By Sean Crose
When you think about it, no one should be surprised by this. According to an EXTREMELY interesting piece over at “Behind The Gloves,” word is out that Floyd Mayweather wants to avenge Adrien Broner’s loss to Marcos Maidana quickly. Apparently, Showtime has a problem with this because it wants Money to fight Amir Khan first for all those potential Euros.
Photo: Hogan Photos/Golden Boy
If the whispers are true, we’ll all just have to wait and see how everything shakes out. Everyone should be able to agree, however, that Mayweather-Maidana would be a fight fans would love to see. Maidana, after all, is the man who rose to the occasion to destroy Mayweather’s protege, the brash Broner. The whole Rocky Versus Vengeful Icon” storyline would unquestionably lead to a financial blockbuster.
Still, not everyone is going to be insanely pleased. And you can count me among those who will be a bit skeptical of Mayweather’s maneuverings if a match with Maidana goes through. For, once again, Mayweather will be avoiding a serious chance at losing. I know, I know, it’s a horrible thing to say in light of the events that transpired in San Antonio.
The truth is the truth, however. Marcos Maidana should be no match for the sport’s pound for pound best. He beat an over-rated and over-confident up and comer. Mayweather is none of those things. He’s an absolute master who should be able to hold the fiery Argentinian at bay. Of course, boxing is a sport which is full of surprises, but I know of no one who thinks Maidana would have a serious chance.
On a personal level, I’m finding Mayweather – who I’m actually a fan of – to be acting more like a showman than a legend lately. Legend’s take on all comers. Maybe I’m wrong, but I don’t remember Ray Leonard ducking anyone. He got hit. He got hurt. He kept on going. That’s something that’s hard not to admire.
Being calculating when you’ve got Mayweather’s talent, however, is something that some of us find difficult to admire. Very difficult to admire. Exciting competition doesn’t always make for great competition. Mayweather knows that…but he’ll be relying on the fact that most fans don’t if he passes over Pacquiao yet again.
Heck, the guy isn’t even going after the likes of Timothy Bradley, or Erislandy Lara. Those two would actually have a notable chance of beating him. Perhaps not as big a chance as Pacquiao would, but a chance nonetheless. Maybe that’s the point, though. That and the fact that they’re not exciting enough to bring in the kind of money Maidana now would.
Oh well, at least this will all be good for a man who must now feel like he’s on top of the world. Maidana has fought tough fights, has worked his tail off, and has never been a favorite of the sport’s elite. He’s had to struggle to get to this point and it’s nice to actually see a scenario where hard work and struggle pays off. It’s just that it’s sometimes hard to shut off a BS detector once it starts going, and this news should have BS detectors going off all across the world of boxing.
Back to the article in “Behind The Gloves.” Writer Alex Aviles believes Mayweather will, in fact, fight Pacquiao at some point. The only way I clearly see that happening now is if Manny looks lousy his next trip to the ring. Like Floyd himself has admitted, it’s all about making a lot of money while getting hurt as little as possible.
No one can call the man a liar. He truly practices what he preaches.
