Money Mayweather vs. Marcos Maidana, plus all the dirt
Saturday, May 3, 2014 was Fight Night at the MGM Grand Hotel Arena in Las Vegas.
It was the night we saw 37 year-old Floyd Mayweather Jr. battle 30 year-old Argentinian Marcos Maidana and win two more title belts, a night to show everyone that he’s still the best pound for pound boxer in the world, plus Mr. Mayweather was able to earn some incremental cash, upwards to $70 million dollars, to support his frugal lifestyle.
After getting cut early on, Mayweather of the host city, Las Vegas, Nevada, survived 12 hard-fought rounds relying on his unparalleled technical skills to improve his record to (46-0-0, 26 KOs). With the loss, Marcos “El Chino” Maidana of Jose Leon Suarez, Buenos Aires, Argentina drops to (35-4-0, 31 KOs).
Where does this man find the time and energy? (top right) May 1, 2014, Floyd Mayweather Jr. (r) was greeting UFC President Dana White at the groundbreaking ceremonies for a USD $375 million, 20,000-seat sports and entertainment arena in Las Vegas. (below) Money was out and about with the ladies. Photo: Getty Images
(l-r) Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, Clark Co. Commissioner Steve Sisolak, MGM Resorts Chairman Jim Murren, Floyd Mayweather Jr., President/CEO of AEG Dan Beckerman, sportscaster Bill Walton, President of business operations for the LA Kings Luc Robitaille and UFC President Dana White shovel dirt during the groundbreaking ceremonies for the USD sports and entertainment arena. Without punching-in, we have no record of how long these gentlemen worked or how much dirt they shoveled. (bottom, right) Not to be outdone, Mayweather did return later with this bulldozer. Photo: Isaac Brekken/Getty Images
According to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Adrien Broner, boxing is all about being cool. (bottom) WBC welterweight champion Mayweather (l) and WBA champion Marcos Maidana (r) pose for photos at their official weigh-in at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 2, 2014 in Las Vegas. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
On fight night it was all about pomp and circumstance as jugglers, showgirls and clowns preceded the ring walk of the great Floyd Mayweather Jr.
(top, left) Singer Justin Bieber puts his arm around his buddy Floyd Mayweather Jr. and gives some last minute advice. Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
(l) Actor/singer Tyrese Gibson sings the National Anthem before the WBC/WBA welterweight unification bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Marcos Maidana at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 3. (top, right) Boxer Shawn Estrada wants everyone to know that it was Julio Lopez and not Estrada who sang the Mexican National Anthem. Photos: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
“I definitely think I won this fight,” said Maidana later. “He did dominate some rounds, but the majority of them, I dominated.” The above photos were taken early on when Maidana was like a rushing bull. Photos: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
In the above collage we start to see Money Mayweather dishing out the punishment and dictating the pace. Photos: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
(l to r) Floyd Mayweather Jr. throws a right to the face of Marcos Maidana during their bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 3, 2014 in Las Vegas. Photos: Ethan Miller/Getty Images. (bottom) Mayweather pulls Maidana’s head down. “If you’re going to get rough with me, then two can play the same game.”
(top) Marcos Maidana is raised up by his cousin Pileta Maidana after his WBC/WBA welterweight unification bout against Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mayweather took Maidana’s title by way of a majority-decision victory. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
For an article about a fight of this magnitude, it’s only fitting we solicit help from all boxing fans, because the many story-lines are countless and far reaching.
Afterthoughts from fight fans:
The Constant complainer wrote: “Mayweather needs a better opponent and stop feeding us this bull about,”I’m giving the fans what they want to see. If he selects Amir Khan for his next fight, that may well be the biggest joke to date.”
Ray Meza wrote: “Its hard to fight against three people. Floyd (Mayweather Jr.) and the two score card judges!!”
Dawn Marie’s input: “At least call it a draw… This is what happens when you can’t pay someone (Chino) to follow a script.”
