By Jaime Ortega: Floyd Mayweather Jr (46-0, 26 KO’s) not long ago criticized Manny Pacquiao and Timothy Bradley on the radio for “fighting like amateur boxers”, yet with all the criticism, it was Floyd who fought like an amateur to a very impressive and underrated Marcos Maidana (35-4, 31 KO’s) last night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Maidana went against Floyd like a chaotic brawler, not fearing his counter punches. The fight should have ended in a draw, but Floyd won by 12 round majority decision by the scores of 114-114, 116-112, and 117-111 in a controversial bout.
There is no doubt Maidana threw low blows to Floyd during the fight, who also played dirty by hugging the Argentinean like a teddy bear every time he charged close. Floyd forgot to include that small detail, during the post press conference when he rightly accused Maidana of playing dirty.
With Floyd’s last performance, the never ending question once again resurrects no other than Pacquaio from the midst of the boxing shadows.
If Floyd had a hard time adapting to Maidana’s constant onslaughts, how would he fair against Pacquiao who throws way more punches per round with higher accuracy?
Maidana packs a punch, but he lacks speed.
Floyd not only missed many punches, but his timing was off and for a moment it look like Maidana was dancing around his combinations. If Floyd had trouble catching Maidana, he would have a harder time catching the little Pilipino star who moves far looser on the ring.
After Floyd’s performance it would be absolutely bonkers to believe Pacquiao could not ‘overwhelm’ Floyd on the ring.
Most Floyd fans absolutely believed the fight against Maidana was going to be another ‘walk in the park’ fight, but it ended up becoming a closer bout than expected with a controversial split decision.
Floyd fans got it wrong predicting Maidana’s total collapse. So could Floyd fans also get their predictions wrong with Manny? Absolutely!
But that’s not all. Because another young monster called Keith Thurman, who Maidana ducked a few years back, has also taken important notes with Floyd’s performance yesterday.
Thurman is also another dangerous opponent for Floyd. And the ‘The Money Team’ camp, and Mayweather Promotions will not grant the Floridian the ‘mandatory’ opportunity he already deserves.
Maidana launched body shots to Floyd’s liver in order to disable his movement and slow down his pace. The problem is, that if Thurman catches Floyd with one powerful body shot, the same way Maidana intended to punish Floyd, the results will be a knockout decision in favor of Thurman.
Thurman’s rapid mobility in the ring and lighting counter punches would weaken the Floyd, we saw against Maidana. With the devastating hooks Thurman throws against his opponents, it would eventually break Floyd’s defense in a matter of five rounds.
Floyd’s best bet to remain undefeated will be to avoid the two most dangerous fighters, whom really have what it takes to beat the current welterweight champion.
Thurman and Pacquiao are those two fighters, and despite the ‘excuses’ we hear from TMT from now and beyond, those two fighters will be ready to take the fight any day and really give the fans ‘what we want!’ Right Floyd?
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