The judges have decided that Floyd Mayweather Jr. (46-0, 26 KOs) is the WBA and WBC welterweight champion by majority decision in the 12 round match between Marcos Maidana (35-4, 31 KOs) at the MGM Grand Arena over the weekend. This has been an interesting battle leading up to this fight starting with the controversial “glove” padding issue that nearly caused them to call the fight off down to the after fight brawl outside the press room where people were trampled and gun shots fired. Not to mention between rounds Maidana’s corner was caught telling him to fight dirty if he had to but it was overlooked by the commentators.
Boxing fans expected to see the Money Mayweather rain down on Maidana like a sledge hammer but surprising Maidana left fans feeling like he may have won this fight or at least pulled out a draw or even a split decision because it was really a close fight.
Maidana won an even share of rounds 6-6 but Mayweather out punched him by far. Fans speculate that judging could not be fair and did not count most of the body blows Maidana landed on Mayweather while against the ropes and this may very well be a reason why the scores did not add up to what they saw.
As expected it was very entertaining, Mayweather started his entrance to a circus act with clowns and more. Also waking in with him was Justin Bieber and Lil Wayne rapping. The national anthem was not in taste as R&B superstar Tyrese made the statement about a “racist America” before he belted out the tunes of the song. Another embarrassing moment of the night was when Adrian Broner won a unanimous decision over Carlos Molina and went on a racial tantrum saying, “An African just beat the ‘F’ out of a Mexican,” and that send fans into overdrive with boos, anger and tension. Once the fight got started it was obvious early on that this was not going to be an easy win for Mayweather. He had to earn every penny of that $32 mil purse compared to Maidana’s $1.5 mil.
Mayweather put this entire event into perspective with the circus act. Boxing has become more about entertainment and who can draw the biggest crowd rather than just focusing on the sport. There are a lot of fighters in the world in the same weight class with just as impressive record as Mayweather and Maidana but they will never get an opportunity to be matched with them. Politics and favor has saturated the sport, so there will be lots of fighters who will never make a big name for themselves no matter how good they are or who they train or spar with.
Fans were not happy with the results of the fight, even spewing outside the arena as reports of a possible brawls and stampede where guests were injured and gun shots were fired, calling for Las Vegas Metro Police Department to respond and gain control of the crowd. There was talk that it was Maidana fans who were not happy with the results of the fight, as well as Mayweather fans who were disrespectful and unruly with other guests. Other reports say that mobs of people tried to rush into the press room after the fight for the post fight conference and knocked the metal detector over, again forcing LVMPD to respond and gain control of the crowd.
Overall it was a wild fight night in Las Vegas and fans can all go back to running their businesses. What’s next for Mayweather will be left in the hands of the fans, “If the fans want to see it again, we can do it again,” repeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. after the fight. He was not cocky yet sincere when he said “fans got their money worth. I’m not taking nothing away from Maidana. I couldn’t see for two rounds but we got here some way. We did whatever we had to do, we are champions.” Fans still was not buying it. Maidana had his say, “I have to give him a rematch, because I won.” Fans will see at the next circus I guess!
