Mayweather Dominates Maidana in Rematch

Floyd Mayweather is Not the Fighter He Once Was.

It was clear from the opening bell that Maidana wasn't beating Mayweather. He didn't attack Floyd the way he had before. Maidana tried to outbox a fighter with more hand speed and accuracy. His best chance to win was by mugging the better boxer and beating the hell out of him when he was cornered. When Mayweather felt his back against the ropes he quickly moved out of there. That is when he really threw his hands knowing Maidana was coming in on him. Floyd did what he needed to do in order to win, but as I watched him beat Maidana I could tell Floyd's skills were diminishing. It was clear that Mayweather is not the fighter he once was. He dominated the fight, but a B-level fighter like Maidana made Floyd look beatable.

Showtime's Brian Kenny was interviewing two fighters who hope to get the next shot at Mayweather. Keith Thurman and Amir Khan want to fight Floyd next. After the fight there was mention of the Pacquiao fight. We all know Floyd doesn't want to fight Pac-Man, but he owes one of these three men a shot in May. If he doesn't fight Thurman or Pacquiao I probably won't be purchasing the fight. I do believe that Khan could put up a good fight, but I think the other two could realistically beat Floyd Mayweather.



Mayweather Dominates Rematch vs. Maidana

I thought Floyd dominated the hard hitting brawler, but why Maidana tried to box with Mayweather is beyond me. Instead of doing more of what made the first fight interesting, Maidana chose to box with a better boxer. Floyd made all the right adjustments. Maidana wasn't able to box with him and couldn't get him cornered like he did in the first fight. If the first fight had gone this way nobody would have been calling for a rematch.


Mayweather Claims Maidana Bit Him

I'm not really sure if he bit him or not, but Floyd kept holding him and putting him in headlocks. After the fight Floyd was favoring the hand and showing it to anyone who'd look at it. He said Maidana had bit the tip of his finger. If Maidana bit the fat part of the boxing glove with a mouthpiece in, well I really don't care. In all honesty it made Floyd look bad carrying on the way he did.


Full Round-by-Round Analysis 

There wasn't that much to analyze. In my opinion Floyd won 10 of 12 rounds. There were only four rounds that were even close. I split those four rounds between them.


Floyd: 'We'll See What Future Holds' for Pacquiao Fight

In other words, he doesn't want to fight Pacquiao. At this point I've given up on a Pacquiao vs Mayweather fight. Floyd doesn't want to fight him. It's really that simple, because Pacquiao allegedly needs the money, and we all know about the two losses he's taken, so why would he not want it? Floyd says he has two fights left, and those two fights should be Pacquiao and Thurman. If he beats those two on his way out he would have to be considered top 5 all time. Without those two fights he won't be remember favorably. He'll be remembered for being a money maker who never fought the best fighters out there.


Amir Calls Out Floyd: 'Is He Afraid of the Speed?'

Amir Khan does have hand speed. However he has nothing after that. He would be a different challenge than Maidana, but no tougher to overcome. Khan is a grade B fighter with hand speed. This is probably the next fight Mayweather makes, because he doesn't want to have to face Thurman or Pacquiao.

 
Floyd: 'I Give Myself a C or C-, I'm Better Than That'

At one point in time he was better than that, but even in a dominating win I could see his skills diminishing. His legs carried him to victory over Marcos Maidana, but what would have happened with a better fighter? His defense didn't look as good as normal and he wasn't able to fire off a shot every time he needed to. He said he was going for a knockout, but he never got close to that. Maidana would have been better off to fight him the way he did the first time. It was more effective than trying to box with Floyd.

 
What Is Floyd's Legacy Now After 47-0?

