We’ve Already Seen the Best from Maidana:
Like every other boxing fan who could muster the PPV dollars, I watched the Mayweather vs. Maidana fight last Saturday night with great interest. After a surprising showing by Maidana, the sweat had not cooled off the fighters bodies before questions of a rematch were flying hot and heavy.
I can’t remember a recent Mayweather fight where this even made sense, so you know we were looking at a historic event. The obvious question is what could we expect from a rematch?Would Maidana build upon his good effort and turn the tables on Mayweather and end his march into boxing history? The answer for me is a very resounding, NO.
I scored the bout 7 rounds to 5 for Mayweather so there was no question in my mind that he won the fight. What really surprised me was Mayweather’s early strategy which was to allow Maidana to pin him on the ropes and pound away.
Looking at the fight in its totality, I saw nothing that made me believe that Mayweather had lost his speed or elusiveness so in my mind this was a tactic. Well, it didn’t work and it made what would have been a much easier fight for Mayweather turn into a brawl which favored Maidana in the early going.
If Mayweather had succumbed to anything, it was not Maidana’s skill, but perhaps machismo. Mayweather said after the fight that he wanted to give the audience the kind of fight that they wanted which is almost always a brawl. I think the public outcry against his style of fighting may have finally gotten into his head.
Maybe it is the fact that he really has nothing else to prove in boxing and perhaps he is finally getting a little mentally stale. Whatever it was, when Mayweather woke up to the fact that he had made a tactical error, he was very quick to adjust. This is of course one of the hallmarks of his greatness. As the fight progressed, Mayweather began to turn Maidana and maneuver off the ropes with the skill that we have come to know.
El Chino fought a very competitive fight and he took the action to Mayweather in a way that few before him had ever done. Mayweather was lucky that he was not facing someone like Manny Pacquiao against whom such a tactical error would have spelled disaster.
Ultimately though, I think you have to ask yourself this question — how much better can Maidana fight? Not much better I believe.
He was inspired in the ring, not only by his compelling back-story, but by his great heart and determination. The guy is the epitome of what we all love in boxers. He has a great trainer and the support of a country with a superb boxing tradition.
However, if you think that Mayweather would fight the same fight next time you don’t know Mayweather. He will shoulder roll him, turn him, and ultimately beat him much more convincingly the next time. Mayweather will not let him get off first like he did this time.
Maidana will be made to pay for his looping overhand rights, which while coming from an awkward angle still leave him vulnerable to counters. I’m sorry but I think we have seen the most competitive Mayweather-Maidana fight we are ever going to see last Saturday night.
