Mayweather vs. Maidana 2: Full Results and Top Observations from Saturday's Card
By the time the dust settled Saturday night and Floyd Mayweather had win No. 47 in hand, all seemed rather drab in the world of boxing.
In fact, the best fight of the night arguably came before the pay-per-view itself on regular Showtime, as Humberto Soto took down John Molina in a dirty, entertaining affair aimed at getting fans to fork over the cash for the big event.
It sure worked.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
Below, let's take a look at the full results and the pertinent observations as the sport moves forward after the annual Mayweather Promotions fall event.
Mayweather vs. Maidana 2 Results
| John Molina vs. Humberto Soto | 10 rounds | Soto ($150,000), Molina ($125,000) | Soto via unanimous decision, 96-91, 95-92, 95-92 |
| Alfredo "El Perro" Angulo vs. James De La Rosa | 10 rounds | Angulo ($500,000), De La Rosa ($43,000) | De La Rosa via unanimous decision, 99-89, 98-90, 96-92 |
| Miguel "Titere" Vazquez vs. Mickey "The Spirit" Bey | IBF Lightweight World Championship | Vazquez ($450,000), Bey ($125,000) | Bey via split decision, 115-113, 119-109 Bey, 115-113 Vazquez |
| Leo "Terremoto" Santa Cruz vs. Manuel "Suavecito" Roman | WBC Super Bantamweight World Championship | Santa Cruz ($750,000), Roman ($50,000) | Santa Cruz via Round 2 KO |
| Floyd Mayweather vs. Marcos Maidana | Welterweight and junior middleweight titles | Mayweather ($32 million), Maidana ($3 million) | Mayweather via unanimous decision, (115-112, 116-111, 116-111) |
An Injection of New Blood
In what was an attempt to bring a slab of new blood to light to help further the sport on an international scale, Miguel "Titere" Vazquez put his strap on the line against the up-and-coming Mickey "The Spirit" Bey.
Not only was it the worst pay-per-view match of the year, but it ended in controversy.
Call it mission accomplished behind the original intent. Controversy is one way to get eyeballs on both fighters and to draw interest to a potential rematch, should the stars align.
One of the best champions in recent memory who has little to no fame thanks to his ugly style, Vazquez seemed to control the entire match with his odd-angled punches and pacing. It still was not enough in the minds of the judges, who came to the above score, prompting plenty of reactions, such as this one from reporter Isaac Estrada:
Regardless, Bey—coincidentally a member of the Money Team—has been thrust into the spotlight. After a miserable showing and a controversial title win, his name will not soon fade from the spotlight as he begins his unknown number of defenses.
It was an ugly path, but the sport needs a new recognizable face. Saturday, it might have got it.
Back to the Drawing Board
Saturday, Maidana went out and mostly employed the same strategy from the first fight that saw him head home with a loss.
Content to simply throw as many punches as possible in an attempt to both overwhelm Mayweather and perhaps get lucky with a knockout, Maidana managed to land an even smaller percentage this time around and destroy his chances with the judges, as noted by ESPN Stats & Info:
The only step Maidana can take at this point is down.
As the numbers above show, he cashed in on a major opportunity that was a mostly uneventful rematch, but it is all downhill from here.
Perhaps the best opponent Maidana could book at this stage of the game in order to keep his name in the spotlight (which equals as much cash as possible) and improve his shaky resume is a rematch with Adrien Broner.
Last December, Maidana handed Broner his first and only loss. A rematch would get a ton of attention, although even a win would not elevate Maidana back to the status he has enjoyed over the course of his feud with Mayweather.
Such is what happens to climbers who reach the peak and fall back down.
Money's Plan Continues to Thrive
Three wins separate Mayweather from that coveted 50-0 record.
The plan all along, of course, has been to milk as much cash as possible out of the whole ordeal while picking opponents that seem to pose a threat but really don't in the grand scheme of things.
That would explain why Canelo Alvarez was hyped to be a power-punching juggernaut, but he wound up getting embarrassed. It is why all involved ran with the narrative that Maidana overwhelmed Mayweather in their first fight, but the second was as ugly as it could get, minus a knockout.
Where Mayweather goes next is hard to say.
Amir Khan is certainly a possibility, as is Manny Pacquiao, as Mayweather himself confirmed after the fight, per FightNights.com:
That is a dramatic shift in how Mayweather has spoken on the potential matchup before, but there is a strategy here.
No matter whom Mayweather steps in the ring with next, understand that the person—even if it does turn out to be Pacquiao—was chosen in a very calculated manner as a risk-averse maneuver to keep Money rolling in the money has he heads toward win No. 50.
When it comes to Money, a grain of salt holds its weight in value.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
