Floyd Mayweather, right, throws a left at Canelo Alvarez
during their WBC/WBA 154-pound title fight the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
(Sept. 14, 2013) (Credit: Getty)
All speculation regarding who Floyd Mayweather’s next opponent will be can be put to rest.
Three days after Amir Khan tweeted that he
wouldn’t be taking on Mayweather, Golden Boy Promotions announced Monday
the WBC welterweight champion will take on WBA belt holder Marcos
Maidana on May 3, live on SHOWTIME pay-per-view.
A venue for the tilt was not part of the
announcement, but the Las Vegas MGM Grand and Barclays Center in
Brooklyn are rumored to be the top two destinations.
"I am extremely happy to be
facing Floyd Mayweather because it will give me the opportunity to show
the world that I am the best welterweight in the division," said
Maidana. "I just handed a great defensive fighter his first loss and I
plan to do the same to Mayweather. I don't care whether he's the best
and undefeated. I will bring some real Latino power to him on May 3rd."
Maidana’s impressive unanimous-decision win over
Adrien Broner on Dec. 12 quickly added him to Mayweather’s short list.
Maidana (35-3) easily defeated Broner, scoring a 117-109, 115-109,
115-110 decision. Broner was knocked down in the second and eighth
rounds.
“Marcos Maidana’s last performance immediately
brought him to my attention,” said Mayweather, who turned 37 Monday. “He
is an extremely skilled fighter who brings knockout danger to the ring.
I think this is a great fight for me and he deserves the opportunity to
see if he can do what 45 others have tried to do before him – beat me.”
Mayweather (45-0) kept his career record
unblemished with a majority decision (116-112, 114-114, 117-111) victory
over Canelo Alvarez last September.
This will be the third of a six-fight deal with
SHOWTIME for Mayweather. Mayweather scored a unanimous-decision victory
over Robert Guerrero in the first bout of the contract.
Said Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer: "In Marcos
Maidana, Floyd Mayweather may be in for his toughest opponent ever.
Maidana is the type of fighter who will find out if Floyd still belongs
on top of the pound-for-pound list. He's strong, tough and aggressive.
He in giving Adrien Broner his first loss, he showed that he won't be
intimidated by talk, a big fight atmosphere or an unbeaten record. I
give Floyd a lot of credit for stepping up to the plate and testing
himself once again. He is a true warrior, and the fans will be the
winners on May 3rd."
Speculation of Mayweather's next opponent ran
rampant, with Khan, Maidana, Timothy Bradley and even Manny Pacquiao
rumored to be on the short list. All of that was put to bed on Monday.
As for Khan, who said he felt "disrespected" by
Mayweather for not responding to a contract proposal, he would consider
fighting on the undefeated welterweight's undercard if it made financial
sense.
Article Source:http://www.newsday.com/sports/boxing/the-neutral-corner-1.1276167
A quick side note, this is the same Karass that Maidana was evenly
matched against before he received the technical knockout victory when
the referee jumped in even though Karass was still firing back.
Let’s consider the facts for a moment, when Broner defeated
Malignaggi and went home with the WBA welterweight belt, I do not
believe Broner would have done enough to be considered the winner if the
split decision was awarded to Malignaggi instead simply off his ability
to out-box Broner. The biggest problem Broner had against Maidana was
his power combined a little improved boxing technique. Thurman has the
skills and experience to out-box Broner and combined with his power, he
seems to have the biggest potential to truly expose Broner and
potentially knock him out. Even with his loss, Broner did have moments
against Maidana who is still more of the brawler type regardless what
little boxing tricks he has picked up. There is also the issue, Broner
is a lighter fighter who jumped up two weight classes and has only
accomplished a debatable win over Malignaggi and a humiliating loss
against Maidana. If Broner wants to prove he is a true champion, he
cannot cut in line of the rankings again like he did when he fought
Malignaggi. Choosing an easy or easier opponent will just make Broner
look bad. If he ducks Thurman, then he should duck all the way down
back to his weight class.
Thurman versus Broner would be an explosive undercard fight for the
Mayweather versus Maidana and will prove who truly belongs there. We
still do not have the details whether Maidana’s WBA belt is on the line,
but it would be safe to assume it is. Money has already stated that he
will let go of the WBC belt because no one can force him to fight Manny
Pacquiao. Top Rank will more than likely hold the WBC and WBO
welterweight belts. This further limits Thurman’s options. This would
be a similar situation Thurman faced when he held the number one ranking
with both the WBA and WBO simultaneously, but could not fight Timothy
Bradley because of the Golden Boy and Top Rank feud.
