Undefeated boxer and Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB) number one welterweight, Floyd Mayweather Jr. will fight in a rematch against the hard-hitting Argentinean Marcos Maidana (TBRB's number 5 welterweight) on Saturday night, 13th September, at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, Nevada.
In the first bout, Marcos Maidana (35-4, 31 KO's) gave everything the man called himself "the best ever" could handle. He provided Mayweather a competitive fight -- a task that the previous opponent failed doing so. But, back in 2001, many believed Jose Luis Castillo did enough to keep his title.
Mayweather had tough fight against Castillo and Maidana the first time they met. Both men gave the swarming style that Mayweather is uncomfortable with. Many Fighters, coaches and experts believed that the swarming is the style that will give Floyd a lot of trouble. But so far, all the fighters that fought Floyd that has the swarming style, fell short.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. (46-0, 36 KO's) gave Castillo a rematch. And he will gave Maidana too this Saturday. For the record, Castillo and Maidana are the only fighters that Mayweather gave a rematch.
Floyd defeated Castillo with extreme ease in the rematch. Are we about to see the same on Saturday night?
Mayweather vs. Castillo I
Many believed that Castillo won that fight. He had the weight and experience advantage over Mayweather. He weighed 147 lbs. during fight night. Mayweather was the smaller man. He weighed 138 lbs. during the fight night. He moved up to the lightweight division to challenge Castillo's title.
Mayweather landed clean jabs that the judges may put too much weight. On the other end, the judges did not give Castillo so much credit on body punching. The scorecards read: 116-111, 115-111 and 115-111 all in favor of Mayweather for the unanimous decision victory. The fight was controversial.
"Not the fight we saw" said Lampley after Michael Buffer announced the score.
But, the fight statistics showed Castillo out-landed Floyd. Castillo had thrown a total of 506 punches and landed 203 -- 40 percent connected. Whereas, Floyd had thrown 448, landed 157 -- 35 percent connect rate.
Mayweather vs. Castillo rematch
In the rematch, Floyd won with ease. The rematch was not that difficult to score. Floyd easily won the first four rounds as he did in the first fight. But in the 5th, 6th, 7th round, Castillo clearly won as he started to throw combinations.
Mayweather came back strong in the eighth round landed clean lead right hands. In the championship round Floyd just did enough to win by playing it safe; box-and-move. The rematch scorecards were close compared to the first fight that reads 115-113, 116-113 and 115-113. There's no controversy. Mayweather clearly won.
Why Floyd clearly won? What adjustment he made?
I think the major adjustment Floyd did was fighting in the middle of the ring. In the first fight, Castillo pinned Floyd more often and connected more to the body. Floyd later admitted that he suffered two broken ribs. Floyd maneuvered to fight the center of the ring where he had the clear advantage.
My prediction
What adjustment Floyd will do against Maidana?
Well, I think Floyd will do the same adjustment he did against the Castillo rematch. He will not allow Maidana to pin him against the ropes and give away the first four rounds. As usual, the key is distance. Don't expect Floyd to stand there again.
Although, it will be impossible for Floyd to completely avoid the ropes. I expect Maidana to put a ton of pressure to put Mayweather's back against the ropes. That is where his chances are to land cracking shots to the body.
I believed that the rematch will boil down to how often Maidana corners Mayweather, land meaningful punches that will register in the judges' scorecards. And how well Mayweather keeps the distance and fight Maidana in the center of the ring.
Yet, I think and I believed that even if Maidana can constantly pin Mayweather towards the ropes in every rounds, it doesn't mean that Maidana will win all those rounds. Mayweather knows how to fight from the inside too. And he proved it the first match. Whereas, if Floyd can maintain the distance throughout the fight; I expect Floyd will harvest all those rounds with ease.
My final verdict: Floyd will win this fight easily, via unanimous decision.
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