Floyd Mayweather won't be remembered as highly as he thinks of himself. He never really fought the best fighters when they were at their best. According to Mayweather he'll fight twice in 2015 and then retire. If he can win the next two fights he'd tie Rocky Marciano's 49-0 record. It's impressive to remain unbeaten for an entire career, but it's also impressive to have battled the best regardless of the outcome. The heavyweight division was not loaded during Marciano's time, and even though he retired undefeated he isn't remembered as the best heavyweight ever. Mayweather fought in a loaded lightweight division and also in a loaded junior and welterweight division. He's taken guys on at 154, but not the best fighters at that weight. The best thing he could do is fight Thurman and Pacquiao as he retires. He would be remembered differently by just taking those two fights.


Is the Money Show No Longer Fun?

I enjoy watching talented boxers fight. I enjoy watching Mayweather fight. There are three fights out there for Mayweather, and if he doesn't fight Keith Thurman, Manny Pacquiao, or Amir Khan next, well I won't be purchasing the fight with whoever he chooses. I'm not 100% sure I'd buy a fight with Khan. If he wants to be remembered as the best ever he needs Thurman and Pacquiao next.

Mayweather has said he's carried boxing through rough times and he has to a degree. Boxing is pricing itself out of relevance. ABC's Wild World of Sports made boxing popular during the late sixties into the early eighties. In the era of Mike Tyson pay-per-view was created and that started the slow death of boxing. Mayweather has captivated Boxing fans with his speed and skill, and he's used the sport and the pay-per-view format to become rich. I'm not so sure Mayweather has helped boxing overcome the problems that are killing it, but he's made billions off of what's there.

Boxing is headed for tough times after Mayweather. They will be forced to make changes to the current product. The best rarely fight the best and they charge on pay-per-view to see it. The current format is not sustainable and has only survived this long because of Mayweather.

Mayweather vs. Maidana 2

 

The last fight was hard to call because Maidana was always busy. It appeared to be closer than it was because Mayweather took  more abuse than usual. Through it all he still landed more clean punches than Maidana. If this fight picks up where the first one left off then we're in for a battle. Mayweather saw something in Maidana that he feels like he can exploit this time around. I have a feeling it's Maidana's long looping punches. Maidana knows he pressured Floyd and made him uncomfortable. He also knows if he can turn it up a notch or two Mayweather won't be able to handle it. 

If either fighter had more to give than they did last time, I'd say that's Mayweather. With that being said I thought Mayweather would make adjustments the first time around, but he was unable to or just never did. Everyone thinks Mayweather figured Maidana out and that he'll beat him more easily. What was there to figure out? Maidana came at him with relentless aggression. He's faced fighters like Maidana before, so why was it different with Chino? Mayweather doesn't have to prove he can take shots. He's said many times before that it's about hitting and not getting hit. It's hard for me to believe that he intentionally let one of the hardest punchers pound on him. 

Maidana appeared to fight his fight, but with a much higher punch output. I don't really think there is much he can do differently this time around. He is a hard hitting brawler. Maybe he worked on his stamina and his hand speed. His punches were wild at times and he needs to be more accurate this time around. Floyd could beat him the same way he did before. Floyd has faster hands and he could counter Maidana all night long. He's a well conditioned fighter and easily goes twelve rounds. I think Floyd will have better footwork this time. He doesn't have to take the punishment he did in the first fight. With better ring movement he could keep Maidana right where he wants him. Floyd knows he going to come at him aggressively, and he knows that will give him enough countering opportunities to win the fight. If he keeps Maidana outside, and uses good angles to outbox him, he won't lose. 

Mayweather said he isn't going to make any adjustments. I think he's lying, but if he fights Maidana the same way he did before he could lose. Maidana said Mayweather didn't punch hard. Maidana is going to come after Mayweather with relentless aggression. It will not be a good idea to sit back and try to pick him off. That was the fight he fought before. I don't think Floyd will fight him that way again. His footwork is too good, but lately he hasn't taken on guys who made him use it. Floyd knew after the first fight was over that he should have moved more. He should have moved Maidana where he wanted him. Mayweather took more abuse than he had to.

