In defense of Maidana/PBF
People have already written this fight off and accused Mayweather of being a pussy for choosing Maidana (which is the same thing people said when Broner chose to fight Maidana, so how Maidana became known as a pushover is beyond me).
Like everyone else, I would rather PBF/Bradley or PBF/Pac. But with them out of the picture, who else is there? Everyone else at WW is either underdeveloped with no name value yet, or guys that Floyd has already beat handily.
Then people say "well why doesn't he fight a 154lber?" Well, which 154lb guy would you want him to fight? Lara? He's a good fighter but he has no name value. Molina? Mundine? Ishe Smith? Bundrage? Martiroysan? Kirkland? Who of those guys has the momentum and name value to warrant a PBF megafight? 154 is a largely ignored division, lost in between WW and MW. Floyd has already beat the only two names at 154 (Cotto and Canelo).
Then there are the people who say he should have picked Khan. Why? On the grounds that Khan beat Maidana (VERY narrowly) 4 years ago? Who gives a fuck? Since when do you earn shit now based on what you did 4 years ago? Boxing is a "what have you done lately" sport: Maidana has racked up a solid win streak at WW and is coming off a huge upset over one of boxing's most promising prospects. Khan is coming off a shit performance against Diaz where he BARELY won against a subpar opponent, and Khan has never even fought at WW before. I agree that Khan's style makes an interesting challenge for Mayweather, but it just doesn't make sense to make that fight.
I think Maidana is interesting for a number of reasons. I don't expect him to win, but I do expect him to make it interesting.
Maidana is very unorthodox in his punching and throws bombs from crazy angles. He's also very tricky and resourceful with his power punching: he's very good at getting his fists on his opponents chin and body from any range or angle. I think he has the ability to get Floyd out of his comfort zone and make this a fight.
Re: In defense of Maidana/PBF
I should clarify that I don't actually hate the fight, I was just arguing the point that really Maidana hasn't actually done more than Khan (other than fighting at Welterweight and having a belt as a bargaining chip) to warrant the fight more than Khan. Really Floyd could have gone either way with that choice and people would have been unhappy. In truth, discounting Top Rank/HBO fighters there were only 2 other interesting options than what he presented. Those 2 are Danny Garcia or a step up to Middleweight and fight Quillin as he's Golden Boy and they could try and sell his lack of name value in that Floyd was winning at another weightclass. Really I'm just happy we get to see the best fighter of our generation in the ring 4 more times because he might be a dick but watching him box is fucking artwork and it doesn't matter who he picks, he is going to win.
Re: In defense of Maidana/PBF
the main point i dissagree with is that maidana will make it interesting
there is a slight posibility of that, there is a much more likely posibility that he wont land a punch
IMO khan would have been a lot more interesting
another point i dissagree with is that people thought maidana would be a push over for broner, its possible that they did, i didnt read it anywhere that they did and i definately didnt, i didnt bet on maidana because i thought it would go the distance and he would be robbed
Re: In defense of Maidana/PBF
^^^agreed, I don't hate the fight either and I always believe Maidana would beat Broner.
But I don't think Maidana will stand a chance against PBF. He seems Taylor made for Floyd and I'm also a bit disappointed because I generally believe Khan is a tougher fight because Amir has attributes that could trouble Floyd.
I mean khan is probably faster than him or at the very least on par and that could play a factor.
Look what happened with Cotto, I see this fight maybe being similar.
Re: In defense of Maidana/PBF
It took Maidana 10 rounds to land on Khan. He went 50-50 with an ancient bloated Morales. Got totally schooled by Alexander.
He qualified for this fight because he "proved" himself at 147 by beating Adrien Broner, whose only win at 147 is Paulie Malignaggi, which he scraped through.
I love Maidana but this is a shit mismatch. He wont land a punch. Round one to twelve rinse and repeat.
Re: In defense of Maidana/PBF
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Fenster
It took Maidana 10 rounds to land on Khan. He went 50-50 with an ancient bloated Morales. Got totally schooled by Alexander.
He qualified for this fight because he "proved" himself at 147 by beating Adrien Broner, whose only win at 147 is Paulie Malignaggi, which he scraped through.
I love Maidana but this is a shit mismatch. He wont land a punch. Round one to twelve rinse and repeat.
he didnt really get schooled by alexander, alexanders hit and holding was hurrendous. should have been DQ'd
Re: In defense of Maidana/PBF
Khan didn't "deserve" it (lol, as if that means anything in boxing) but at least he offered something different for Floyd stylewise, and Khan doesn't know how to do dull fights, he'd have even made a Floyd fight entertaining.
Maidana is a heavy puncher but who exactly has he knocked out? He couldn't even finish "shitty undeserving" Khan or Broner when he hurt them?
Re: In defense of Maidana/PBF
I don't think anyone believes Maidana is a push over. Floyds is likely a bad match up for him that's all.
Hes tough as shit and hes earned the spot hes in.
Re: In defense of Maidana/PBF
the fact the fight is at LMW just makes it more in floyds favour
Re: In defense of Maidana/PBF
It's at welterweight.
Even Roger Mayweather said he thought they were fighting Khan but Maidana is even easier.
Re: In defense of Maidana/PBF
the fact its at welterweight just means its not at light middleweight
Re: In defense of Maidana/PBF
What kind of name value does Maidana have? He's not some famous boxing star. He doesn't do huge ratings on TV. He has never even been an A-side of a fight. Remember when Maidana fought Ortiz, Khan, Broner etc., he was the B-side. So, why is Maidana a less-than-optimal opponent? Because there were better opponents out there for Mayweather above 147 and because we've seen Mayweather beat crude sluggers over and over again. Why should Mayweather move up? Because he's the best by far of the available challengers at 147 and he calls himself TBE -- so prove it. This is a waste of a fight on his legacy. It falls in the group of his sub-par defenses, a group that includes Guerrero, Ortiz, and Baldomir, among others. Let's just say this, the Canelo-Mayweather line opened up at 2-1 (closed higher for Mayweather), this fight's line opnened up at 14-1. That's all that really needs to be said. It's shite, gentlemen. Sorry, but it is.
They better stack the undercard because on its own, this fight doesn't do anything for me.
Re: In defense of Maidana/PBF
The bookmakers are unanimous in rating Madiana a bigger underdog than Khan was.
