By Dan Ambrose: Bernard Hopkins thinks Floyd Mayweather Jr (45-0, 26 KO’s) could be in for a really tough fight on Saturday night against Marcos Maidana (35-3, 31 KO’s) if he doesn’t take him seriously, and if he’s not 100% ready for this fight. Mayweather has a lot of things on his plate with his life outside of the ring, and Hopkins thinks that could give Maidana an opportunity to win if Mayweather isn’t fully focused on the task at hand.
“Maidana’s dangerous. I never seen a soft Argentinian,” Hopkins said. “He’s wiry, his arms are longer. He’s got an awkward overhand right that he used against Adrien Broner. That’s his favorite punch he’s going to try and land.”
Let’s be honest; Maidana will be dangerous with either hand he throws. Mayweather can’t just focus on trying to avoid getting nailed by Maidana’s power right, because he’s got a good left hook that he can hurt anyone with in the division.
Mayweather will be fine as long as he stays on the move and doesn’t stand in front of Maidana in this fight. However, Mayweather has been saying recently that he wants to give the boxing fans want they want to see by standing and trading with Maidana. That’s the only way Maidana has any chance of winning this fight barring him landing a lucky shot while Mayweather is on the move. Maidana is very dangerous, because the things that he did against Broner, he can do against Mayweather if he chooses to trade with him in a toe-to-toe battle for the full 12 rounds.
Mayweather has the longer reach than Maidana, so Hopkins is a little off with his comments about Maidana having the longer arms. Mayweather, 5’8″, is an inch taller than Maidana, and he’s got a three inch reach advantage. However, Maidana likes to crowd his opponents in order to load up on his shots. Mayweather will have a hard time stopping Maidana from coming in close unless he chooses to move constantly. Depending on how Mayweather chooses to fight him, Maidana will have plenty of opportunities to land his big shots on Saturday night. He’s going to get his pound of flesh in this fight.
Comments are closed.