Make no mistake about two things -1: Floyd Mayweather Junior was given his toughest, roughest fight in years last night as a relentless Marcos Maidana ploughed ahead pretty much all night and made the unbeaten superstar work very, very hard. 2: Mayweather won the fight by a wide margin.
The fans in attendance at The MGM Grand, most of them vocal Maidana fans, felt the defending WBA welterweight champ was robbed, but the fact is, Mayweather – once he got control of the fight and began tattooing Maidana with shots, to the body most hurtfully – won the fight fair and square. This has done nothing to stop talk of a September rematch, though, and Mayweather, looking more tired than in recent times after a fight, said he would give Maidana one “if the fans want it.”
But, in light of his recent talk of thinking about retiring, is it possible Mayweather will opt to take the remainder of 2014 off and box again next May? Retirement is unlikely – as Floyd still owes three fights under his mega-money contract with Showtime – but, after being hit low, after being hit on the back of the head, after being butted (accidentally) and after being just plain hit in the face, maybe the 37-year-old star will opt to take another vacation from the sport of boxing to recharge his batteries.
If Floyd does decide he needs a little me time, it will not please fight fans, nor will it please Marcos Maidana and Amir Khan (who looked sensational, disciplined and strong in his welterweight debut win over a game Luis Collazo on last night’s card) – the two fighters most likely to be in with a real shot at getting a September date with Mayweather if he does box then.
Maidana has many people thinking he is deserving of a rematch, and maybe he is; after all, he did make the fight competitive and exciting and he perhaps even made Floyd fight his A-game – this after many experts had predicted a mismatch. But Khan is also deserving for a couple of reasons: he was verbally promised a shot at Mayweather a number of months ago yet was generally messed about and had his time wasted as Floyd opted to give “El Chino” his biggest payday instead, and because of the dominant fashion in which Khan handled and outclassed Collazo.
Both fighters will be waiting to see what Floyd chooses to do, but it may be that Mayweather chooses to take a vacation, thus leaving both former champions out in the cold for the time being. If this turns out to be the case, here’s an idea; how about Khan and Maidana get it on in a rematch of their sizzling 2010 battle?
That way, the winner would leave no doubt as to who is most deserving of a crack at “Money” next May.
