It usually takes pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather (47-0, 26 KOs) three or four rounds to figure out an opponent en route to shutout victory, but in his first fight in May against Marcos Maidana (35-5, 31 KOs), he was dragged into a slugfest that he eventually boxed himself out of.
Now, imagine what those first 12 rounds and the ensuing four months would do, which was the time between their first and second encounters, and you’ll get an idea of their rematch tonight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Mayweather scored an easy unanimous decision victory over Maidana, successfully defending his Welterweight and Super Welterweight titles in the main event of a pay-per-view showdown presented by Mayweather Promotions, Golden Boy Promotions and Showtime Sports.
“He’s a tough opponent and I did what I had to do,” Mayweather told Showtime’s Jim Gray in his post-fight interview, before Mayweather praised Maidana for his difficulty and toughness in the ring.
Mayweather won with scores of 116-111, 116-111, and 115-112. RBRBoxing scored the fight 118-109, as it seemed to be less of a competitive fight than the judges’ scorecards would suggest.
Mayweather began the first round by using a lot of footwork and by landing several jabs and check left hooks.
Mayweather would continue this pace until the end of the fourth round when he was stunned by a thunderous right hand that Maidana landed after the bell.
#Boxing #MayweatherMaidana2 pic.twitter.com/pJtV8St8E9
— RoundByRoundBoxing (@RBRBoxing) September 14, 2014
Mayweather would spend the rest of the fight using his footwork, landing lead right hands and landing combinations when available, especially in Round 5 and in the form of body shots in Round 7.
The action briefly stopped in Round 8 when Mayweather accused Maidana of biting his hand and in Round 10 when Maidana was deducted a point for throwing Mayweather to the canvas, which was not prefaced by enough warnings to merit a point deduction.
Nevertheless, the aggression and seeming closeness of the first fight was not there in their rematch, as Mayweather landed 166 of 326 punches thrown, compared to Maidana who landed 128 of 578 punches thrown according to CompuBox.
58% power punches landed by Mayweather. Impressive #Boxing #MayweatherMaidana2 pic.twitter.com/tPbUNaiSOp
— RoundByRoundBoxing (@RBRBoxing) September 14, 2014
As for Mayweather, who at 37 years old remains undefeated in his career, his biggest concern is who he will fight next, as a fight with Manny Pacquiao is still in hopes of boxing fans, even after over five years of waiting.
“I’m going to go back and talk to my team. I’m not ducking or dodging anyone. If the Pacquiao fight presents itself, make it happen” said Mayweather.