There was some hype about a possible Thurman versus Porter bout, but
Porter is the IBF welterweight champion and Thurman has no ranking with
the IBF. Most recently, Luiz Collazo is being mentioned after his KO
victory over Ortiz, but seriously, he fights on ESPN and Thurman should
focus on moving up instead of staying where he is at. Do not get me
wrong, Collazo is a hell of a fighter, but Thurman should be fighting
for a title or at least getting closer to one. Not only that, Collazo
more recently expressed that he has no interest in fighting Thurman and
that he is not worth it. We will just add him to the list with Marcos
Maidana and Robert Guerrero who also declined to fight him.
I will give Malignaggi credit for not fighting Thurman since he was
getting paid allot more to fight other opponents, but I cannot think of
anyone else who can give Malignaggi a bigger payday other than maybe
Porter since he is ranked fourth in the IBF. Another option for
Malignaggi is to fight Collazo since Malignaggi likes to be considered
the best Brooklyn fighter, but he would most likely decline because of
the pay cut (same reason given to Thurman). The only other fight worth
watching as an undercard would be a Khan versus Thurman. This will
answer the question whether Thurman can handle a fast slick Boxer and
provide him the opportunity to have his best win on his record making
him more valuable. There is also an opportunity for Khan to fight on
the undercard, call out Floyd if he wins, and hold the mandatory belt
against WBA welterweight belt which Mayweather will more than likely
win.
Then Khan can go fight for the IBF belt and add to his value if he
wins. It would be hard for Mayweather to skip Khan since he is
complaining so much if he had a championship and held the interim WBA
belt. Thurman might also need to consider joining the IBF rankings too.
Read more at http://www.boxingnews24.com/2014/02/mayweather-vs-maidana-undercard/#xKk1vEo0QCHhmvYh.99
A quick side note, this is the same Karass that Maidana was evenly
matched against before he received the technical knockout victory when
the referee jumped in even though Karass was still firing back.
Let’s consider the facts for a moment, when Broner defeated
Malignaggi and went home with the WBA welterweight belt, I do not
believe Broner would have done enough to be considered the winner if the
split decision was awarded to Malignaggi instead simply off his ability
to out-box Broner. The biggest problem Broner had against Maidana was
his power combined a little improved boxing technique. Thurman has the
skills and experience to out-box Broner and combined with his power, he
seems to have the biggest potential to truly expose Broner and
potentially knock him out. Even with his loss, Broner did have moments
against Maidana who is still more of the brawler type regardless what
little boxing tricks he has picked up. There is also the issue, Broner
is a lighter fighter who jumped up two weight classes and has only
accomplished a debatable win over Malignaggi and a humiliating loss
against Maidana. If Broner wants to prove he is a true champion, he
cannot cut in line of the rankings again like he did when he fought
Malignaggi. Choosing an easy or easier opponent will just make Broner
look bad. If he ducks Thurman, then he should duck all the way down
back to his weight class.
Thurman versus Broner would be an explosive undercard fight for the
Mayweather versus Maidana and will prove who truly belongs there. We
still do not have the details whether Maidana’s WBA belt is on the line,
but it would be safe to assume it is. Money has already stated that he
will let go of the WBC belt because no one can force him to fight Manny
Pacquiao. Top Rank will more than likely hold the WBC and WBO
welterweight belts. This further limits Thurman’s options. This would
be a similar situation Thurman faced when he held the number one ranking
with both the WBA and WBO simultaneously, but could not fight Timothy
Bradley because of the Golden Boy and Top Rank feud.
There was some hype about a possible Thurman versus Porter bout, but
Porter is the IBF welterweight champion and Thurman has no ranking with
the IBF. Most recently, Luiz Collazo is being mentioned after his KO
victory over Ortiz, but seriously, he fights on ESPN and Thurman should
focus on moving up instead of staying where he is at. Do not get me
wrong, Collazo is a hell of a fighter, but Thurman should be fighting
for a title or at least getting closer to one. Not only that, Collazo
more recently expressed that he has no interest in fighting Thurman and
that he is not worth it. We will just add him to the list with Marcos
Maidana and Robert Guerrero who also declined to fight him.
