Mayweather – Maidana RECAP

Floyd Mayweather Jr. faced the rough and tough Marcos Maidana Sautrday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

THE RESULT

Mayweather by decision. Judges scored the bout, 117-111, 116-112, and 114-114 in favor of Floyd.

THE FIGHT

The fight forced Floyd to out-box his opponent, something he hasn’t had to do in many of his recent fights. Maidana came out swinging wildly and never let up. He threw over the top punches at Floyd often leaning forward and pushing him against the ropes. It appeared as though Maidana might run out of steam at some point due to the high volume of punches he was throwing, but he never did. He continued to press Floyd until the bell sounded, signaling the end of the 12th round.

THE STATS

Maidana landed the most punches of any against Mayweather, but that stat is misleading. Floyd still landed more punches than Maidana at a rate more than double Maidana’s.

Floyd’s Total Punch Stats – 230 landed out of 426 thrown (54%)

Maidana’s Total Punch Stats – 221 landed out of 858 thrown (26%)

Credit has to be given to Maidana and his corner for never letting up. Although the majority of his punches did not hit or hurt Floyd, his relentless pressure forced Floyd to score strategically and to truly earn a hard fought victory.

POST FIGHT THOUGHTS

Both fighters, including their cornermen, showed up Saturday night. Maidana cut Floyd above the eye early in the fight, but cut man Rafael Garcia did an excellent job to make sure it never reopened during the rest of the bout. Mayweather made over $32 million guaranteed Saturday night while Maidana made only $1.5 million. Both will earn a bit more after all is said and done, but it goes to show you who the favorite/host of the fight was.

Maidana proved that the only way to challenge and potentially beat Floyd is to employ a technique that is entirely unpredictable. Unfortunately for Maidana, it just wasn’t enough. Floyd showed that he remains arguably the most accurate and strategic scorer in boxing. Mayweather is now 46-0 and has three remaining fights on his contract with Showtime Boxing. His post fight remarks did not hint at retirement as he said, “If the fans want to see it, then we can do it again.”

Don’t count on Maidana getting a rematch, but look for another Mayweather fight before the year’s end.

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