Espinoza expects Mayweather-Maidana 2 to do better than last time in PPV sales

(Photo credit: Sumio Yamada) Showtime vice president of Sports Stephen Espinoza acknowledges that there’s been a drop off in pay-per-view sales lately in boxing largely due to the huge amount of PPV events that have been taking place in the past year.

We’ve seen the likes of Manny Pacquiao’s PPV sales plummet from 1 million PPV buy mark to as low as 475,000 for his fight against Brandon Rios last year. However, Espinoza believes that WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr’s rematch tonight against Marcos Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs) will do better than their previous fight last May. Espinoza expects the fight to do well on Showtime pay-per-view.

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Roach: Mayweather’s legs are shot, Khan beats him now

Manny Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach thinks WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr (46-0, 26 KOs) has deteriorated to the point where now even Amir Khan can beat him. Roach is saying this week that Khan’s speed would be too much for the 37-year-old Mayweather now.

Roach thinks that Mayweather can no longer move around the ring like he once did, even though he showed excellent movement a year ago in defeating Saul “Canelo” Alvarez by a 12 round decision in one of Mayweather’s biggest wins of his career.

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Mayweather a huge favorite to defeat Maidana

(Photo credit: Sumio Yamada) Tonight’s “Mayhem” fight card at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada has a number of the A-side fighters as huge, huge favorites to win starting with the headlining fight between WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr (46-0, 26 KOs) vs. Marcos Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs). Mayweather is a whopping 12-1 favorite to defeat Maidana, according to Fightnews. I don’t know about you but 8:1 odds are pretty steep.

The most troubling fight on this card is the clear mismatch in the co-feature bout between WBC super bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz (27-0-1, 15 KOs) and the fringe contender that he’s being matched against from the bantamweight division named Manuel Roman (17-2-3, 6 KOs). Santa Cruz is a 50:1 favorite to defeat the #13 WBC Manuel Roman.

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Maidana looking flabby and not in great condition

If you saw Friday’s weigh-in, you might have noticed that Marcos Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs) had a little bit of fat around his midsection, notably along the sides and his lower abdomen for his rematch tonight against WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr (46-0, 26 KOs) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Could it be that Maidana made a big mistake by letting his strength and condition coach Alex Ariza go? Ariza had Maidana looking trim and in top shape without the jellyroll around Maidana’s sides. There’s no excuse for a fighter to have that kind of flab hanging over his trousers when he’s had s full 9 weeks of training like Maidana has had for this fight.

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Interview: Rick “The Raccoon” Glaser

Joseph Gaxiola of Eastside Boxing recently caught up with longtime boxing professional businessman Rick “The Raccoon” Glaser. The Raccoon has worked with major players in the fight game throughout his illustrious career and took some time out of his hectic schedule to inform us about how he initially got into boxing, his present status in the game, and the overall state of the game.

ESB: Rick, thanks for taking time out of your day for a boxing chat buddy.

RG: Joe, thanks for having me, we’ve talked about doing this for awhile, but I think the timing now is great because there is a lot going on in boxing. Its easy to talk to you because you’re a smart guy as opposed to having to talk to a dumb one.

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Yay or Nay for Mayweather, Jr. Gets Complicated

Big fight tomorrow night at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, NV. The rematch is billed as “Mayhem” or Mayweather vs Maidana II. Until recently Mayweather, Jr., thought he had fans right where he wanted them, and that’s in paying seats. In the recent past, it bothered him not one iota whether fans were paying to see him win or lose, just as long as they’re paying!

On the surface, it is no great slight to him if a number of fans object to his bragging. Few disapproved because of any character flaw. Rather, these boxing fans feel Money manages his career too carefully, which is a polite way of saying he avoids certain worthy opponents because they might be a threat to his “O” in the loss column. That group also argues his style is too defensive. They want a red blooded macho champion. They want to see Money get clobbered, and they’re willing to pay to see it. Money, of course, likes the pay part. Whether they’re paying to see him win or to get trounced makes no difference to the bottom line, and that’s the only line drawn in the sand Money cares about.

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Is Macau the new Las Vegas?

by Vitali Shaposhnikov & Linda Schwarz: Where would you place Macau China on a list of the top ten boxing sites in the world? Might holding major world championship bouts there be a viable option for the next foreseeable future? If Bob Arum has anything to say about it, sometime in the near future, he would place it in the number one spot!

What draws boxing fans to Las Vegas? Vegas has an other world, surreal feeling. The bright lights, the crush of the crowds, the huge venues that hold thousands of eager, passionate fans all create an atmosphere of excitement and palpable energy. However, is all of this glitz enough to fend off the quickly rising empire what is fondly known as “the Asian market?”

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Mayhem II: Follow The Money!

Last night I caught some twitter buzz about Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. vs. Marcos “El Chino” Maidana II. Specifically, @boxingcrazy78 said,

“The ref for @FloydMayweather vs @ChinoMaidana is Kenny Bayless. I’m telling you now, this is already a different fight hugely in Floyd’s favor”

This is kind of a big deal, since in the last fight Maidana’s strategy was essentially to fight as dirty as possible in order to find a way past Mayweather’s stellar defense. If you don’t recall just how dirty Maidana was, there is a brilliant video on Bad Left Hook that breaks down the dirtiness, frame-by-frame. If you thought “El Chino” looked dirty before, you should seehim in slow motion.

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Five Reasons Why Maidana will be Mayweather’s Toughest Fight for Years

Defying logic, following no formula, and enthralling all that watched; the first fight between Floyd Mayweather and Marcos Maidana was a tribute to the very essence of sport itself.

Whilst the art and skill of any sport can capture the imagination, there is nothing more enchanting than a good underdog story, and so far in the careers of Mayweather and Maidana, this is the biggest for both of them.

Sure, other fighters have come just as close – maybe closer – to defeating Mayweather (Oscar De La Hoya, Jose Luis Castillo) but both were seen as legitimate threats at the time. Maidana had upset the odds before, most notably when he derailed the Victor Ortiz and Adrien Broner hype-trains, but having already lost to some B-level fighters, no one was expecting him to cause the pound-for-pound number one boxer on the planet any problems.
So when Maidana landed the most punches we have ever seen Mayweather hit by, when he won at least a third of the 12 round fight and when he continually put “Money” in bad spots, it simply shocked the world.

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Quigg and Crolla: Manchester’s Finest

This Saturday, Manchester’s ‘Phones 4 U’ Arena (Formerly the MEN), plays host to the return of two of the most likable fighters on the British scene. Both Scott Quigg and Anthony Crolla will once again bask in the famed Manchester support as they attempt to further ignite two careers, which have the potential to really take off.

It would be fair to say that Quigg (28-0-2 21KO’s) has had a strange year to say the least, since announcing himself on the world scene with a destructive performance when halting former world title challenger and everyone’s favourite bin man, Rendall Munroe, in 6. After which, Quigg was handed the WBA Super Bantamweight World Title, when 8st 10lbs ruler Guillermo Rigondeaux was announced ‘Super’ Champion.

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