I will give Malignaggi credit for not fighting Thurman since he was
getting paid allot more to fight other opponents, but I cannot think of
anyone else who can give Malignaggi a bigger payday other than maybe
Porter since he is ranked fourth in the IBF. Another option for
Malignaggi is to fight Collazo since Malignaggi likes to be considered
the best Brooklyn fighter, but he would most likely decline because of
the pay cut (same reason given to Thurman). The only other fight worth
watching as an undercard would be a Khan versus Thurman. This will
answer the question whether Thurman can handle a fast slick Boxer and
provide him the opportunity to have his best win on his record making
him more valuable. There is also an opportunity for Khan to fight on
the undercard, call out Floyd if he wins, and hold the mandatory belt
against WBA welterweight belt which Mayweather will more than likely
win.
Then Khan can go fight for the IBF belt and add to his value if he
wins. It would be hard for Mayweather to skip Khan since he is
complaining so much if he had a championship and held the interim WBA
belt. Thurman might also need to consider joining the IBF rankings too.
Read more at http://www.boxingnews24.com/2014/02/mayweather-vs-maidana-undercard/#xKk1vEo0QCHhmvYh.99
A quick side note, this is the same Karass that Maidana was evenly
matched against before he received the technical knockout victory when
the referee jumped in even though Karass was still firing back.
Let’s consider the facts for a moment, when Broner defeated
Malignaggi and went home with the WBA welterweight belt, I do not
believe Broner would have done enough to be considered the winner if the
split decision was awarded to Malignaggi instead simply off his ability
to out-box Broner. The biggest problem Broner had against Maidana was
his power combined a little improved boxing technique. Thurman has the
skills and experience to out-box Broner and combined with his power, he
seems to have the biggest potential to truly expose Broner and
potentially knock him out. Even with his loss, Broner did have moments
against Maidana who is still more of the brawler type regardless what
little boxing tricks he has picked up. There is also the issue, Broner
is a lighter fighter who jumped up two weight classes and has only
accomplished a debatable win over Malignaggi and a humiliating loss
against Maidana. If Broner wants to prove he is a true champion, he
cannot cut in line of the rankings again like he did when he fought
Malignaggi. Choosing an easy or easier opponent will just make Broner
look bad. If he ducks Thurman, then he should duck all the way down
back to his weight class.
Thurman versus Broner would be an explosive undercard fight for the
Mayweather versus Maidana and will prove who truly belongs there. We
still do not have the details whether Maidana’s WBA belt is on the line,
but it would be safe to assume it is. Money has already stated that he
will let go of the WBC belt because no one can force him to fight Manny
Pacquiao. Top Rank will more than likely hold the WBC and WBO
welterweight belts. This further limits Thurman’s options. This would
be a similar situation Thurman faced when he held the number one ranking
with both the WBA and WBO simultaneously, but could not fight Timothy
Bradley because of the Golden Boy and Top Rank feud.
There was some hype about a possible Thurman versus Porter bout, but
Porter is the IBF welterweight champion and Thurman has no ranking with
the IBF. Most recently, Luiz Collazo is being mentioned after his KO
victory over Ortiz, but seriously, he fights on ESPN and Thurman should
focus on moving up instead of staying where he is at. Do not get me
wrong, Collazo is a hell of a fighter, but Thurman should be fighting
for a title or at least getting closer to one. Not only that, Collazo
more recently expressed that he has no interest in fighting Thurman and
that he is not worth it. We will just add him to the list with Marcos
Maidana and Robert Guerrero who also declined to fight him.
I will give Malignaggi credit for not fighting Thurman since he was
getting paid allot more to fight other opponents, but I cannot think of
anyone else who can give Malignaggi a bigger payday other than maybe
Porter since he is ranked fourth in the IBF. Another option for
Malignaggi is to fight Collazo since Malignaggi likes to be considered
the best Brooklyn fighter, but he would most likely decline because of
the pay cut (same reason given to Thurman). The only other fight worth
watching as an undercard would be a Khan versus Thurman. This will
answer the question whether Thurman can handle a fast slick Boxer and
provide him the opportunity to have his best win on his record making
him more valuable. There is also an opportunity for Khan to fight on
the undercard, call out Floyd if he wins, and hold the mandatory belt
against WBA welterweight belt which Mayweather will more than likely
win.
