The Hottest Boxing Storylines for the Week of September 15

Floyd Mayweather left no doubt on Saturday night, taking a clear unanimous decision from Marcos Maidana in their welterweight rematch at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. 

The rematch looked nothing like the first contest this past May, as the pound-for-pound king made the necessary adjustments to neutralize the Argentine's style.

It got the job done, but was Mayweather at his best in the fight?

He sure didn't seem to think so, and we'll break down his approach.

Did the referee have too large an impact on the proceedings Saturday night? 

Spoiler alert, yes.

With Maidana now out the window, will boxing's biggest superfight finally become a reality?

Moving away from Mayweather, we'll also take a look at what comes next for Leo Santa Cruz and take one more shot at trashing the pitiful undercard that supported the "Mayhem" pay-per-view.

All that and more in this post-fight edition of the hottest storylines in boxing.

Was Floyd at His Best?

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Mayweather clearly learned his lesson, and he made sure not to give Maidana any of the openings he enjoyed during their first encounter in Saturday’s rematch.

The pound-for-pound king was more elusive and less willing to languish along the ropes. He tied up whenever the action got too close for comfort. He wholly neutralized the Argentine’s offense, but he got a healthy assist from referee Kenny Bayless on that number.

But more on that later.

In his post-fight comments to Showtime’s Jim Gray, Mayweather graded himself with a C/C-minus for the performance.

That seems a tad unfair.

Mayweather was economical but extremely sharp when he let his hands go. He connected on more than 50 percent of his punches, per CompuBox via ESPN.com, and limited Maidana’s offensive output.

By keeping the fight in the center of the ring, Floyd faced few moments or opportunities to get roughed up, and there were no dramatics when the scorecards were read.

So, on that front, Mayweather did exactly what he said he would do. He made the necessary adjustments to combat Maidana’s rugged style, and he showed that pure talent and boxing skill trump brawn and will.

His legs, the subject of so much scrutiny from the night of May 3 to just a few hours ago, were still there, and his reflexes remained elite.

Where he suffered was mainly in the aesthetics department.

Mayweather fell in love with clinching during the fight and was never called out for it. He continued to lean in and grab whenever opportunity found itself on his doorstep. You can understand why he did it, but you can also understand why it left the fans feeling a little flat about his performance.

Was it perfect?

No.

Was it the virtuoso showing that made Canelo Alvarez look like an amateur a year ago this time?

Also, no.

But it was effective, got the job done and settled all doubts.

Did Kenny Bayless Give Maidana a Fair Shake?

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Much debate after the fight revolved around the role played by Bayless, a Hall of Fame referee, who was chosen to be the third man in the ring for Saturday’s rematch.

Bayless replaced Tony Weeks, whom many in the Mayweather camp felt had an off night in May and allowed Maidana too much leeway to roughhouse. The new ref was viewed as generally more favorable to the pound-for-pound king, having refereed several of his high-profile fights.

Mayweather was cut by a head-butt in May, and he spent considerable time comparing Maidana’s style to that of an MMA fighter and accusing him of being intentionally dirty.

Not so on this night.

Bayless was extremely—too—active, and that was clearly to Maidana’s detriment.

That’s not to say that the ultimate outcome of the fight would have been much different, but the Argentine seemed to get no favors and no opportunities to work his offense.

Bayless was a little overzealous when it came to policing the fight. He was extremely quick on the trigger when it came to breaking up the fighters, often pulling them apart when Maidana had a free hand and was still working.

There were even a few instances where Bayless broke the fighters before a clinch was even initiated.

Mayweather used this to his full advantage, often lunging in at Maidana to force unnecessary clinches and never being warned for it.

Maidana was docked a point in Round 10 for pushing Mayweather to the mat, a debatable call if you viewed the replay. El Chino had to feel like he was facing two opponents in there—Mayweather, who needs no help, and Bayless.

Did this change the outcome of the fight?

We’ll never know.

Mayweather adjusted well, and he did plenty of good work to win the fight.

But it definitely changed the flow of the contest—and not in Maidana's favor.

Will Mayweather Face Pacquiao Next Year?

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Mayweather has settled into something of a pattern in his career.

As one of the most-watched athletes, the pound-for-pound king’s every move is scrutinized.

He exists in two states: hyping a fight, such as Saturday’s rematch with Maidana, or drawing speculation about who the next man will be to try his luck at taking the elusive zero that largely defines his career.

