Mayweather taking no chances

MANILA, Philippines - Although Floyd Mayweather is a 9-1 favorite and may be looking beyond Marcos Maidana, he has everything to lose in taking unnecessary chances against the rugged Argentine in their 12-round bout at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas tonight (tomorrow morning, Manila time).

Mayweather, 37, is expected to fight his usual conservative style and coast to a win on points. There’s no upside in risking a comedown if he battles the durable Maidana toe to toe. After this weekend’s gig, Mayweather has two more bouts in his $250 Million contract with Showtime and the speculation is both slots are reserved for duels against Manny Pacquiao in May and September next year. Sources close to Pacquiao said a Mayweather clash will be worth at least $150 Million for each fighter.

Despite his growing conservatism, Mayweather insisted he’s going for a knockout against Maidana if only to prove he hasn’t lost his magic touch. Last May, Mayweather allowed Maidana to rough him up and appeared a little slow in the early going until he took over starting the sixth round. Mayweather won a majority decision, prompting his own call for a rematch. Critics said Mayweather purposely made the fight close to create a rematch situation because there is no way Maidana can ever win as his style is tailor-made for the man who used to be called Pretty Boy Floyd. Rather than shop around for a credible opponent, Mayweather himself promoted a rematch with Maidana.

What’s scary about the Argentine is he doesn’t hurt easily. Maidana, 31, has never been knocked out and his four career losses to Mayweather, Devon Alexander, Amir Khan and Andriy Kotelnik were all on points. He’s also a dangerous customer with 31 KOs in 35 wins so Mayweather can’t afford to be spotty defensively.

Maidana said he deserved the decision over Mayweather in their first fight. Nobody believes him except his relatives and sycophants. The Argentine did a lot of things that shouldn’t have been tolerated by referee Tony Weeks, like throwing low blows, elbowing and butting. But how much of that roughhousing was actually allowed by Mayweather to make the fight somewhat competitive? The three judges unanimously agreed to score only two identical rounds for Maidana and five for Mayweather.

In the rematch, referee Kenny Bayless won’t let Maidana get away with anything unsportsmanlike. Bayless has worked three Mayweather fights before, the decisions over Oscar de la Hoya, Sugar Shane Mosley and Saul Alvarez. The referee has also worked seven Pacquiao bouts, including his recent win over Timothy Bradley to regain the WBO welterweight crown. The judges are Dave Moretti of Las Vegas, John McKaie of New York and Guido Cavalleri of Italy.

At stake are Mayweather’s WBC/WBA welterweight and WBC lightmiddleweight titles. Also on the line is his perfect record of 46-0, with 26 KOs. Mayweather has won “only” five belts in different divisions compared to Pacquiao’s eight so his argument for greatness hinges on the fact that he’s never been beaten. That 0 in his record means the world to Mayweather and it’s why he doesn’t take risks in the ring.

Since halting Ricky Hatton in 2007, Mayweather has scored only one knockout in his last seven fights. That single knockout came with a sucker punch on Victor Ortiz three years ago. So it’s been a while that Mayweather has stopped an opponent.

Mayweather promised a decisive ending in the Maidana rematch. Fans will watch the fight wondering if Maidana can score an upset. As the fight game’s ultimate villain, Mayweather is the champion whom fans will pay good money to see dethroned. “I will be faster, I will be stronger,” he said. “We’re going for a knockout. Absolutely.” Mayweather said Madiana’s skills are limited and it shouldn’t be a problem figuring out how to dispose of the Argentine.

“The only way that he can fight is to slug,” said Mayweather. “I can box, I can counter punch, I can box on the move, I can counter punch on the move.” Writer Graham Houston said “logically, Mayweather will again win on points although I do feel that if Mayweather is willing to take the fight to Maidana in the second half of the bout, back him up with the jab and let his shots go, there is a chance that Mayweather could end the fight inside the distance ... Mayweather doesn’t believe in taking chances though so logic seems likely to prevail, Mayweather by 12-round decision.”

Maidana has a lot of pride and will try to push Mayweather to the limit. He’s a former WBA lightwelterweight and welterweight champion so he’s no patsy challenger. Argentina has produced a slew of outstanding fighters like Pascual Perez who outpointed Filipino Dommy Ursua to retain his world flyweight title at the Rizal Memorial in 1958, heavyweight Oscar Bonavena who decked Joe Frazier twice, Luis (Wild Bull of the Pampas) Angel Firpo who nearly scored a knockout over Jack Dempsey in 1923 and Carlos Monzon who was probably his country’s greatest boxer. Maidana will be out to preserve Argentina’s rich legacy in professional boxing in the Mayweather rematch.