By Rocky Esposito: Well, (The Moment) is finally here! Tonight, we have Floyd Money Mayweather (45-0 / 26 KO’s) vs Marcos “El Chino” Maidana (35-3 / 31KOS) live at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. What is up for grabs? First, a whole lot of belts! If Floyd wins, he will walk away with the WBA Super Welterweight Championship belt.
If El Chino wins, he would take home the Ring & WBC World Welterweight titles. More important then the belts however, (and whether you are a Floyd Mayweather fan or not), you must be honest… When you are going up against Floyd Money Mayweather, you are also fighting for the #1 Pound for Pound King’s Throne Seat in Boxing. Championship Belts and Boxing’s Kingship Throne.
Let me start my breakdown first with Marcos El Chino Maidana. Since he has been under the tutelage of Ring Magazine’s (Trainer of the Year) Robert Garcia for his last four fights, he has been unblemished 4-0. Just prior to their teaming up together, Maidana moved up to Welterweight division for the very first time in February of 2012 and took on the highly skilled Devon Alexander who was (21-1) at the time. Maidana lost this fight soundly (10R / UD). I would like to point out, this was also Devon Alexander’s very first fight in the Welterweight Division. He actually went on to fight for and win the IBF Welterweight Title in his very next fight vs Randall Bailey. Maidana, actually contemplated retirement after their fight. (I personally find it amazing how their career paths have turned out since their fight together back in early 2012).
As I previously mentioned, Marcos Maidana has been 4-0 with Robert Garcia. I know many fans, as well as people in the Boxing world will argue whether or not a new trainer can make any positive/significant difference to a fighter, especially a veteran fighter. With the Maidana and Garcia pairing though, I would have to argue that Garcia has helped Maidana greatly. Garcia is a fighter’s trainer if you will. His stable loves him, and he always gets the best out of his fighters. The challenge for both Robert and Marcos tonight though, is that their facing Pound for Pound the best Boxer in the world today.
Marcos Maidana is a tough, come at you fighter. As we all know, he will eat 2 or 3 shots just to land his one. He has been put down before, but he always gets up. Also, the majority of the punches that he throws are with the specific intention of causing his opponent maximum pain, period. He is a very high volume puncher. A major asset that Maidana possess is that he throws his punches from very award/deceiving angles. There is no fancy game plan here. For him to have any success versus Floyd, he must come forward and apply pressure wisely, well timed spurts. He cannot chase after Floyd looking to drop a one shot KO bomb 3 minutes of every round. He has to establish (and early) that he is the tough guy of the two. Even if he can’t land a clean shot early on, he must hit Floyd hard somewhere. Be it his arms, shoulders, etc. Just to mentally let Floyd know he has power and that he is not intimated. Also, he must throw his punches wisely. If he starts throwing punches in bunches too recklessly, Floyd will counter him and move to the side all night long.
Now Floyd Money Mayweather… When Marcos Maidana was initially chosen over Amir King Khan (28-3 / 19 KOS) in the infamous Mayweather Sweepstakes, people accused Floyd of taking the slower, easier opponent. At first glance, sure, Khan seemed to be the more competitive opponent due to the world class hand speed that he possess. However, if you go through Khan’s last four fights, going back to December 2011, you cannot argue with Floyd’s explanation as why he chose Maidana instead. Seriously, think in today’s Boxing terms how much any Boxer’s career path can change over a year, and with Khan you are talking about almost 3 years since he looked good vs a quality opponent.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. is universally regarded as Boxing’s Pound for Pound Champion by his fans and critics alike for a reason. He is very smart, he is very athletic, and his stamina is insane. His Defense is one of the best of all time. He is a tremendous counter-puncher also. He will never play into his opponents strengths. For Floyd to have success in this fight, he must be his usual self. What I mean is… When Maidana comes forward and starts throwing punches, he just needs to move laterally so Maidana will have to work that much harder to thrown/land punches, and he will be sapping Marcos’ stamina at the same time. Also, just by using a little lateral movement, Maidana might become very uncomfortable/frustrated mentally. If Maidana constantly has to worry about Floyd’s movement and cannot get his timing down, he might start throwing punches from spots/distances where he shouldn’t and provide Floyd with great counter-punching opportunities.
I hope for all of us as Boxing fans that the odds makers are all wrong (no matter who your rooting for) and this will be a competitive fight. Also, I hope the judges are up to the task! God Bless!
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