Roman Partida: “Look at the stats that are round by round…Maidana landed more in six of those 12 rounds.”
Prince “Tiger” Smalls agrees: “I scored it a draw.”
Funny Bone: “You guys weren’t paying attention. It’s because the judges were scoring the rounds on who hugs more effectively.”
When the TMZ cameras approached Victor Ortiz during a night out on the town, the former welterweight world titlist commented, “They’re p*ssies…both of them.” This is the same Ortiz who is without a win since April of 2011 and lost all three of those fights inside the distance.
Funny Bone talks $$Money$$ as in Floyd “Money Bags” Mayweather Jr. Seriously, is Mayweather that greedy? He paid Marcos Maidana how much? A mere pittance I heard. $1.5 million is chump change compared to what Mayweather got. Today, Money was bragging about making $32,000,000 for his 36 minutes of work. And to pour more salt on the wound he said, “I’m waiting for the PPV numbers to come in, so I can make another $38,000,000 on the back-end… making it a grand total of $70 million.”
If he saves up his money, maybe he can buy the Los Angeles Clippers outright and a third world country to boot. To be fair, Maidana does stand to make a decent cut of those pay-per-view dollars.
And the irony in all of this? A couple years down the road, we’ll all be feeling sorry for Money Mayweather when the IRS is clamoring that he owes back taxes. At this time, he needs to hire himself a trustworthy accountant, perhaps the one Don King employs.
What insiders observed:
Did you ever notice how all the lucrative, high paying referee assignments go to a handful of referees? That was just one of the negative comments shared by the gamblers who had money on this fight.
The people who bet on Maidana at 14-1 also made a second claim stating that from the 6th round on, they believe referee Tony Weeks began to pull the fighters apart the second Maidana got within range.
Then we saw Mayweather use the tactic of hit and then hold. In years past, referee Joe Cortez was always there to protect Mayweather. I’m sure his understudy will do a better job in the future.
When Mayweather heard Jimmy Lennon read off the first judge’s score, “Even!” Mayweather didn’t even blink as he has in the past. He accepted that score as plausible.
This boxing pundit had no problem with Mayweather being declared the winner in this close match. What’s disturbing is the scoring of the one judge who only gave Maidana three rounds and this is coming from someone who believes the challenger must always win in convincing fashion to uncrown a champion.
Did Mayweather have an off night?
Maidana, who said he needed to throw 100 punches a round to win, came out blasting, suffocating Mayweather in the corners or against the ropes. He did exactly what he said he was going to do – throw 100 punches in the opening round.
Also, Maidana proved to be more awkward to fight than any fighter Mayweather has ever faced. His feints actually had Floyd tensing up. SHO Stats, who had compiled the punches landed in 38 of Mayweather’s previous fights, revealed that Maidana had hit Mayweather more times than ever, with 221 punches making contact.
The announcement that Maidana weighed 165 pounds and Mayweather just 148 pounds on fight night must have been startling. The added weight gave Maidana a huge advantage. However, after five rounds, that edge disappeared and Maidana became less aggressive to the point of looking sluggish.
No matter who you are, age will eventually catch up to you and yes, Maidana made Mayweather look beatable even though he failed to pull it off. Others might contest that even if Maidana had continued to press forward into the later rounds, the two judges would still have scored those later rounds for Mayweather. The only feasible answer you can come up with is the two judges gave far less credence to the blows to the midsection in comparison to the blows to the head.
(top) When it comes right down to it, Amir Khan (r) had an easy time with the so-called KO artist Luis Collazo. In the opening moments of the 12th round, Collazo landed a brutal low blow that sent Khan to the mat. The ref gave Khan enough time to recover, and he was able to finish the fight. Photos: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Amir Khan defeats Luis Collazo by decision
In the Co-feature, British star Amir Khan floored Luis Collazo three times en route to a 12-round unanimous decision victory with scores of 117-106, 119-104 and 119-104.
