Floyd Mayweather cruises to easy unanimous decision win over Marcos Maidana in rematch

In a result most boxing observers could readily anticipate given the developments seen in the last six rounds of their first bout, Floyd Mayweather (47-0, 26 KOs) successfully defended his WBC and WBA Welterweight, and WBC Super Welterweight titles with a unanimous 12-round decision victory in his rematch with Argentine slugger Marcos Maidana (35-5, 31 KOs) on Saturday in front of 16,144 fans at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.

The judges scored the bout 115-112, 116-111, and 116-111, but frankly, those scores were disturbingly too close, as the bout was a lopsided route in which Mayweather used his superior hand speed and boxing skills to stay off the ropes and keep the fight in the center of the ring.

“He’s a tough opponent and I did what I had to do tonight,” Mayweather said. “I just didn’t stay on the ropes.  I have a couple bumps and bruises because he’s a wild young fighter.  My father told me to hit and not get hit and that’s what we did."

Mayweather, 37, landed 58 percent of his power punches compared to Maidana’s 26 percent.  He also landed 43 percent of his jabs compared to 17 percent for Maidana, and 51 percent of his total punches compared to Maidana’s 22 percent.    

In their first matchup, Maidana enjoyed some early success pinning Mayweather on the ropes and throwing a high volume of wild combination punches, before Mayweather eventually settled down, figured out his opponent, and dominated the later rounds.

However, in this bout, Maidana and trainer Robert Garcia adopted a different strategy, and it backfired horrifically.

Maidana and his team believed that he needed to attack from more of a distance this time in order to effectively land his power shots and pace himself better.

The result was a disaster, as Maidana chased Mayweather, but failed to crowd him.  Moreover, he threw fewer combinations and total punches, and allowed Mayweather to get off first due to both men fighting at a distance rather than on the interior.

Round after round, Mayweather comfortably landed his shots first and then held Maidana, and Garcia seemed unable to provide his fighter with an alternative strategy or any effective advice on how to cut off Mayweather's lateral movement.

A delusional Maidana disagreed with the decision, but didn’t plead for a third showdown.

“I thought I won the fight but if the judges want to give the fight to a guy who runs that’s their decision,” Maidana said.  “I feel like I was the aggressor and I kept applying the pressure.  He kept holding and pushing and the ref never did anything about it.  Instead, the ref took a point away from me.”

Maidana did have a brief moment of success when he landed a hard right hand at the bell to close Round 3.  That shot gave Maidana some momentum, and he mounted an effective attack the next round.  After that brief spurt, Mayweather seemed to regain control and fight his fight.

“I felt sharper in the first fight.  I felt a little dry and dead in this fight.  I give myself a C, a C-minus.  I could have been better.  I got hit with some shots tonight that I shouldn’t have gotten hit with.  But that comes with the sport.”

The fight was dull, but not without controversy.   Frustrated with Mayweather’s clinching, Maidana seemingly bit his opponent’s left hand in the eighth round, causing a break in the fight while referee Kenny Bayless inspected the champ’s gloves.

“He bit my fingers so my fingers were numb,” Mayweather said.  “After the 8th round my hand was numb and I really couldn’t use my left hand.”

Maidana denied engaging in such conduct.

“Maybe he thinks I’m a dog, but I never bit him,” Maidana said.  “He was rubbing my eyes with his glove.  Maybe he had his glove in my mouth, but I don’t think I bit him.”

Who Will Mayweather Fight Next?

The real travesty was the con job by all the parties involved in setting up this unnecessary rematch.  Mayweather seemingly had figured out his opponent the first time around, and came up with some propaganda that Maidana deserved a rematch because it was a fight the fans wanted to see.

In truth, the one fight the fans actually want to see is a Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight.

Kudos to ringside reporter Jim Gray for confronting Mayweather on this very point about the fans'  desire for a Pacquiao matchup, and not allowing him to do another comfortable post-fight interview with such an obvious question not being asked.

As usual however, Mayweather was noncommittal in his response.

“I’m not ducking or dodging any opponent,’’ Mayweather said. “If the Manny Pacquiao fight presents itself let’s make it happen.  I don’t know who I’ll fight in May but I expect to fight.  Manny needs to focus on the guy that’s in front of him.  Once he gets past that task we’ll see what the future holds.”

Mayweather has two fights left on his six-fight deal with Showtime, and likely will retire when he completes his obligation.  It would be a shame if the only interesting opponent he fights in that stretch is Canelo Alvarez.  As for his other opponents, "Ghost" Guerrero was overmatched and did not deserve a shot in the first place, and Maidana only had a minimal puncher's chance to defeat Floyd.

There are a few interesting candidates for Mayweather still remaining, but one gets the feeling he will pick another safe opponent who will give him a big payday.

Certainly you can't argue that such a strategy has made him rich, but in the end, is it really the best business strategy?

From a pure money standpoint, a Pacquiao fight generates more revenue than any of these ridiculous matchups we have seen.  For that matter, Mayweather and Pacquiao could have had a series of rivalry bouts by now that could have made obscene amounts of money, but instead we are watching Floyd fight inferior competition as he explains away his decisions by claiming it's for the fans.

Floyd needs to go out with a bang, whether that's with Triple G, Pacquiao, a Cotto rematch, or someone else on his level.  Anything less than that might help his bank account, but will only hurt his legacy.

By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services