Mayweather vs. Maidana: Who’s really the dirty fighter?

By Raj Parmar: As the Floyd Mayweather vs Marcos Maidana rematch draws closer, both fighters are constantly throwing accusations at each other about being a dirty fighter. The drama started at the post fight press conference after the first fight, when Floyd ripped into the Maidana camp for using illegal tactics throughout the match.

There is no doubt that Maidana was very rough and dirty in the first fight as he hit Floyd with many low blows, shoved him through the ropes, elbowed him, headbutted him and even came close to hitting him with a knee to the head. Maidana’s trainer Robert Garcia was even heard in the corner instructing Maidana to use whatever roughhouse tactics were necessary in order to hurt Floyd.

Maidana has recently countered the repeated claims of Mayweather stating that he is an extremely dirty fighter by pointing out that his past opponents have rarely, if ever, complained about him fighting with illegal tactics. Maidana added that it is in fact Mayweather that has the history of fighting dirty, and that whatever dirty things he did in the first fight was just a response to Floyd’s dirty manoeuvres.

While it is true that complaints by past fighters branding Marcos as a dirty fighter are very limited, Mayweather on the other hand has been branded by past foes of using illegal methods to give himself an advantage in the ring. Former Mayweather opponents Ricky Hatton and Victor Ortiz were very outspoken about Floyd constantly using his forearms to give himself space and also using his elbows to damage them. Shane Mosley had stated that his neck stiffened up against Floyd, and that he feels Floyd constantly elbowing against his neck and head may have caused the tightness.

So while neither Mayweather nor Maidana are saints in the ring, both have an unbelievably strong will to win and both will do whatever it takes to have their hands raised. It is very hard to see Maidana blatantly fouling Mayweather as much as he did in the first encounter due to all the attention on who is fighting dirty between the two, but there is little doubt Marcos will go into a very physically rough mode if he feels a Mayweather elbow close to his face and neck. All this talk of who the dirty fighter is will no doubt lead to a referee that will closely be watching both fighters in a fight that Robert Garcia promised to Floyd will be rougher than the first fight for him.