Mayweather beats Maidana in rematch – By Peter Wells:
Giving the pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather a tough time is hard enough over 12 rounds, but to consistently pound on Floyd for 24 rounds is nigh on impossible. Marcos Maidana 35-5(31) understandably took the second attempt after a fantastic effort in May, but came unstuck and Mayweather dominated the contest.
Floyd 47-0(26) was content to keep the contest at range, and whether it was an adjustment by Mayweather or less aggression on Maidana’s part, the contest was fought at centre ring for much of the contest. With space there is no one better in boxing than Mayweather.
Jabbing to the body Floyd got going early with the right cross to the head, a weapon that often comes in to its own in the later rounds. This time however he opted to bring the power shot in early and it was effective. The famous check hook would come into play later in the contest as Maidana put on more pressure.
Maidana rarely had success with Mayweather’s back to the ropes but round 4 was the only round in which Floyd was having flashbacks to the early goings in their first meeting.
Maidana’s frustration grew as Mayweather was allowed to hold on whenever the Argentinian got in range. Smart tactics from Floyd but tactics that should have received more warnings and even a point deduction from Kenny Bayless.
An unusual moment occurred in the 8th when Maidana apparently bit the glove of Mayweather. Replays show however that Floyd was initially rubbing the gloves into the face of Maidana – similar to what Diego Chaves was doing to invigorate Brandon Rios – before Maidana apparently sunk his teeth in.
A forearm push from Maidana resulted in a point deduction in round 10, but he managed to win the point back with an all-out aggressive approach.
Floyd stepped off the pace in the final few rounds especially the 12th when he decided to stay on the move for the full 3 minutes.
Mayweather won on all three judges scorecards 115-112 and 116-111 (twice).
On an undercard that had a bit of everything, Leo Santa Cruz 28-0-1(16) easily dispatched of over-matched challenger Manuel Roman 17-3-3(6) in 2 rounds.
The IBF Super Bantamweight champion has been talking of fights with Carl Frampton, Scott Quigg and Guillermo Rigondeaux, but settled for a far from world class challenger on the Mayhem undercard.
After a dominant opening session Santa Cruz finished the contest with a sharp right hand to the side of Roman’s neck, leaving him unable to regain his balance.
In a far from entertaining but certainly competitive affair, Mickey Bey 21-1-1(10) of Mayweather Promotions won the IBF Lightweight strap with a shock split decision win over long time holder Miguel Vazquez 34-4(13).
Bey took over in the 2nd half of the contest as Vazquez seemed content with his small amount of work, while Bey doubled and tripled up the jab before using his speed to counter an often sloppy Vazquez offence.
One scorecard read 115-113 to Vazquez while the other two judges gave it to Bey 115-113 and a crazy 119-109.
On the opening fight of the pay-per-view card Alfredo Angulo 22-5(18) dropped a third defeat on the bounce as he was upset by fellow Mexican James De La Rosa 23-2(13).
Rosa fought excellently from the outside, remaining in the pocket to unload his own bombs on the slower and ultimately smaller Angulo.
Angulo had taken the step up to Middleweight but that seemed to hinder the rugged warrior as his power rarely seemed a factor until the later rounds when he almost rescued a come-from-behind win.
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