(Photo credit: Stephanie Trapp: Mayweather Promotions) By Carlos Rivera: Let me start this rant by first saying, yes, Floyd Mayweather won the fight. He is 47-0 and the judges cards made sense with the fight they were given.
With that said, let me be clear, the fight and the officiating was ridiculous. Also, Floyd should be ashamed of himself with that “bite” nonsense.
The referee was way too involved. He was breaking up clinches before they even happened. When a clench does occur, you allow the fighters to punch out of it of they can. If the fighter has one arm free, you let him punch out of it. Too many times last night Bayless was pulling the fighters apart the minute Floyd reached for a hug. Also, it continues to baffle me how the ref can warn against pushing and the use of forearms but not penalize the fighter after repeated use of those tactics.
Beyond that, the point deduction from Maidaina was ridiculous. While Mayweather is grabbing and hugging Maidana backs away and tries to get some separation. Mayweather falls and a point gets deducted. As soon as he gets back on his feet he gets right back to pushing and grabbing.
If Kenny Bayless had allowed Marcos Maidana to punch out of those clinches and work the inside we could have seen a very different fight. Mayweather felt Maidana’s power the few times Maidana connected. He was on his bicycle. Mayweather ran away grabbed, pulled, hugged and even attempted to smother Maidaina in a clinch.
That brings me to the “bite”. Even if Maidana managed to fit the glove in his mouth there is no way for him to have caused enough damage to the hand which caused it to go numb as Mayweather claimed. Through a mouthpiece and gloves it is IMPOSSIBLE. For anyone to claim otherwise is ridiculous. The fact that Mayweather made such a big deal out of it even after the fight to pretend that he had overcome some great adversity is ridiculous. If he was truly the great champion he claims to be he would not use these ridiculous tactics.
His defensive acumen is without question. As is his hand speed and precision. For a fighter with that talent to fight the way he did last night is just sad.
With that said, September 2015 can’t come soon enough when he finally walks away from the sport. I am looking forward to more fighters like Thurman, the Charlo brothers and countless other young smart boxers who will be great for the sport.
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