by Sean Crose
There’s little doubt that Marcos Maidana looked far better against Floyd Mayweather last spring than anyone expected. The pound for pound king found himself up against the ropes for large portions of the bout. What’s more, moving out of the way never looked so difficult for the man they call “Money.” Heck, the guy even bled throughout the course of the fight – albeit a little.
And now, Maidana has decided to “talk smack” against Mayweather, one of the greatest smack talkers in all of sports. “He’s not as difficult as he appears,” Maidana is quoted as saying by BoxingScene. “I was able to put him against the ropes and hit him with a lot of punches.”
What’s more, Maidana has made it clear that he employed an effective tool against the legendary champion. “I was told by a fighter that had fought him before that Floyd can’t avoid the jab,” BoxingScene quotes the Argentine brawler. “And it’s true, he couldn’t avoid the jab.” Yet Mayweather won the fight, though not without controversy.
Furthermore, Mayweather looked a lot better in the second half of the bout than he did in the first half. Isn’t it possible that he figured his man out? If that’s true, isn’t it then also possible that Mayweather will win in a more decisive manner this time around?
If Maidana has thought about such matters, he isn’t letting on. Truth be told, Maidana acts as if he’s the one who got the victory the first time. “I don’t know if I’d say this will be easier,” Bad Left Hook reports Maidana as having said, “because even the first one, I didn’t find very difficult.” Who knew Floyd Mayweather was such easy work?
The reality, of course, is that he’s not. That applies as much to Maidana as it does to everyone else. Even those who feel Maidana got robbed during the first fight can’t rightfully argue that it was a walk in the park for their man. Boxers like to sell tickets to their bouts. And this author’s best guess is that’s what Maidana’s doing, selling tickets.
Oh, the man may believe what he says when he says it, but if he really sat back and thought about it, he’d realize that he’s been downplaying Mayweather’s significant gifts in front of the media to a large degree. Not that Mayweather probably much cares. He’s heard it all before. What’s more, the fact that he’s agreed to a rematch indicates Mayweather clearly thinks he can carry the day – probably quite handily, too.
“I don’t like the media attention,” said Maidana, via Bad Left Hook, “but I have to do it. It’s part of my job for the fight and for the promotion.” It seems believable that Maidana isn’t a big fan of “attention” from the press. For such a roughneck, the guy actually comes across as being quiet and even uncomfortable when being questioned by journalists.
If he sees it as his job to promote this rematch, however, then he’s doing solid work. What better way to generate interest in a Floyd Mayweather fight than by having an opponent come out and basically say he doesn’t think Mayweather’s all that great a fighter? Maidana certainly deserves an “A” for Marketing 101.
In just a few weeks, the time for chatter will be over and it will be back to business in the ring for both Maidana and for his world famous foe. It’s questionable, though, whether the pay per view broadcast will ultimately be successful. Showtime never released the pay per view numbers for the first bout, after all, and word around the internet is that those numbers were disappointing. All the more reason, then, to turn this rematch into a must-see event. Or at least try to.
Maidana may not be ready for the WWE quite yet, but at least he’s doing his part.