Then Khan can go fight for the IBF belt and add to his value if he
wins. It would be hard for Mayweather to skip Khan since he is
complaining so much if he had a championship and held the interim WBA
belt. Thurman might also need to consider joining the IBF rankings too.
Read more at http://www.boxingnews24.com/2014/02/mayweather-vs-maidana-undercard/#xKk1vEo0QCHhmvYh.99
A quick side note, this is the same Karass that Maidana was evenly
matched against before he received the technical knockout victory when
the referee jumped in even though Karass was still firing back.
Let’s consider the facts for a moment, when Broner defeated
Malignaggi and went home with the WBA welterweight belt, I do not
believe Broner would have done enough to be considered the winner if the
split decision was awarded to Malignaggi instead simply off his ability
to out-box Broner. The biggest problem Broner had against Maidana was
his power combined a little improved boxing technique. Thurman has the
skills and experience to out-box Broner and combined with his power, he
seems to have the biggest potential to truly expose Broner and
potentially knock him out. Even with his loss, Broner did have moments
against Maidana who is still more of the brawler type regardless what
little boxing tricks he has picked up. There is also the issue, Broner
is a lighter fighter who jumped up two weight classes and has only
accomplished a debatable win over Malignaggi and a humiliating loss
against Maidana. If Broner wants to prove he is a true champion, he
cannot cut in line of the rankings again like he did when he fought
Malignaggi. Choosing an easy or easier opponent will just make Broner
look bad. If he ducks Thurman, then he should duck all the way down
back to his weight class.
Thurman versus Broner would be an explosive undercard fight for the
Mayweather versus Maidana and will prove who truly belongs there. We
still do not have the details whether Maidana’s WBA belt is on the line,
but it would be safe to assume it is. Money has already stated that he
will let go of the WBC belt because no one can force him to fight Manny
Pacquiao. Top Rank will more than likely hold the WBC and WBO
welterweight belts. This further limits Thurman’s options. This would
be a similar situation Thurman faced when he held the number one ranking
with both the WBA and WBO simultaneously, but could not fight Timothy
Bradley because of the Golden Boy and Top Rank feud.
There was some hype about a possible Thurman versus Porter bout, but
Porter is the IBF welterweight champion and Thurman has no ranking with
the IBF. Most recently, Luiz Collazo is being mentioned after his KO
victory over Ortiz, but seriously, he fights on ESPN and Thurman should
focus on moving up instead of staying where he is at. Do not get me
wrong, Collazo is a hell of a fighter, but Thurman should be fighting
for a title or at least getting closer to one. Not only that, Collazo
more recently expressed that he has no interest in fighting Thurman and
that he is not worth it. We will just add him to the list with Marcos
Maidana and Robert Guerrero who also declined to fight him.
I will give Malignaggi credit for not fighting Thurman since he was
getting paid allot more to fight other opponents, but I cannot think of
anyone else who can give Malignaggi a bigger payday other than maybe
Porter since he is ranked fourth in the IBF. Another option for
Malignaggi is to fight Collazo since Malignaggi likes to be considered
the best Brooklyn fighter, but he would most likely decline because of
the pay cut (same reason given to Thurman). The only other fight worth
watching as an undercard would be a Khan versus Thurman. This will
answer the question whether Thurman can handle a fast slick Boxer and
provide him the opportunity to have his best win on his record making
him more valuable. There is also an opportunity for Khan to fight on
the undercard, call out Floyd if he wins, and hold the mandatory belt
against WBA welterweight belt which Mayweather will more than likely
win.
Then Khan can go fight for the IBF belt and add to his value if he
wins. It would be hard for Mayweather to skip Khan since he is
complaining so much if he had a championship and held the interim WBA
belt. Thurman might also need to consider joining the IBF rankings too.
Read more at http://www.boxingnews24.com/2014/02/mayweather-vs-maidana-undercard/#xKk1vEo0QCHhmvYh.99
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Floyd
Mayweather has currently refused the offer to play with any other
opponent. This is during the next big fight that is expected to take
place in Las Vegas in the month of May on the 3rd. In one of the social
media sits, the heavyweight champion clearly indicated that he has
instead chosen to take the challenge of Marcos Maidana who is an
Argentinian. It came as a surprise since Floyd Mayweather had been
expected to choose Amir Khan as his opponent from the beginning. He had
waited for more than ten months in preparation to fight Mayweather.
Because of this, a number of issues had been raised regarding this fight
before the deal was settled.