By Ian Palmer
Floyd Mayweather Jr. may not be the most exciting boxer in the world, but he’s currently the most effective. The unbeaten WBC and WBA Welterweight Champion raised his record to 47-0 with 26 Kos on September 13 by beating Argentina’s Marcos Maidana by unanimous decision at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Mayweather had already beaten Maidana earlier in the year as he captured a majority decision against him in May. The judges’ scorecards read 116-111, 116-111, and 115-112 in the rematch with the 31-year-old Maidana having a point deducted in the 10th round for pushing Mayweather to the canvas for the second time in the fight.
While this was a fairly uneventful bout, there was some controversy as Mayweather claimed that Maidana bit his left hand through his glove in the eighth round. Maidana reacted to the accusation by asking how he could bite through a glove with his mouthpiece in and video replays of the alleged incident proved to be inconclusive. However, referee Kenny Bayless made both boxers go to a neutral corner following the alleged bite and had words with the challenger.
After the fight Mayweather carried on about the alleged bite and claimed Maidana bit three of his fingers and his hand went numb after that. He stated that he couldn’t use his left hand during the last four rounds of the contest and stuck with his right hand. As for the fight itself, it didn’t match the drama and intensity of their first meeting as Maidana didn’t attack with the same vigor and enthusiasm. The Argentine pinned Mayweather on the ropes and in the corners numerous times back in May and dug in to his head and body.
However, this time around he didn’t throw as many punches and waited far too long to up the tempo. Mayweather didn’t perform as well as he did in the first fight either since Maidana didn’t force him to fight back. In fact, there was more drama outside of the ring than there was in it as hundreds of fans ran back into the arena while exiting the venue when they believed somebody had brandished a gun in the concourse. Several fans were injured during the confusion and taken away on stretchers, but the injuries were believed to be minor.
Mayweather admitted that he fought better in the first encounter against Maidana and said he could possibly end up meeting Manny Pacquiao before he retires. He may also be tempted to fight England’s Amir Khan since he plans on fighting two or three more times before hanging up the gloves. Maidana didn’t reveal his future plans, but told the media he thought he won both fights against Mayweather since the champion did nothing but run all night long. In the rematch, Mayweather landed 166 of the 326 punches he threw for a connect rate of 51 per cent while Maidana threw 572 punches, but landed just 128 of them for a rate of 22 per cent. With the loss, Maidana’s record dropped to 35-5 with 31 Kos.
