Mayweather-Maidana rematch booked
LAS VEGAS -- Although pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. said last week that he planned to give a rematch to Marcos Maidana, the unified welterweight champion made it official on Thursday with an announcement over social media.
Mayweather-Maidana II -- dubbed "Mayhem" -- will go down Sept. 13 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena and headline a Showtime PPV card, the fourth bout of Mayweather's six-fight deal with Showtime/CBS.
Although the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, has pressed hard to land a Mayweather fight, he is comfortable fighting in his hometown and will lace 'em up at the MGM Grand for the 10th consecutive time.
Mayweather is hoping to erase any doubt about what happened on May 3 when he faced Maidana for the first time and won a majority decision -- 117-111, 116-112 and 114-114 -- to unify 147-pound world titles in a very tough fight, one of the most competitive and entertaining of his career.
"Marcos Maidana is a tough customer and he gave me a fight that had me work for the victory," Mayweather said in a news release. "His style is difficult at best, but with experience comes a way and will to win. I'm not one to give second chances in the ring, but I want to give the fans what they want to see. I will be as prepared as I always am when I step in the ring on Sept. 13. I only see the outcome one way and that's another successful night for me and my team."
http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/11200718/floyd-mayweather-jr-marcos-maidana-sequel-signed-sealed
I stopped paying attention to why the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight won't happen but one reason I kept on hearing is Mayweather doesn't want to lose the 0 but here he signs on to fight an opponent who gave him one of his toughest fights going against a fighting style that gives Mayweather the best chance to lose.
H2O Man
That victory put Maidana in position to challenge Mayweather. It's not surprising that this fight is not creating as much interest as Floyd's last bout: the pro-Mayweather crowd assumes Floyd will easily outbox Maidana, while the anti-Mayweather folks claim he hand-picks "easy" fights. While I think Floyd will win, I actually think this will be one of his toughest fights in his professional career.
Why? Three reasons, really. Styles make fights. Maidana will pressure Floyd, making him work hard for three minutes of every round. The last two fighters who did this were Hatton and Cotto, and these were both exciting, competitive bouts. Second, Maidana has more concusive power than Hatton or Cotto. And his trainer has provided him with the ability to deliver that power. Third, temperment plays a significant role. This includes the fact that Maidana is a pleasant man outside the ring, who has always been respectful of Mayweather. Thus, Floyd doesn't have the edge in terms of disliking Maidana, in the manner he did Oscar, for example. While Floyd's intense self-discipline in training is one of the most important factors in separating him from the "merely" great champions he has defeated, it can be difficult to be up for someone like Maidana.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/120442863
