Mayweather defeats Maidana; Santa Cruz destroys Roman; Bey defeats Vazquez

09/14/201409/13/2014 Rob Smith

Marcos Maidana (35-5, 31 KOs) resorted to biting tonight but it still didn’t help him against WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr (47-0, 26 KOs) who easily registered his 47th consecutive win on Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Maidana took Mayweather’s left hand out of commission in the 8th round after allegedly biting Mayweather hard on his fingers of of his left hand while he had him in a headlock.

The referee Kenny Bayless didn’t see the bite by Maidana so he couldn’t do anything about it. Never the less, Mayweather was unable to use his left hand again with regularity until a couple rounds later. What was interesting is that Maidana denied biting Mayweather after the fight even though a replay showed Maidana appearing to bite Mayweather.

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Mayweather vs Maidana II: Keys to Victory, Four to Explore, Official Prediction!

09/13/201409/13/2014 Vivek Wallace

Four months ago, Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather encountered what most viewed as the toughest night of his 18 year career at the hands of Argentinean slugger Marcos ‘Chino’ Maidana. From the moment the final bell rang, fans all around the world have been split on what we witnessed. Mayweather critics felt he would avoid a risky rematch at all cost; supporters felt there was no need for one. Yet here we stand at the doorstep of a sequel, and tonight, once and for all, questions raised will be questions answered. As we prepare for this epic showdown, we take a look at keys to victory, four critical game changers to explore, and an official prediction:

FLOYD MAYWEATHER – KEYS TO VICTORY

Tonight, Mayweather will need to start fast and dictate the tone early. Part of that process will need to be dedication to aggressive body work. In their first fight, once he went to the body, we saw an immediate change in the overall aggression of Maidana as Mayweather slowed him down rather quickly. Aside from body work, Mayweather needs to keep all exchanges in the middle of the ring. Maidana missed 637 punches in the first fight, and of the 221 he landed, more than 70% came against the ropes. If Mayweather can stay off the ropes, be first, and commit to the body, a little footwork would cement his chances of victory, barring an unexpected powershot that he fails to overcome.

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

09/13/201409/13/2014 Rob Smith

(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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Mayweather a huge favorite to defeat Maidana

09/13/2014 Jeff Sorby

(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

09/13/2014 Jeff Sorby

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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Yay or Nay for Mayweather, Jr. Gets Complicated

09/12/201409/12/2014 Paul Strauss

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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Mayhem II: Follow The Money!

09/12/2014 Gary J. Cooper

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

09/12/2014 Jazz Singh Gill

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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Mayweather -Maidana 2: To box or not to box that is the question?

09/12/201409/12/2014 Chris Carlson

Floyd Mayweather and Marcos Maidana will meet once again at the MGM Grand Garden Arena this Saturday night live on Showtime PPV. Will Chino’s melee create “Mayhem”, or will it be muscle memory for the money man?

Damn near everyone is convinced that Floyd Mayweather will do a number on Marcos Maidana in the rematch. Isn’t this the same sentiment most fans had prior to the first go round? Maidana was a huge underdog at the sports book, ranging from 12-1 all the way up to 15-1 on a few betting website.

Even though Marcos gave Floyd by far his toughest and roughest fight of his career, barley any one gives him a real chance to get the job done against the future Hall-of-famer.

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Mayweather vs Maidana Preview

09/12/201409/11/2014 Dean Tinklin

A seasoned 37-year-old champ, Floyd Mayweather Jr, will climb through the ropes at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night knowing that the last time his champ status was questioned to a point that warranted a rematch (Jose Luis Castillo), he provided clear answers and removed all doubt; that was in 2002. Since then Floyd’s put in some great performances over the years, perhaps not in the most exciting style but in his own, unique style which has kept him undefeated so far, despite not having stopped an opponent since 2011.

Marcos Maidana’s 31 years’ old and is a hungry, aggressive, and exciting fighter with a point to prove in the world of boxing. His style seems to be borne of the school of blood and guts with a ‘let’s fight’ approach. He’s picked up a couple of losses along the way which is no surprise given how he operates in the ring, but he’s also picked up knowledge and experience which is making him better and better at fighting, and he’s already stopped 31 of his opponents and has never been stopped himself.

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