In defense of Maidana/PBF

[Rantcatrat]

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.

[Fenster]

The bookmakers are unanimous in rating Madiana a bigger underdog than Khan was.

[smashup]

The bookmakers are unanimous in rating Madiana a bigger underdog than Khan was.

Rightly so because he is.
Was really looking forward to Khan v Mayweather , hope it gets sorted for Sept .. meanwhile we get this re run of Floyds last 2 fights.

I honestly,hand on heart dont see Maidana winning a round

[Spicoli]

The only reason Maidana is in his mouth is for the Broner win, nothing more. But I don't call him a pussy just as anyone calling Broner a pussy for taking Maidana were talking out the arse. Anyone not drinking the Kool aid saw Broners holes and how he was willing to absorb. The kid wants to be a reality tv star as much as a skilled boxer and he got his ass handed to him by a seasoned hardened professional who didn't buy the sales pitch. It's not a match substance or super stardom but really Floyd's opportunity to meet a quota. I have zero doubt Maidana is going to attempt to remove Floyd's head and kick it around the ring smiling but this isn't some rush job of a pretender who short cutted his way to the big stage with no answers for the tough questions.

[La Cucaracha]

I'm glad Maidana got the call I was calling for Quillin but Maidana has the better momentum

[Jimanuel Boogustus]

How is Lara no value?

This is nonsense logic. Just because he is high risk and relatively unknown, doesn't make him low reward. The bonafide reality is he is a REAL threat to Floyd and this would become VERY apparent through promotion. They'd have to promote it HARD but no harder than this crock of shit.

[Master]

How is Lara no value?

This is nonsense logic. Just because he is high risk and relatively unknown, doesn't make him low reward. The bonafide reality is he is a REAL threat to Floyd and this would become VERY apparent through promotion. They'd have to promote it HARD but no harder than this crock of shit.

Agreed load of nonsence just another way of saying he is too awkward.

[Beanflicker]

How is Lara no value?

This is nonsense logic. Just because he is high risk and relatively unknown, doesn't make him low reward. The bonafide reality is he is a REAL threat to Floyd and this would become VERY apparent through promotion. They'd have to promote it HARD but no harder than this crock of shit.

I acknowledged MANY times in this thread that I felt Lara was the biggest threat to Floyd at 147-154. I wish some of you could read properly and respond to what someone is saying instead of stumbling forward awkwardly and arguing a point that NOBODY IS ARGUING. I realize that setting up and knocking down strawman arguments is a lot easier than actually coming up with logical counterpoints, but come on.

He's low value because he has no fan following, no public recognition and there's no angle or drama that can be crafted to build the fight up. And what's more, he's typically a BORING FIGHTER. People know Floyd is a boring fighter, and they respond much more favorably to opponents who they feel are going to "bring it" to Floyd. The layman isn't going to get excited about a chessmatch between Floyd and Lara, which is what it would be. JUST BECAUSE BOXING GEEKS LIKE US KNOW LARA IS A NASTY FIGHTER, DOESN'T MEAN THAT THE GENERAL PUBLIC WILL GIVE A SHIT.

If you think a Lara fight could be built up just as well as a Maidana fight, that goes well beyond short-sightedness and enters into the realm of idiocy. Maidana/Broner got a lot of heat, especially in the black community (who happen to make up a large % of boxing's fanbase). The angle of Floyd taking on the guy who whipped his "protege" is a great sell. Maidana - the hard-working, hard-punching knockout machine - is a great sell. Nobody would give a flying fuck about a Lara fight.

You guys are stuck in the perspective of boxing geek/internet forum fans, who know boxing, know all the players, and understand how deadly Lara is. The general public doesn't know or give a fuck. Why is that important? Because internet fans IN GENERAL are not the ones buying tickets, PPVs and merch. They're the ones watching illegal streams or downloading after the fact.

Personally, I would love to see Floyd fight Lara instead of Maidana. But it doesn't make sense, and any attempt to justify it shows a complete lack of understanding of how the business of boxing works.

[Master]

Maidana fight is a hard sell as much as Guerrero was.

[Beanflicker]

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.

Maidana has a lot of heat from upsetting Broner. Regardless of what you think of Adrien (you predicted a complete domination by Broner), that was a huge upset that got a lot of publicity, particularly on social media. Is he the B-side to Floyd Mayweather? Of course he is. But he has a lot of momentum and name value off of that win.

You say Floyd should move up: ok, answer my initial question - who should he have fought at 154?

[Rantcatrat]

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.

Maidana has a lot of heat from upsetting Broner. Regardless of what you think of Adrien (you predicted a complete domination by Broner), that was a huge upset that got a lot of publicity, particularly on social media. Is he the B-side to Floyd Mayweather? Of course he is. But he has a lot of momentum and name value off of that win.