Having now dispensed with the former, the boxing world will run headlong into the latter.

Mayweather is set to return to the ring in May—though he floated the possibility of a September return at the post-fight presser—and now the question becomes: Who’s got next?

A healthy dose of speculation has centered on the possibility of finally seeing a showdown with longtime rival Manny Pacquiao come to fruition.

Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum made some waves during fight week when he emphasized that talks are ongoing between the camps and rival networks HBO and Showtime. He suggested the fight is a real possibility for early next year.

Mayweather dismissed the notion and disputed that any real talks were taking place, but he softened during his post-fight comments, seeming to remain open to a Pacquiao fight if opportunity arose.

He was asked several times about the fight in the post-fight presser, but, as usual, he was evasive.

You get a sense that even if the fight doesn't happen and boxing fans are once again the victims of some cruel joke, the possibility at least exists this time.

Mayweather, who re-emphasized that he would indeed retire at the conclusion of his current Showtime contract, is running out of time to maximize his in-ring earnings.

PPV buys were significantly down for his first fight with Maidana, and you could see a fair number of empty seats inside the MGM Grand on Saturday night. We should get news about how the rematch performed at the box office in the coming days.

A Pacquiao fight would render both of those concerns moot.

Whether or not it happens remains to be seen, but the time could very well be now.

Is Leo Santa Cruz Ready for the Next Step?

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Santa Cruz is one of the most exciting fighters in boxing, and you had to feel at least somewhat bad for him heading into his bout with Manuel Roman on Saturday night.

Roman, a former sparring partner who had to come up in weight for his championship opportunity, had absolutely no business in the ring with the rising Mexican star.

Nothing in his resume—he was just 3-2-2 in his past seven fights—indicated that he had any shot of being even competitive, and that became immediately apparent once the bell rang.

Santa Cruz was significantly bigger, stronger and faster. He imploded Roman’s chin with a straight right hand in Round 2, ending the gross mismatch early.

It was the ultimate lose-lose situation for the 26-year-old. The win is meaningless in the scheme of things, but a loss would have been the kind that derails careers.

Fighting in an absolutely loaded division, the time for Santa Cruz to step up to the big-boy table is now. Shopworn former champions and no-hope challengers will no longer cut it.

He correctly received a ton of criticism for facing Roman, a smallish fighter who wasn’t even ranked at 122 pounds, and he seemed to understand the displeasure of the fans coming into the fight.

Handling the criticism in the customary manner—this fight is tougher than it looks—Santa Cruz must now push for a significant fight.

He talked about Guillermo Rigondeaux, who is largely considered the best super bantamweight in the world, and recently crowned 122-pound champion Carl Frampton in his post-fight comments.

But now he must press for those fights.

It’s time for him to step up. We want see what we’ve got in Santa Cruz, a potential superstar in need of a star-making performance.

Will the Trend of Bad Undercards Continue?

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Not to beat a dead horse, but the “Mayhem” undercard was every bit as awful as most expected. You don’t have to like it, but that doesn’t make it any less true.

Fans were asked to shell out $77.99 for the right to watch the PPV telecast at home in high-definition, and, short of the rematch main event, nothing on the card justified that type of lofty sticker price.

The only undercard bout to provide the slightest bit of drama opened up the telecast, with a clearly shot Alfredo Angulo dropping a wide decision to previously unheralded James De La Rosa.

And even that bout, though having a few spots of excitement, was made intriguing mainly by what Angulo wasn’t doing rather than what De La Rosa was doing.

Miguel Vazquez and Mickey Bey put on a bout so putrid and devoid of action that neither man should even sniff a PPV match again.

Compounding matters, an atrocious scorecard—119-109 from Robert Hoyle—inexplicably handed Bey a world title in a fight that nobody in his right mind could say he won.

Vazquez gets little sympathy either. His style is not built for excitement, and you know what you’re going to get, but even by that measure this was a disaster. He controlled the action and didn’t deserve to lose, but he has himself to blame.

He shouldn’t expect a return ticket to one of these events.

We’ve already talked a bit about Santa Cruz’s showcase fight with Roman, so let it suffice to say that as a co-feature on a major PPV, it was no Danny Garcia vs. Lucas Matthysse.

It was a gross mismatch on par with Garcia vs. Rod Salka a little more than a month ago.

The entire card seemed to fall flat on its face, and that’s not hindsight.

Everyone knew it coming in.