Khan (29-3, 19 KOs), in his first bout at 147 pounds, showcased his speed, footwork and precision from the opening bell. He landed 50 percent of his power punches and mixed in a dose of roughhouse tactics, which added up to a frustrating evening for Mr. Collazo.
If you didn’t know any better, you would have sworn Collazo (35-6, 18 KOs) was throwing the fight. From the outset, his off target punches and inactivity gave round after round away. There was also this long period when he boxed with his hands down at his side.
Then, in the 10th round, Collazo got caught by a left hook to the body and went down. Khan continued his onslaught, hitting Collazo with a relentless attack to drop him for a second time.
Note well, uneven purses: Khan $1.5 M, Collazo 350k
Adrien “The Headcase” Broner vs. Carlos Molina
In the third featured bout, it was 24 year-old Adrien “The Problem” Broner (27-1-0, 22 KOs) of Cincinnati, Ohio facing 28 year-old Carlos Molina (17-1-1, 13 KOs) of Norwalk, CA. Both boxers were coming of their first professional loss, Broner to Marcos Maidana and Molina to Amir Khan.
At Friday’s weigh-ins, Adrien Broner (bottom, left) was still wearing the Spartan-like full beard from training camp. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Adrien Broner (r) is shown landing the big overhand right to the side of Carlos Molina’s head. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
At the conclusion of his bout versus Carlos Molina, the victorious Adrien Broner has his arm raised in victory by referee Kenny Bayless. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images
Broner, a three-division world champion, started slow and in the second round was hit by a crushing overhand right. Then, in the third round, while caught up in this ’rasling match, the frustrated Broner tossed Molina to the ground which earned him a stern warning from referee Kenny Bayless. After the negative vibes, Broner then picked up the pace and took control from there on out.
After the bout, Molina admitted to being frustrated by Broner’s speed. “I felt I stayed in there too much. He’s a fast fighter with a fast jab. It was tricky for me to time the jab and I felt frustrated. I was trying to do what my corner told me to do, but it didn’t happen.”
Mike Stafford, Broner’s coach, praised his fighter, “I think he looked great. He didn’t get hit and he took the guy apart. He gave him a boxing lesson. People have to realize Adrien is still young. He’s in a new weight class and he has to figure this weight class out.”
This is when the think not before we speak Broner addressed the listeners in his post-fight interview with Jim Gray. Broner, devoid of any class, made himself a marked man with a rhyme about Afrikans f..#..@ up Mexicans. How courageous or how stupid would it be if Mr. Broner were to now vacation in Mexico…in the immediate future …or maybe never?
Notewell, the uneven purses: Broner received $1.25 million, Molina 150k.
Two things really bothered Marco Antonio Periban in his battle against J’Leon Love -one, was the nasty cut by the left eye and the other Love’s hard jab in the face, round after round. Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images (below) Referee Jay Nady (l) raises the arm of the victorious J’Leon Love.
In the opening bout of this PPV telecast, 26 year-old J’Leon Love of Dearborn Heights, Michigan (18-0-0, 10 KOs) kept his undefeated record intact with a 10-round unanimous decision victory over Marco Antonio Periban of Mexico City, Distrito Federal, Mexico (20-2-1, 13 KOs). Judges’ scores were 95-93, 97-92 and 96-93.
Things weren’t always peachy-keen, especially in the fifth round after Periban floored Love with three vicious exchanges, then had him staggering all over the ring. The failure to finish Love, cost Periban the match.
From that point, Love’s in-your-face jab ruled center court and the cut over Periban’s eye from an accidental elbow worsened. The blood was everywhere and at times it was blurring Periban’s vision. After barely escaping round five, Love turned the tables in the sixth, landed a jab that opened up a deep cup over the left eye which further helped him to cruise to the victory.
Notewell uneven purses: Love 100k, Periban 35k. Question remains, why?
