Carl Froch Reigns

Maidana-Mayweather: The Emperor’s Naked Again

By Rasheed Catapang

WBA/WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr (46-0, 26 KO’s) was amazing again last Saturday in defeating WBA welterweight champion Marcos Maidana (35-4, 31 KO’s) by a 12 round majority decision at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Running away with the win as expected, in a fight were Maidana beat the stuffing out of him. That Floyd has kept his unbeaten professional record intact after the Maidana fight is truly remarkable.

Maidana, hand-picked by Mayweather and the perfect foil to make him shine, obviously didn’t read the script. Or if he did, then he wisely decided not to follow it. He gave Floyd 12 rounds of hell, delivering a sustained destructive attack Mayweather had not accounted for. Maidana morphed into a crazy but better Jose Luis Castillo – the exact type of fighter Floyd has always been avoiding, a volume puncher in his prime – and showed Mayweather the boss wears a blue “sombrero”.

But like Jose Luis Castillo, who was robbed of the win when he fought Floyd in 2002, Maidana officially lost the fight. No gross injustice was committed, though, because it’s been established beforehand that it’s Mayweather’s world we’re living in. And in this world two rules apply:

1. Floyd’s perfect record is the central truth and sole constant, and;

2. All things must bend to sustain rule number one.

The judges, just as CJ Ross & Duane Ford before them, simply complied.

Sometime later, the greatest boxer ever tweeted he’d hope to see Mayweather rumble with Pacquiao. Ali’s not getting his wish.

Manny Pacquiao is Maidana with wings. And Mayweather, after getting his backside kicked by Maidana, is now fully cognizant that Pacquiao is not merely the embodiment but also the realization of all his fears. The road to Floyd’s defeat is thus forever blocked.

And so Floyd will keep his perfect record. But that does not make Floyd the best boxer of his generation. Not when the best boxer of the last decade was Pacquiao – a time when Floyd was at the peak of his powers.

Not when on one Saturday, Maidana overwhelmed Mayweather. And the one in the blue “sombrero” owned the night.

(Article first published at Boxingnews24.)

Mayweather's exposed. Not quite the All-Time-Great his sycophants portray him to be.

The emperor's naked once more.

What Pacquiao-Bradley 2 means to Mayweather

Pacquiao-Bradley 2 meant nothing and everything to Floyd Mayweather.

First published at Boxingnews24, read on Dear Readers...

http://www.boxingnews24.com/2014/04/what-pacquiao-bradley-2-means-to-mayweather/

In the height of his powers, Michael Jordan was a force of nature. In his hands, the defeat of opposing teams were a foregone conclusion – inevitable like death and tax. Prime MJ was the ultimate basketball player, absolutely devastating in both sides of the court. The same is true for the 2008-2009 version of Pacquiao which in the rematch with Bradley was nowhere to be found.

There were flashes of brilliance of course. Moments in the fight showing us glimpses of the punching dynamo Pacquiao no longer is. The buzz saw still churns but no more in a sustained mode.

Had the Pacquiao of old been inside that ring, Bradley would have fallen like timber. The Desert Storm should have fallen face down comatose by round seven. Fortunately for Bradley, as in their first fight, it’s the old Pacquiao across him.

The current Pacquiao is still fast enough to outgun Bradley. Although lacking the thudding fists the prime version used to annihilate better fighters like Hatton, Dela Hoya and Cotto. That Agent of chaos and destruction is a distant memory, replaced by this calculating and Maywetheresque lesser version. This Pacquiao is still good enough to beat elite fighters like Bradley but ill-equipped against the uncanny Mayweather.

Thankfully for Pacquiao, that fight is still not going to happen. Pacquiao, no matter how diminished now, remains the biggest threat to the risk-averse Mayweather. And Floyd can’t really be bothered. After all, he still will be the highest paid athlete of 2014 once he dispatches Maidana in May – a fight akin to the Ultimate Spurs taking on the helpless Milwaukee Bucks. The con remains at play.

All the better for Pacquiao who sees himself fighting for two more years. That would be MJ playing for the Wizards in basketball terms.

...which brings us to Pacquiao-Marquez 5!