It’s that time of year again. The Floyd Mayweather, Jr. machine will roll into the MGM Grand, and give the Las Vegas economy a nice bump in the process. Mayweather is coming off a career best win against Canelo Alvarez, a fight many thought would be his toughest challenge in years. So who’s next to win the Mayweather lottery? No less than Marcos ”El Chino” Maidana. The gaucho gangster is coming off of his own career-defining victory against Adrian Broner and now facing the biggest fight of his career. They’re calling the fight “The Moment.” Will Chino crack the May-vinci code? Or will Mayweather have yet another “moment” in the desert sun? Here’s our take on the storylines, fighters and the outcome.
No Shortage of Drama
First, this isn’t the Mayweather fight anyone has been asking for, but with no Pacquiao match-up in sight and a rapidly thinning roster of opponents, Maidana is the next best thing. Second, with Mayweather cleanly dispatching Canelo who was, aside from Pacquiao, his only legitimate threat its tough to buy the “sell” on this bout. Despite this there are still some interesting plots surrounding the fight. For one, Mayweather will be facing the man who gave his protégé – Adrian Broner – quite the schooling session when they fought. More exciting though is that Maidana doesn’t suffer fools. The Argentine is a legit gangster with awesome punching power coming off a career best win. Which even Mayweather acknowledged in a pre-fight conference call stating, “he punches extremely hard. If he has an 80 percent knockout ratio. I think he’s more confident now than he was when he faced the kid from St. Louis, Devon Alexander. So I think he’s more ready and tough. If you have more confidence it’s going to make you fight harder.”
Styles Make Fights
Aside from the dramatic elements, those who know boxing know that styles make fights. Put simply Mayweather has the style to dominate, frustrate and eliminate Maidana handily. He’s not only a technically supreme boxer, he’s pound-for-pound the best right now. Maidana has trouble against slick boxers. Although he roughed up Broner, there were moments in the fight where Broner clearly out-boxed Maidana and won a number of rounds, so imagine what Mayweather can do. Aside from technique Mayweather is also one of the most well conditioned boxers in the game today. His training and preparation are legendary. Why mention this? Because its what allows him to withstand even a talented opponent mounting an offense that will have any significant impact in a bout. And a significant offense is what Maidana will need.
Maidana is a puncher and he’ll need that punch to have any chance. To win Maidana will need to try and rough up Mayweather, make it a street fight and catch Mayweather with a knockout punch or at the very least stun him several times over several rounds. Is it possible? Sure. Is it likely? Not so much. One wild card to watch for is that Maidana is most dangerous when he’s hurt. But we’re sure it’s a variable the Money Team is aware of.
End Game
We see Mayweather pitching a shut out here and winning most, if not all, of the 12 rounds, thus cruising to a unanimous decision. Now onto the bigger matters: Pleeeaaaase bring on Pacquiao!