You say Floyd should move up: ok, answer my initial question - who should he have fought at 154?

Anyone who fights Floyd is a B-side.

We've agreed and disagreed on too many boxing topics over the years @Beanflicker to think that I wouldn't completely eat crow for my Maidana-Broner. I was wrong then and I'm sure I admitted as much, if I didn't my apologies. In retrospect, I'm an idiot because I should have seen the signs that Broner was overrated. At the time, I thought they were keeping Broner away from boxers after seeing how Paulie and Rees (for three rounds) did against Broner and picked Maidana for a reason. In any event, it was a great win for Maidana, but that doesn't mean he can win a round against Floyd.

Lara (coming off a complete dismantling of Trout), Kirkland (career is resurrected by reuniting with Wolfe and great win over Tapia), Trout (loss to Lara and Canelo but a southpaw, tall, and decent speed), the better Charlo brother, Andrade (former Olympian, has a belt, beat Vanes), even Molina (tough style, draws against Lara, beat Kirkland really, and beat Floyd's guy Ishe), even go for glory and fight Kid Choc for a middleweight strap. I'm not suggesting these guys beat Mayweather, but they're tougher challenges than Maidana at 14-1, they're not with Top Rank, and there are story lines they could gin up for the fight.

[Beanflicker]

Anyone who fights Floyd is a B-side.

We've agreed and disagreed on too many boxing topics over the years @Beanflicker to think that I wouldn't completely eat crow for my Maidana-Broner. I was wrong then and I'm sure I admitted as much, if I didn't my apologies. In retrospect, I'm an idiot because I should have seen the signs that Broner was overrated. At the time, I thought they were keeping Broner away from boxers after seeing how Paulie and Rees (for three rounds) did against Broner and picked Maidana for a reason. In any event, it was a great win for Maidana, but that doesn't mean he can win a round against Floyd.

Lara (coming off a complete dismantling of Trout), Kirkland (career is resurrected by reuniting with Wolfe and great win over Tapia), Trout (loss to Lara and Canelo but a southpaw, tall, and decent speed), the better Charlo brother, Andrade (former Olympian, has a belt, beat Vanes), even Molina (tough style, draws against Lara, beat Kirkland really, and beat Floyd's guy Ishe), even go for glory and fight Kid Choc for a middleweight strap. I'm not suggesting these guys beat Mayweather, but they're tougher challenges than Maidana at 14-1, they're not with Top Rank, and there are story lines they could gin up for the fight.

I'm not trying to throw you under the bus for a bad prediction - I've made plenty of them myself - just trying to illustrate that the upset over Broner was indeed a big win.

And I get what you're saying, there are a lot of guys out there who are tougher fights for Mayweather. But that's not how boxing works, man. You know that. No champion in the history of boxing fought guys just based on how tough they were. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying champions didn't want to test themselves against tough fighters, but there always had to be a significant amount of reward to go along with the risk.

Austin Trout? You're telling me you think a guy coming off of two losses should get a megafight with the sports #1 p4p? Come on.

Charlo? Come on man. He's a young prospect with less than 20 fights and is only now fighting for a world title against Molina. You mean to tell me you'd throw Charlo in there with Floyd before he had his first 12 rounder? Come on, that's insane.

I love James Kirkland, but he's still on the comeback trail in terms of his career. He isn't even ranked in the top 10. Do you really think Floyd should be fighting a guy not even ranked in the top 10 at 154? Where's the logic behind that. Nobody would give two shits about that fight.

Andrade is very promising but again, another young prospect with no name value who just fought and won his first world title (if you can call the WBO a "world title") against another solid fighter with very little name value.

Lara is the only realistic option out of those, and I agree he's the best test for Floyd at 154, but how do you sell that fight? Lara has no name value.

[Silkeyjoe]

I think Lara has as much if not more name value than Guerrero and Ortiz did at the time they were fighting Floyd

[Beanflicker]

I think Lara has as much if not more name value than Guerrero and Ortiz did at the time they were fighting Floyd

How do you figure that?

[Silkeyjoe]

I think Lara has as much if not more name value than Guerrero and Ortiz did at the time they were fighting Floyd

How do you figure that?

Well he's the guy who just destroyed the guy Canelo is about to face so is well known through that and also known to get a bad decision against Williams in his comeback fight after Martinez.

Guerrero was relatively unknown to casual fans and only known from his close win over Berto. Ortiz known from the foty with Berto an loss to Maidana but certainly a bigger name since fighting Floyd. I just don't see a huge difference in their name powers at the time of the fights.