Maidana wants Floyd to fight the same fight. That isn't going to be the fight that Floyd fights. He will move and try to open him up. Maidana throws the long looping power shots, and Floyd saw that he could get inside of them. I don't think he saw during the fight, but I know he watched the fight again regardless of what he says, and he knows he should have had better movement and angles. Maybe the ring movement isn't what it once was. Muhammad Ali didn't move around so much in the second half of his career, and he won entertaining fights. I think Floyd still has the footwork to move Maidana around. I think he'll need to if he expects to win.

Prediction

I can either assume that Floyd is going to fight Maidana the way he did before, or move a little more and not take the abuse he did in the first fight. He couldn't possibly enjoy being hit that much, so I expect him to move around and set up clean hard punches. Mayweather wants to knock him out. I don't think he can, but he's proved that he can outpoint him while taking punishment. Mayweather might go defensive early, but when Maidana runs out of steam Mayweather will open up on him. He might fight him exactly the way he did before. I don't guess it really matters, because Maidana will have to knock him out to win. 

Mayweather by unanimous decision.

  

Adrien Broner vs. Emmanuel Taylor

Adrien Broner is going to take on up and coming Emmanuel Taylor. Most boxing fans want to know why? He's already had a tune up fight against Carlos Molina. There really is no reason he should be fighting Emmanuel Taylor. In the biggest fight of his career Taylor lost a unanimous decision to Chris Algieri on ESPN Friday Night Fights. He lost the fight in Algieri's hometown, and now he's fighting Broner in his hometown.

Taylor rebounded from the loss to Algieri with a win over Karim Mayfield. In my opinion Taylor hasn't beaten anyone to earn a fight with Adrien Broner. He's 18-2 and clearly a fighter trying to work his way up the ranks. Broner should be fighting other big name fighters. I don't understand why he hasn't gone after Danny Garcia. I know for a fact that Keith Thurman wanted/wants to fight him. Broner says he wants a rematch with Maidana, but I seriously doubt that he does.


Prediction

 I don't know much about Emmanuel Taylor. The only fight I've seen him in was against Algieri. I'm not sure that Broner is better than Algieri, but I do think he's better than Taylor. He thinks he's better than Taylor too, or he wouldn't be picking him out of obscurity to fight him in his hometown. Broner says he wants to give his hometown fans a knockout, but...I have him winning a unanimous decision. 

Legendary Fights: Mike Tyson vs. Buster Douglas

February 11, 1990

Buster was a 42-1 underdog. There was no reason he shouldn't have been. His heart had been questioned as he'd seemingly given up in several fights. Everyone had said he recommitted himself and he'd won six fights in a row going into his bout with Tyson.

Nobody seriously thought Buster could win the fight. It wasn't just because he'd given up in previous fights, or because he'd never looked like an elite fighter. Nobody thought he could win because he was fighting Iron Mike Tyson. In the fight poster above you can not only tell that is Mike Tyson, but it's a nice piece of artwork of him. The opponent doesn't even look like Buster Douglas. It didn't really matter because Douglas was just another victim.

Tyson's camp had admitted that he hadn't been training. I thought he looked to be in pretty good shape, but there were comments from the experts saying he didn't appear to be. Tyson had replaced the corner that had gotten him to the top. Don King replaced the crew from Catskill with an unproven and unknown corner. They didn't even have the tools to work on Tyson. Late in the fight when Mike's eye was swelling they had nothing to work with. They were so sure of victory that they didn't bring the proper equipment.

Buster's mother had died just 23 days before the fight. If Buster had quit and taken the out in this fight nobody would have blamed him or even cared, but he didn't want out of the fight and used it for motivation. "This one was for my Mother." Buster said. It was clear from the opening bell that Douglas intended on winning. He was not just trying to just hang around or put up a good fight. He wanted to be the first person to beat Mike Tyson.

