credit: Stephanie Trapp: Mayweather Promotions) Marcos Maidana (35-5, 31 KOs) believes he was robbed last night in his 12 round unanimous decision loss to WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr (47-0, 26 KOs) in their rematch.

Maidana says he outworked Mayweather by throwing many more punches than him, and he forced the fight with his aggression. The only thing that Maidana feels Mayweather did well was run from him for 12 rounds. Maidana gives Mayweather full credit for his running, but that’s it. Maidana also denies biting Mayweather on the hand in the 8th round. He says that didn’t happen.

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Robert Stieglitz vs. Felix Sturm on November 8th in WBO 168lb title eliminator

Former two time WBO super middleweight champion Robert Stieglitz (47-4, 27 KOs) will be facing former IBF/WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm (39-4-2, 18 KOs) on November 8th in a WBO super middleweight title eliminator bout at the Porsche Arena, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

The winner of the Stiegltiz-Sturm fight will become the WBO mandatory challenger for WBO 168lb champion Arthur Abraham. For the #1 WBO Stieglitz this potentially gives him a chance to fight Abraham for the 4th time in just 3 years.

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Arum wants Pacquiao vs. Mayweather in Macao, China

If Top Rank promoter Bob Arum gets his way boxing fans could be seeing a fight between Arum’s fighter Manny Pacquiao and WBA/WBA welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr in Macao, China in 2015. Arum likes the idea of having the Pacquiao vs. Mayweather fight staged in Macao for some reason.

It could have something to do with a huge site fee that Arum would likely get for staging the fight in Macao, as well as the opportunity to help open up China for pay-per-view. The chances of Mayweather agreeing to fight Pacquiao right now are slim for the early part of 2015, and you’d have to think much, much slimmer that Mayweather ever agree to face Pacquiao in Macao. With Arum already talking Macao before Mayweather has even showed any intereest at all in fighting Pacquiao, it seems like Arum is sabotaging his own efforts. Why talk Macao if you’re really interested in seeing your fighter Pacquiao fight Mayweather? This reminds me of the time Arum was talking about an outdoor stadium needing to be built in order to house more fans for a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight.

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Khan: Mayweather’s age is getting to him

(Photo credit: Idris Erba/Mayweather Promotions) Amir Khan (29-3, 19 KOs) is hoping to get a fight against WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr (47-0, 26 KOs) next year in May of 2015 in what would be the biggest fight by far of Khan’s career.

While you can make an argument that Khan hardly deserves a fight against Mayweather at this point in his career, given the less dangerous opposition that Khan has been fed by his adviser Al Haymon and his promoters at Golden Boy Promotions in his last three fights, he still likely is the biggest payday Mayweather can get outside of a fight against Manny Pacquiao.

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Mayweather: If a Pacquiao fight happens, it must be on Showtime PPV

(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) Last night, WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr (47-0, 26 KOs) put on a master class performance in defeating Marcos Maidana (35-5, 31 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision in an action-packed fight from start to finish at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Maidana gave it his all, but Mayweather’s ability to avoid his huge power shots was the key to victory for Mayweather.

After the fight, Mayweather was asked if he would be interested in facing WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather said that Pacquiao first needs to get past Chris Algieri in November, but then other than that, he’ll need to agree to fight on Showtime pay-per-view and Mayweather Promotions would be the one doing the fight, not Top Rank, the promoters for Pacquiao. Either of those two things are likely more than enough for the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight not to happen, but with both of them in place, it’s not likely there will be a fight between them unless Mayweather changes his mind.

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