On May 3, 2014 something funny happened to Floyd Mayweather on his way to victory – he found himself in a real fight!! When Mayweather bumped up against Marcos Maidana, he experienced a number of career firsts – first cut, first time losing consecutive rounds, first guy to get the better of him verbally. They called the first bout the “The Moment.” This go around its being billed as “Mayhem”, we simply like to think of it as La Revancha and here are five things you should know about it.
1. Maidana is a Gaucho Gangsta!!
He has literally taken bullets in the back. He shoots guns for fun. Get’s new ink before every fight. But more importantly, Maidana has an eerily quiet way about him. He says very little and very little seems to scare/phase him. He’s like the singular version of the twin Mexican assassins from Breaking Bad. Yeah that kind of scary!
2. The gloves, it’s gotta be the gloves!
This one is still being debated. Last go around on the eve of the bout Mayweather refused to allow a thinner, lighter, more puncher friendly glove to be used for the fight. This type of glove certainly would have favored a puncher like Maidana in the first bout. Would have it been the deciding factor? Probably not, but we’ll never know. This go around the Maidana camp has called Floyd out on it, but the question of gloves has yet to be answered. It could be a game changer. We’ll have to wait and see for the answer.
3. Full Training Camp
Little known fact about the first go-around and only recently revealed by the Maidana camp was that Chino only had five weeks to prepare for the first bout. Add to that he also had a wife about to give birth any day – and she actually did, several days after the bout. So easy to see why focus could have been an issue for Chino. This go around Chino has a full eight weeks and no life-changing events to divert him – is a more prepped and focused Maidana even more of a threat?
4. Don’t Bet Against Mayweather
When would you ever expect to see Warren Buffet visit a sweaty gym in the desert? Well Money May has obviously done enough to get his attention, as Buffet paid him a visit in this training camp. Sure, it was probably just a p.r. stunt but clearly Money is big enough now to be a part of these types of bits. Our point, don’t bet against Mayweather, like all great fighters, he always finds a way to win. A notion he is keenly self-aware of and made no bones about in post-workout interview
“I always find a way. Whether I am 26 or 37, I still find the way to win. I guess when you win all 12 rounds, or 10-plus rounds so many times, fans and the media get spoiled. The bar is set so high. I fight not only my opponent, but everybody, the biased fans, the biased critics.”
5. The winner of the first bout usually wins even easier the second time
This one is important folks. There is a long line of precedent in the fight game that says in a close bout the man that won the first go around, usually takes the second bout with ease (e.g., Chavez-Taylor, Pryor-Arguello, etc.). This could certainly be the case here. Mayweather knows what he’s up against this time. Even Maidana admitted he had the element of surprise going into the first bout,
“Looking back at my first fight, I think I can improve my punching accuracy, but my attack overall was very good and effective. I felt I surprised Mayweather. You could see it on his face.”
However, this time Maidana’s element of surprise will not be present. For Mayweather round 1 will be round 13. He’s had a chance to download Maidana’s game, he will make the necessary adjustments, and so he should come in with the game plan to bring in the win. One caveat here – styles make fights, it may be the case that Maidana simply has a style that gives Mayweather enough fits, no matter how many times they meet up.
Photo credits:
Breaking Bad – ©Property of AMC
Mayweather & Maidana – ©Amanda Kwok/Showtime