Mike Tyson didn't look good and Buster looked as good as he'd ever looked. Buster was moving and had good spring in his step.Tyson looked slow and he was trying to land the one big punch. As Buster poured straight shots right down the middle, Tyson had a high guard but the head movement was not there. The sharp quick movements of the Peek-a-Boo were gone. He moved lethargically around the ring trying to hit Buster with the single knockout blow. Buster kept the right distance and wrapped Tyson up on the inside.

When Tyson dropped the first two rounds the ringside commentators were shocked, but there was still the feeling that Tyson could turn it around. As the fight moved on Buster was becoming more relaxed and confident. He seemed to be getting stronger as the fight went on. Tyson seemed to be getting slower and had lost all upper body movement. He was a target and Buster was picking him off from the right distance. In the eighth round Tyson dropped Douglas at the end of the round. Buster beat the count. The referee quit counting several times to look around for Tyson. He was down for a count of thirteen or fourteen. The round ended as Buster got up from the canvas.

In the ninth round Tyson came out throwing some hard shots. He was hoping to catch Douglas while he might still be trying to collect himself. Buster would show that his head was clear when he started throwing hard combinations of his own. He took control of the round and had Tyson in trouble and against the ropes. with 0: 48 left in the round it wasn't clear that Mike Tyson would get out of there on his feet. He managed to stay upright for the rest of the ninth round, but the tenth round was something different all together.

In the tenth round Buster came out swinging. He hit Tyson with some shots that could have knocked his head off his shoulders. Then he landed an uppercut that ripped his head upward violently. That was the beginning of the end. Mike Tyson was out on his feet. Buster poured it on left after right until Tyson was on the floor. I think Buster knew he wasn't getting up. Tyson was out but managed to get on his hands and knees. He fumbled around for his mouthpiece and stuck it partially in his mouth. As he stood up the ref called the fight. Mike Tyson had tasted defeat for the first time in his career.  





The Fight: Mike Tyson vs. Buster Douglas

 

Kell Brook Defeats Shawn Porter

Kell Brook vs. Amir Khan Should Be Next


Why should Brook fight Khan next? I think this is being thrown out there because of their geographical location, but that has never mattered and it means nothing. Khan wants another title shot. In my opinion he hasn't done anything since his loss to Danny Garcia to rate another shot at the title. If he really wanted the title he could have taken the path that Kell Brook took, or he could have challenged Keith Thurman for his title. I think that Amir Khan believes he is a pay-per-view fighter, but in my opinion he's not. He's closer to being a upper tier journeyman. There is nothing wrong with that.

My sample size of Kell Brook had been minimal at best. I knew the kind of fighter he was, but I didn't think he would beat Shawn Porter. I knew it would be a close fight and even thought it could challenge for fight of the year. I was wrong on this one and it probably didn't make fight of the year, although it will and should be a candidate.

What I didn't know - Kell Brook had a better defense than I thought he did. Early in the fight I thought he was barely getting his head away from Porter's punches. Later in the fight I realized he he was keeping his movement short and tight so he could fire off shots from the combat zone. Brook truly believed that he could beat Porter to the punch and he did. His defensive movements were short and he came right down the middle with straight shots. Porter was reaching and leaping in, and when Brook wasn't catching him with power shots he was smothering his attack.

Kell Brook got an opportunity and he made the most of it. He is now a recognized champion. He deserves the chance to move up toward pay-per-view status. If you try to sell me Amir Khan vs. Kell Brook, well I'm nor buying. Brook should fight Keith Thurman, and the winner of that fight would be a pay-per-view caliber fighter. Amir Khan might want to challenge Shawn Porter. Maybe then he could prove himself worth of a title shot. They're both trying to work their way back up for a title shot.

Boxing News: Garcia Defeats Salka - Who's Next?

 Danny Garcia

Danny Garcia knocked out unknown Rod Salka Saturday night. The fight with Salka was the first fight for Garcia since his bout with Mauricio Herrera. Many fight fans including the Showtime crew believed Herrera won the fight with Garcia. The majority decision was awarded to Garcia. Unjustly? Maybe, but either way Garcia needed to make a statement against Rod Salka. He did that by knocking the unknown fighter out in the 2nd round. However, he knocked out a fighter that most boxing fans agree he never should have been fighting. The next fight for Danny Garcia needs to be a big one.


