Mayweather Ends Baldomir’s Magical Year

After dominating Carlos Baldomir in typical style to take the welterweight crown, Pretty Boy Floyd's biggest fight of the night seemed to be with HBO commentator Larry Merchant and he made sure to stay undefeated. Following Mayweather's assertion that he's still the best and most exciting fighter in the world, Merchant stirred the pot as usual during the post-fight interview when he asked the new champ how his performance could've been so outstanding considering the fact that many fans headed for the exits after the tenth round out of boredom. That trademark smile and bright expression quickly turned to anger as fast as Pretty Boy's cat-like reflexes and the assault began on Merchant.

“You're good at commentating, you should stick to commentating and let me do the boxing,” said Mayweather, who continued his rant. “Why do you always have to be so negative? You never give me the credit I deserve but that's okay because you don't know anything about boxing. I'm Pretty Boy Floyd, the best fighter in the world.”

And so he is, despite the fact that his victory over Baldomir wasn't the most riveting fight in recent memory, in fact, it was anti-climatic based on the theory that Baldomir was going to have the skills to put up a challenge. Let's not blame Floyd though because in all fairness it was Baldomir's slow hands and inability to land any effective punches that made the fight so one-sided, not Mayweather's lack of effort. The fans wanted blood and a knockout to satisfy their thirst for action, but when Floyd hurt his hand in around the sixth round it was clear that the crowd would be destined to watch the pound-for-pound king dance around his opponent, peppering him and discouraging him with sharp punches until the final bell sounded. Floyd himself said he would've knocked Baldomir out if it wasn't for the bad hand. “I feel I would've made him surrender, wave the white flag.”

That final bell couldn't come soon enough for Baldomir. He looked uncharacteristically ready to throw in the towel himself in the last couple of rounds when he returned to his corner shaking his head in frustration knowing what the outcome was to be. Finally, with his face reddened and nose cut by Mayweather's pinpoint accuracy, it looked as if the fight had been taken out of him, as if the Argentinean had no more left to give. He was overmatched by the best fighter in the world as so many others have been before, and despite taking a sound beating, he continued on as only he knows how, a true warrior at heart.

After losing his crown, Baldomir reflected on the magical year that was. “It's been a great year with the wins over Judah and Gatti. I'm 35-years-old and have accomplished a lot.”

The Cinderella story has finally come to an end at least for the time being. Losing to Mayweather has put an end to the Argentinean's incredible run, but doesn't necessarily put an end to his career. At 35, Baldomir is heading into the tale end of his career, but then again when was he ever in his prime until the shocking upset of Judah? That is what's made his story such a special one. The fact that he came from nowhere to rock the boxing world. His relentless determination and relative skill (despite the slow hands) is why we'd be foolish to count him out now. Baldomir's come too far to give up just yet and so even though we send him off for now applauding his magical year that was, we are not saying goodbye to him forever as he has more fighting left in him and with that, new Cinderella stories to create to once again wow the world of boxing.