Floyd Mayweather JR – Marcos Maidana II – Boxing Rematch…Always Talking
By Gina L. Caliboso
As I was going through my social media feeds on Facebook, Google+, and Twitter, I saw the headline, or actually, just a bunch of words that intrigued me, something about “Mayweather vs. Maidana. September 13th. Rematch.”
It seems that Mr. Floyd “Money” Mayweather (46-0, 26 KO’s) perhaps fought himself into a corner. As I believe he is notorious for choosing only fighters he can defeat, the announcement came as a surprise. It came as a surprise because Mr. Mayweather himself announced the rematch.
In other words, (insert Mayweather double speak here) I did defeat Maidana. But I need to convince myself and the boxing fans and experts out there I can BEAT him. Mayweather didn’t beat Maidana. Mayweather defeated him, outpointed him, and earned a majority decision. But Mayweather didn’t BEAT him. Note the capitalized BEAT.
I keep the Mayweather vs. Maidana (35-4, 31KO’s) match on my DVR and I replay the fight (in between my social feed watching) to get a stand on why the undefeated Mayweather wants to put himself through the probability, or even possibility that he may lose. He might not just lose, he might actually be putting himself through an unnecessary beating just to prove a point. Late film director Stanley Kubrick in one of his early works, called boxing ‘legalized assault.’ Regardless, Mayweather deciding to proactively pursue a rematch clearly indicates what I always believed to be at the core of the Mayweather persona. In spite of the double talk, in spite of the loud, bragging behavior, Mayweather’s core is that he is a fighter. And like all good fighters, there is the distinct attitude of always wanting to be the best. By deciding to subject himself to another Maidana bout, Mayweather has finally stepped up to join a pool of fighters who can actually ‘walk the talk and, talk the walk.’ (I believe this might be a paraphrase from Kubrick’s “Full Metal Jacket.”)
The time has passed in boxing for the Pacquiao vs. Mayweather superbout. It baffles me thinking about how two of the greatest boxers cannot seem to get together for what is perhaps, just an hour of their time, to actually fight one another. Maybe it’s something the two of them plan on doing when they retire .But I hope to see Pacquiao fight soon. I won’t get started on why Pacquiao remains with Bob Arum. Boxers deciding to set out on their own and promote their own fights are a long time coming, but it’s not quite there yet. Boxers still need the professional and promotional backing, it’s obvious to me that combat sports athletes perhaps need to form a union of some sorts.
But, back to Mayweather vs. Maidana.
The Maidana bout showed that Mayweather does find a way to win. Mayweather is a smart fighter and he knows where the referee is at all times. To see Mayweather look at the ref, Tony Weeks, at certain points in the bout for help, shows ring awareness about what exactly he can get away with against a fighter. The scorecards read as follows: 116-112 (Dave Moretti), 117-111 (Burt Clements), and 114-114 (Michael Pernick).
But let’s look beyond the cards, myself and boxing fans alike saw the fighter in Maidana. The street fighter Maidana that was going to brawl no matter what. Maidana is a scary and exciting fighter to watch. In his bout against Amir Khan, Maidana got knocked down early in the fight, but soon Khan was barely holding on to win in the later rounds. Maidana is that kind of fighter. He reminds me of Juan Manuel Marquez. The type of fighter that might get the knockdown early in the fight, but shakes it off and fights even stronger, better, albeit unrelenting and punishing.
Maidana. Mayweather. Look beyond the last fight. Look beyond the scorecards.
There’s a great fight to be made here. And, for once, in many bouts, Mayweather just might have to fight even harder.
Words of advice: Keep your mouth shut, Mayweather. You’ve got a fight to win.