Broner Open to Fighting Garcia If Money Is Right

Broner says he'd be open to fighting Garcia next if it made sense. I'm not sure what would be considered making sense to Broner, but Danny Garcia is the champion at 140 and that should make all the sense in the world. Adrien Broner really only has two options: He can go for another title belt or he could avenge the loss to Maidana. Anything other than that makes no sense. Nothing would help Broner's career more than going after the title belt and the 0 on Garcia's record. There really is no other fight for either of these fighters. The fight has been sitting there for awhile now. It's time for this one to happen.


Porter vs. Brook Preview, Prediction

This has all the makings of a great fight. Both fighters bring undefeated records into the fight. Shawn Porter has took on the better level of competition, and he destroyed Paulie Malignaggi in his last fight. Kell Brook is a taller fighter that will present a different kind of challenge. Porter's experience is the key here, and namely his fight with Devon Alexander. He's faced the quick handed boxer and found victory. I don't think he knocks Kell Brook out, but I do believe he will outpoint him over 12 rounds. Porter's relentless style will be too much for Kell Brook.

  

Boxing News: Golovkin vs Cotto?

 Golovkin Wants Cotto Fight Next

This is a fight that I'd love to see happen. Cotto would clearly be the best fighter that Golovkin has ever faced. Cotto would be facing a young and promising fighter, and one that has been brutally knocking out his opponents out. The fight with Martinez was somewhat like the rebirth of Cotto, but most fans realize that Sergio Martinez was damaged goods when he entered the ring that night. People want to know how good Golovkin really is, but they also want to know how good Cotto is under Freddie Roach.


Jennings Defeats Perez, Earns Shot at Title

This fight was not compelling. I truly don't believe I was watching championship caliber fighters boxing that night. Jennings could be a great fighter someday, but he doesn't belong in the ring with the champ right now.


Maidana: Broner Is Stronger Than Mayweather

Broner might be stronger than Mayweather, and I'm not sure that he really is, but even if he is he lacks the pure boxing skill that Mayweather has. Floyd has more than enough offense to back up the best defense in boxing. I personally think that Maidana is just throwing verbal jabs at Mayweather, but he's been in there with both of them and says Broner is stronger.


Fighting Algieri Is Lose-Lose Situation for Pacquiao

It's definitely a lose-lose situation. If he beats the guy then he was suppose to beat him, but if he loses Algieri won't get as much credit as Pacquiao gets blamed. The fact is that Algieri pulled off an upset that some fans didn't give to him, but that win doesn't merit a fight with the second best pound for pound fighter. Being that he never really deserved the fight means Pac-Man cannot win.


Report: Froch-Chavez Jr. in Talks for January

Carl Froch didn't look real good in his last fight, but he proved that he still has knockout power. He could knockout Chavez, but I highly doubt he will find the same fight saving knockout that he did before. The tank is running on empty for Carl Froch, but fight fans want to see how far he can go. If he fights Chavez in January then that's probably the end.


Floyd Approved by WBC to Defend 147/154 Belts

There is more to this decision than I currently know. I'm looking into this story right now and will write up another blog on this later. The one thing I do know is that the competition at 154 could really challenge Floyd. To be able to defend that belt against Maidana is better than taking the mandatory challenger at 154. It may be a grab to hang on to both belts.


Geale on Golovkin: He's the 'Biggest Puncher' in Boxing

It's very possible that he is the biggest puncher, but he hasn't faced the best fighters in the division. Geale was a two time champion but that doesn't mean what it once did. If he fights Miguel Cotto then we'll know what he's really made of. It's being said that all the fighters are avoiding GGG. That may be for good reason, but we all know that he hasn't faced anyone as good as Cotto.