Marcos Maidana willing to give Floyd Mayweather Jr. a rematch after pulling near upset

Floyd Mayweather Jr. stepped through the ropes for the 46th time as a professional tonight, to face Argentine slugger and WBA welterweight champion, Marcos ‘El Chino’ Maidana. This would be Mayweather’s third bout in twelve months, the most active year since 2007 for Floyd.

Last September, ‘Money May’ executed a perfect performance against the then undefeated 154lb titlist Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez. Floyd has adapted his ring style to cater for his 37 year old legs — thus far, without a hiccup. On his part, Maidana came to the ring riding a high tide of momentum. Since joining the Robert Garcia camp, Marcos has turned out four impressive victories, three of which came by way of knockout and a WBA world title. Could ‘El Chino’ topple the sport’s pound for pound king?

The build up around the fight intensified on Friday night when the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, Leonard Ellerbe, inspected Maidana’s custom made Everlast gloves for the bout. Upon expressing his concern regarding the lack of padding on the knuckle area of the gloves, Floyd refused the use of Maidana’s gloves in the bout. The gloves were produced to the Nevada Commission who supported Floyd’s stance.

A second pair of Everlast gloves were produced, which again were rejected by Mayweather and Ellerbe. The Nevada Commission ruled against Mayweather this time and approved the gloves. There was little doubt, but it was now officially fight on.

Mayweather answered the opening bell holding a high guard, looking to work behind the jab and keep proceedings at a distance. Maidana had other ideas as he closed the distance and unloaded on Floyd against the ropes, landing a solid right hand over the top and adding some work downstairs for good measure. On his part, Mayweather created some openings inside to land to the body.

In rounds two through three, Maidana again looked to detonate the overhand right on Floyd’s chin. Splitting Mayweather’s guard with an uppercut, Marcos dug into the body in close. On the breaks, Floyd popped out the jab and stepped in with a couple clean right straights. ‘Money May’ began depositing the jab downstairs followed by a right up top. Maidana began to rough house Mayweather in the clinches, landing often to the belt and body.

In round four, Floyd looked uncomfortable in close quarters. Maidana kept sending shots in from awkward angles, and also opened up a cut above Floyd’s right eye with an accidental head butt. Maidana stayed committed to working the belt line over. Working off the ropes, Mayweather landed a flashy right uppercut.

In rounds five through six, a slight shift in momentum appeared. Floyd began to hold the distance more effectively, landing an eye catching lead right in the fifth. Maidana responded in kind, cracking Floyd with a solid right on the button. In between rounds, Floyd Mayweather Sr. instructed Floyd to sit down on his shots to discourage the Argentine.

Maidana jabbed his way inside, unloading on Mayweather’s body up against the ropes. Floyd rolled with the shots and nailed Maidana with an uppercut. Floyd finished out the round doubling up the right hand, ending with a solid hook around the gloves. ‘El Chino’ kept his foot on the gas, showing Mayweather no respect.

Round seven produced some quality work from Mayweather, landing two clean right hand counters and a left hook to the head of Maidana as he leaned in. ‘El Chino’ had more success in round eight, walking Floyd down and unleashing a barrage on the ropes. Once out of trouble, Mayweather came back with a lead left hook – right straight combination. Maidana remained above and below Floyd’s belt line. Maidana’s awkward style inside has given Mayweather many problems to deal with in this fight.

The ninth round started out at a pedestrian pace, with Floyd jabbing to the body and touching up top. Maidana applied pressure with nothing of real note landed. Towards the end of the round Mayweather sunk a right hand into Maidana’s body, Marcos took a deep breath.

Both men began the tenth exchanging jabs. Noting Maidana’s reaction to the body shot in the previous round, Floyd went there with more regularity in this round. Marcos remained on the front foot landing a couple jabs and walked onto a Mayweather flurry. Maidana has thus far pressed Floyd every minute of every round.

In round eleven Maidana produced some crude work, burying his head under Mayweather’s chin and opening up inside. Marcos had success up close, sending a variety of shots up top and downstairs. In return, Floyd found a home for his right hand at an increasing rate and teeing off a couple of combinations.

In the final round Maidana pressed forward in search of a knockout. Floyd got the better of a brief toe to toe exchange, landing two solid hooks to the head of Maidana. Maidana absorbed them and pressed forward, landing to the body and bringing shots up from below. Floyd countered a jab from Maidana with two lead right straights to close out the fight.

Both men raised their hands as the final bell rung and awaited the judge’s scorecards. The cards read, 114-114, 117-111, 116-112 in favor of the winner by majority decision and unified WBC and WBA welterweight champion, Floyd Mayweather. Scorecards aside, Marcos Maidana had produced a more competitive fight than most had anticipated. Maidana’s work in close quarters was commendable tonight.

In the post fight interview, Floyd praised Maidana’s performance, “I finally was in a tough competitive fight. I wanted to give fans an exciting fight. He’s a tough competitor. A true champion can make adjustments to anything.” When pressed on the possibility of a rematch, “If the fans want to see it, let’s do it again.”

Marcos Maidana did not return the respectful acknowledgement, “I definitely think I won this fight. Floyd didn’t fight like a man. Other fighters respected him and didn’t go toe to toe like I did. I dominated the majority of rounds. I will give him a rematch as I won the right.”

Floyd Mayweather had the ability to adjust after a turbulent beginning. Maidana’s success came inside, reigning in shots from various angles and finding a home for the right hand over the top. In the latter half of the fight, Floyd held the space between them more effectively. Fighting at a longer range allowed Floyd to pick his shots from the outside and tie up Maidana in close, smothering his work.

Whether fans clamor for a rematch remains to be seen. Floyd Mayweather leaves the MGM as a unified 147lb titlist with an unblemished record and the ‘May-Vinci code’ intact.