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.

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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.”

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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.

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Amir Khan displays overall style improvements in his UD win against Luis Collazo

Amir Khan has had 15 title fights since 2007 and his welterweight debut against Luis Collazo at MGM Grand on Saturday was no exception. His opponent was strong and game but somewhat limited as a boxer and was expected to test Khan’s ability to deal with raw power and aggression.

Khan showed progress in the way he used his speed. His fast footwork did not appear to be chaotic like in previous outings and maneuvered him in proper range and correct angle towards the heavy handed southpaw Collazo. His hand speed was purposeful this time; he delivered sharp straight shots from comfortable range combined with good movement and defensive alert. The bulky and menacing Collazo was dazzled by the fast and accurate combos and constant motion of his opponent while he was looking for an opening and trying to walk Khan down to the corner.

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Mayweather Seizes “THE MOMENT” But Not Without A Fight From Maidana

For a moment, it seemed like Marcos “El Chino” Maidana could do the unthinkable – hand pound-for-pound champion Floyd “Money” Mayweather the first loss of his brilliant career. Only for a moment.

Mayweather, who is now the WBC and WBA Welterweight World Champion, prevailed with a hard-fought majority decision victory over Maidana in the main event on Saturday on SHOWTIME PPV in front of 16,268 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

Judge Michael Pernick scored the fight a draw (114-114) while Burt Clemens scored 117-111 and Dave Moretti 116-112.

Mayweather vs. Maidana and Khan vs. Collazo will premiere on SHOWTIME next Saturday, May 10, at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT. In addition, ALL ACCESS: Mayweather vs. Maidana will premiere “Epilogue” at 11:45 p.m. ET/PT following the special SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast of the pay-per-view bouts.

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Amir Khan Defeats Luis Collazo Via Unanimous Decision In Co-Feature On SHOWTIME PPV

British star Amir Khan floored Luis Collazo three times en route to a 12-round unanimous decision 117-106, 119-104, 119-104.

Khan (29-3, 19 KOs), in his first bout at 147 pounds, showcased his speed, footwork and precision from the opening bell. Khan landed 50 percent of his power punches and mixed in a dose of roughhouse tactics, which added up to a frustrating night for Collazo.

Both fighters were fined a point in the eighth at separate times by referee Vic Drakulich. With Khan holding Collazo’s head down, Collazo was fined for a low blow. Just seconds later, Khan was penalized one point for holding.

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Adrien Broner, J’Leon Love Victorious On Mayweather/Maidana Undercard

In his debut in the 140-pound division, three-division world champion Adrien “The Problem” Broner bounced back from the first loss of his career with a unanimous decision win (99-91, 98-92, 100-90) over Carlos Molina.

Broner (28-1, 22 KO), who was fighting for the first time since his surprising loss to Maidana last December, started slow and was hit by a crushing overhand right from the confident Molina in the second round. While locked up in the third, Broner wrestled and tossed Molina (17-2-1, 13 KOs) to the ground, earning a hard warning by referee Kenny Bayless.

Broner picked up the pace in the middle rounds and took control of the bout with an impressive inside fight game.

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Mayweather decisions Maidana; Khan beats Collazo; Broner defeats Molina

WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (46-0, 26 KO’s) won a disputed 12 round majority decision over WBA 147lb belt holder Marcos Maidana (35-4, 31 KO’s) on Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The fans disagreed with the decision from the three judges, as they loudly booed the decision. The judges scored 116-112, 117-111 for Mayweather and 114-114 even.

Many of the rounds were very close due to the constant heat that Maidana was putting on Mayweather while pressuring him against the ropes. Mayweather was nearly helpless when Maidana had him on the ropes, and he had to hold in order to slow the tough Argentinian down. In the first three rounds, Mayweather tried to fight Maidana off the ropes, but he was not in Maidana’s league on the inside and he took a lot of punishment.

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Abraham defeats Sjekloca with one arm

Fighting with just his left hand, WBO super middleweight champion Arthur Abraham (40-4, 28 KO’s) successfully defended his WBO 168lb title with a 12 round unanimous decision win tonight against an over-matched and terribly limited 35-year-old #12 WBO Nikola Sjekloca (26-2, 8 KO’s) at The Velodrom, Prenzlauer Berg, in Berlin, Germany.

The final judges’ scores were 116-113, 116-112, and 119-110 for Abraham. Sjekloca fought well enough to lose by a 116-113 score, but definitely not 119-110. That was way too wide of a score for the fight that took place tonight.

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The Moment – Big Fight Preview: Mayweather’s mindset, Khan’s toughest clash and Broner getting back to basics

Probably three of the top ten draws in boxing right now, today’s event featuring Adrien Broner, Floyd Mayweather and Amir Khan is one to relish.

Granted, real boxing fans know that the headline clash between Mayweather and Marcos Maidana is about as one-sided a bout as ‘Money’ has been in for a long time. However, a chance to also witness Broner back to his spectacular best and Khan in a real 50/50 bout makes this a special card.

Also featuring will be some of Mayweather Promotions’ best prospects as well as another UK Olympic medalist that Golden Boy Promotions are hoping to turn into the next Amir Khan. With such a stacked show it can be hard to get your head around all that is on offer, so here is a breakdown of all the goings on involved in The Moment.

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