By Anthony Mason: A lot of drama has surrounded the pre-fight hype of the Mayweather-Maidana rematch, especially with regards to rough house tactics – coming from both fighters. Maidana’s team complains that Mayweather uses his elbows to sneak in shots to the throat and face, while Mayweather’s side compare Maidana to an MMA fighter.
Neither of them have any reason to complain. Referees should allow boxers to be physical to a degree. The old school fighters, the vast majority of whom are far superior to the new school, went through much rougher circumstances than either Mayweather or Maidana. Both boxers need to man up and get ready to fight physical.
Willie Pep, the real greatest defensive boxer of all time, went through way more dirty tactics than either Mayweather or Maidana. When either of them go through the rough house tactics of someone like Sandy Saddler, a far greater opponent than anyone on Maidana or Mayweather’s resume, then they have reason to complain. Clearly there is no comparison between Henry Armstrong dealing with Fritzie Zivic’s (2 weight classes, 4 by today’s weak standards, above Armstrong’s natural weight) dirty fighting and the child’s play that Mayweather dealt with against Maidana.
Mayweather wants to put himself among the best? Well, how is that possible when he barely got past the rough house tactics of a fighter who his own uncle and trainer states has not beaten anybody impressive. That’s right, Roger Mayweather himself stated that Maidana is a weak opponent, yet the so-called “great’ Floyd Mayweather barely squeaked by with an 8-4 / 7-5 decision due to Maidana’s gassing out. This shows that Mayweather is not who he is perceived to be.
Jose Luis Castillo already did that for us in April of 2001. Sure, Mayweather had a shoulder injury, but that’s no excuse. A torn rotator cuff didn’t stop Evander Holyfield from fighting to a close decision that could go either way against a real opponent in Michael Moorer. Oh, and Holyfield also had a serious heart condition on top of that. Unlike Mayweather, Holyfield was able to adjust and put up a competitive fight (and against a much better opponent) despite his torn rotator cuff and serious heart condition.
Now, back to the lecture at hand – Maidana and Mayweather. Perfection is perfected so I’m going to let you understand. Luckily for Mayweather, Maidana was no longer able to keep the pressure on him and force him to the ropes, where Mayweather had absolutely no success. The blind squirrel Mayweather stumbled upon an acorn with Maidana’s gassing out and was able to find success in the middle of the ring – the only area in which he did well. I’d hate to imagine how badly a real boxer like Aaron Pryor or Roberto Duran would annihilate Mayweather after he barely squeaked past a very very poor man’s version in the form of Maidana.
Like the great Marvin Hagler said, “(Floyd) is at the right time because there’s nobody out there.” Someone who actually fought in a competitive era of boxing knows that Mayweather’s career is a farce resulting from a weak era, and the fact that Mayweather could barely handle someone as ordinary as Maidana in the previous fight is proof of this.
Floyd Mayweather – an all-time great businessman in the sport of boxing. His in-ring accomplishments? Not so much.
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