Marcos “El Chino” Maidana (35-4 31 KOs) was billed as “easy work” for pound-for-pound king Floyd “Money” Mayweather (46-0 26 KOs) when they first squared off in May. Maidana, however, had no intention of being just another one of Mayweather’s victims. The hard-hitting Argentine showed no signs of intimidation against the cocky champion. From the opening bell, it was apparent that Maidana came to fight. Maidana improved dramatically under new trainer Robert Garcia, winning his last four fights––three by knockout––to earn the fight with Mayweather for the welterweight championship. The majority of the public, however, still viewed this fight as a mismatch and few gave Maidana more than a puncher’s chance.
Like a little bull of the Pampas, Maidana came charging out of his corner throwing punches from all angles; he had clear intentions to try to maim the undefeated champion. Mayweather looked human for the first time in many years against the younger, stronger Argentine—arguably losing the first six rounds of the fight.
The Argentine pugilist pushed his foe into the ring ropes and began his relentless assault on Mayweather. Thundering body-shots hit Mayweather’s midsection before Maidana’s overhand rights crashed down on Mayweather’s skull. Surprisingly, Maidana utilized his jab often enough to disrupt Mayweather’s rhythm.
Maidana was extremely active and proved he belonged in that ring with the champion. Mayweather suffered a cut from a head-butt in the fourth round––the first cut in his 18 years as a pro. Maidana turned this fight into a pier-six-style brawl early on, landing several low blows and other fouls during the fight.
In the latter half of the fight, Maidana started to tire while Mayweather began to make the necessary adjustments to start winning. Mayweather began to land sharp counters and lay traps for Maidana, eventually claiming a victory.
Maidana threw 858 total punches, landing 221 for an accuracy/landing percentage of 26 percent. Mayweather threw only 426 punches but landed 230 of them for 54 percent accuracy. It is important to note that Maidana set the punch count record for both punches thrown against the very elusive Mayweather.
Despite Maidana being more active, Mayweather was much more accurate. His punches were much crisper and sharper. The fight was officially scored as a majority decision for Mayweather. The judges’ scorecards read: 116-112 for Mayweather, 117-111 for Mayweather and lastly 114-114 as a draw. The fight may have been even closer than what the judges’ scorecards reflected. Maidana gave Mayweather his toughest test in years and the boxing public clamored for a rematch.
The rematch has been set and has created much anticipation among boxing fans. Mayweather has a lot of adjustments to make for the rematch against Maidana’s unpredictable, aggressive fighting style. Whether or not Maidana can replicate his performance against such a dominant champion is still up in the air. Boxing fans can tune in to the rematch on Saturday Sept. 13 at 8 p.m. on Showtime Pay-Per-View.