(Photo credit: Idris Irba) By MM: With the rematch set, and the fight tour underway, most fight fans feel that Floyd Mayweather Jr will skate to an easy victory over Marcos Maidana on September 13th at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. There are a few things that make me feel that will not be the case.
The unknown factor for both fighters is gone. Going into the first fight Maidana may have felt a little cautious, perhaps even intimidated by Mayweather and the big stage. At this point, Maidana knows the power Floyd is packing, and does not believe Floyd can hurt him. Furthermore, Maidana has now been on the big stage, so that should not be a factor in this fight at all. Maidana’s mindset will be he can walk through Floyds punches without worry. Taking 2 or 3 to give 1 or 2.
Mayweather on the other hand probably expected the first fight to be a walk in the park, “easy money”. We all saw, it was neither. Maidana roughed him up, bullied him around, fought dirty, and landed more punches on him than anyone else that has fought Mayweather in the past. Going into the second fight, the intimidation factor has shifted, and is in now on Maidana’s side. Floyd knows Maidana is going to go in looking to rough him up even more so than in the first fight and with Floyd not being able to hurt Maidana, Maidana is going to go for the kill. The fact of the matter is, Maidana is a dangerous fighter with far more power than Floyd, and this fight is a lot more dangerous for Mayweather than it is for Maidana.
Floyd claims he will box this fight. I do not see that happening for two reasons. First and foremost, I do not believe in any way shape or form that Floyd chose to stand and fight with Maidana. I believe Maidana took the fight to Floyd, and his style left him with no choice but to fight. Second, I think Floyd’s pride will cause him to brawl with Maidana again. He has been talking about winning by KO, and that is not going to happen if he tries to box Maidana, unless he is able to really dig to the body and wear him down.
No matter you who believe won the first fight, I think the second fight will be more exciting than the first one. Very few people gave Maidana a chance against Broner or Mayweather, and he surprised everyone. I do not recall any one in recent history showing absolutely no respect to Floyd Mayweather and actually coming to the ring looking like they were trying to take his “0” away. No matter what happens on fight night, or who you are rooting for, sparks are sure to fly.
Comments are closed.