-Bayless, one of my top favorite two refs was absolutely disgraceful garbage**** tonight. I have no problem with the clinching overall, it's part of the game, but if a fighter clinches and his opponent has a hand free YOU DON"T BREAK THEM APART, at least not right away, you gotta let them workout. And at some point he prob should have given floyd at least a warning about all those clinches. The thing that drove me insane though was the point deduction, it was pure bull**** that was clearly meant to appease floyd's anger imo. Its came from an elbow shove and floyd's made a career out of that move. - Floyd showed an amazing chin imo, people can talk **** but Maidana is a huge puncher and Floyd took em well(yes i know i know the gloves). Even if he was wobbled, we should remember the fact that those same punches destroyed plenty of good fighters. -Despite it being a far clearer fight than the first(which i also had a close but clear Floyd victory), Maidana really impressed me with his new variety. I never in the world would have believed that maidana could start timing floyds counter right, but on multiple occasions he did just that. He also backed off several times, masterfully, almost floydesque but without the footspeed, technique and grace lol. I got the feeling that he was trying to pull floyd's own moves against him, it's like he was learning right in the middle of the fight LOL can't really blame him though, no one in this era except rigo better to learn from. I actually now think he could be a decent boxer type fighter if he was younger. - Maidana was drained as ****, it was apparant as hell to me from the ring walk, he looked like a skeleton, you could clearly see his cheekbones, even more than usual. Clearly the Ariza move made a big difference in conditioning but also in weight control. Maybe that was the cause of his lack of motivation? Being overtly dehydrated. -Floyd excuted his gameplan perfectly, apart from the excessive clinching and a few moments where he was vulnerable but Marcos couldn't take advantage, Money man showed us the goods overall, he still has the physical gifts even at 37. -Say what you will about Maidana but mofo is wily as hell. We know he is dirty, we feel he is dirty but you can't really find a moment in this fight where it was reasonable to deduct a point. - I'm no *******, but watching these fights kinda makes me start to think maybe floyd did have a small but reasonable hesitation to fight pac. Maidana had plenty of oppertunities tonight even though floyd boxed 100% but he couldn't take advantage for 5 big reasons, .Accuracy, pressure, hand speed, footspeed, stamina. All three are pac's strength plus punching power. I used to have it 65/35 in favor of floyd. Now it's more 55/45 or 60/40, it's just a stylistic thing, give them 100 similar opponents i think floyd wins far more than pac, but head to head is a different matter. Anyways feel free to post your thoughts, i'm going to bed but i'd be happy so see your thoughts.
Id say floyd's about 60% of what he was in his prime (Coralles, Gatti), and about 80% of what he was against Canelo. His balance was off, his punches were soft and he got hit alot, but... HE STILL OUTCLASSED A VERY GOOD FIGHTER FOR THE SECOND TIME. I would favor Floyd 60-40 over Paquiao, but I think Kahn probably beats him at this point.
I'll say this about floyd. Even though this was a crap performance by his standards, it was still a very very decisive victory over a non-brilliant yet still credible contender in Maidana. This was one of Mayweather's career worst performances yet he still beat a top ten WW by 6 or 7 points.
I think Maidana won the rounds he did win very clearly (3-6) and when he used the jab was very successful. He had the right idea and right style and gameplan, but gave up the early rounds trying to counter Floyd instead of pressuring him. If Chino had Duran like pressure or fought with more urgency he would of made it a much closer fight.
Nice observations, I completely agree. I just can't agree with people who say Maidana looked like shiit. Mayweather turned the fight into some weird shiit. To think Maidana once had a tough time against Andreas Kotelnik. This is the same fighter. He's the most improved top level fighter in recent years. Robert Garcia has done a brilliant job with him and Maidana lost because Floyd was being Floyd...Erislandy Larathon runner + Wladmir Clinchko.
Nice one Scorpion. I'm a neutral, but frankly the level of posting on here after the fight is embarassing. Just full of the usual trolls. Your post stands out well. Agree with all your points, particularly on Bayless. Can't remember his name but I thought the Brook/Porter ref laid a good template; Let them work it out as much as possible, and then break when both arms are clearly tied up for both men.
Wasn't totally impressed with floyd performance, but still won the fight by far and that what champions do. Maidana has a wild style that is hard to look good against. People mentioning the Khan and alexander fights Maidana lost are overlooking the fact that today maidana is a much better fighter, he throws faints he has a solid jab and he has much improved footwork. Floyd is 37 years old yes he is getting old, guess what that happens to everyone. You can't beat father time. Yet even at 37 he is still beating world champions. Give the man a little credit.
I personally think Maidana beats Bradley. Tim has slowed quite a bit, and 5'6 welterweights with no power don't last long.
Agree, but it's not like he just stop using his jab all of a sudden, Floyd pulled some nasty right hand counter that made chino hesitant. for some reason i cant get my multi quote to work so i'm gonna answer individually.
Robert Garcia does deserve a lot of credit but so does Chino imo. His instincts for fighting and his ability to learn in the middle of the fight is stunning imo. It's a shame he didn't get world class training from the start, truely wasted potential imo.
